by ldh2013 » Mon Jul 11, 2016 8:31 am
NEW YORK, N. .Y. - Greg Maddux could break a 22-year-old record Wednesday, though he wont become the first unanimous selection in the history of the baseball writers Hall of Fame ballot. When Tom Seaver received 425 of 430 votes in 1992, his 98.84 percentage topped the mark set by Ty Cobb in 1936. A dominant pitcher when offence ruled in the Steroids Era, Maddux has a chance to enter Cooperstown with a little extra bit of fame. "I just have just never come across any human being, whether theyre a voter or just a fan, that doesnt think Greg Maddux is a Hall of Famer and one of the greatest pitchers who ever pitched," The Boston Globes Nick Cafardo said Tuesday. "I cant imagine someone not voting for him. So I would guess that hes going to break Seavers record." Maddux is among three high-profile players on the Baseball Writers Association of America ballot for the first time, joined by former Atlanta Braves teammate Tom Glavine and Chicago White Sox slugger Frank Thomas. Holdovers include Craig Biggio, who topped voting at 68 per cent last year, 39 votes short of the 75 per cent needed for election. It was only the second time in four decades the BBWAA failed to elect anyone. Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, a former reporter for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, said Tuesday the only player he voted for was Jack Morris, on the writers ballot for the 15th and final time after falling 42 votes shy last year. "To me, I didnt exclude Maddux. I excluded everybody from that era, everybody from the Steroid Era," Gurnick said. "It wasnt about Greg Maddux, it was about the entire era. I just dont know who did and who didnt." Gurnick said Morris also was the only player he voted for in 2013 and added he intends to abstain in future elections. "Some people quibble over when the era starts, but the bulk of his career was in my opinion well before all of the widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs," Gurnick said. Given that 569 ballots were submitted in 2013, Maddux likely could be omitted from six this year and still break Seavers record. Back in 1992, Seaver was left off by Paul Hagen of the Philadelphia Daily News, Bob Hertzel of The Pittsburgh Press and freelance writer Bob Hunter. They all submitted blank ballots to protest the decision by the Hall of Fame board of directors to bar Pete Rose from the vote because of his lifetime ban from baseball following a gambling probe. Retired writers Deane McGowen and Bud Tucker also did not vote for Seaver. "If it had cost Seaver anything, yeah, I probably would regret it at some level, but it didnt really cost him anything," Hagen, now with MLB.com, said Tuesday. "He still got the highest vote (percentage) total ever, and he wouldnt have been unanimous anyway." The Steroids Era has impacted the vote totals of players with stellar statistics. In initial appearances last year, Mike Piazza was at 57.8 per cent, Roger Clemens at 37.6, Barry Bonds at 36.2 and Sammy Sosa at 12.5. Mark McGwire received 16.9 on his seventh try. The Baseball Think Factory website compiled votes by writers who made their opinions public, and with 161 ballots had Maddux at 99 per cent, followed by Glavine (96), Thomas (91) and Biggio (79). The websites count had Piazza (68), Jeff Bagwell (61) and Morris (60) falling short along with Tim Raines (55), Bonds (42), Clemens (41), Curt Schilling (37) and Mike Mussina (29). McGwire (14) and Sosa (8) had little support. Eighth on the wins list with a 355-227 record and a 3.16 ERA over 23 seasons, Maddux won four consecutive Cy Young Awards from 1992-95 and a record 18 Gold Gloves with the Chicago Cubs, Atlanta, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego. An eight-time All-Star, he won at least 13 games in 20 straight seasons. Among pitchers with 3,000 innings whose careers began in 1921 or later — after the Dead Ball Era — Madduxs 1.80 walks per nine innings is second only to Robin Roberts 1.73, according to STATS. Glavine, a 10-time All-Star and a two-time Cy Young winner, was 305-203 over 22 seasons. At the induction ceremony in Cooperstown on July 27, Maddux and Glavine figure to join their former manager Bobby Cox, elected last month by the expansion-era committee along with Joe Torre and Tony La Russa. A two-time AL MVP, Thomas hit .301 with 521 homers and 1,704 RBIs in 19 seasons with the White Sox, Toronto and Oakland. Biggio was a seven-time All-Star who spent his entire 20-year career in the majors with Houston. He had 3,060 hits, 668 doubles and 414 steals and set a big league record by getting hit with pitches 285 times. Approximately 600 writers who have been members of the BBWAA for 10 consecutive years at any point considered the 36-player ballot. Next years ballot could be even more crowded when Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, Carlos Delgado and Gary Sheffield become eligible, five years after their retirements. The BBWAA last month formed a committee to study whether the organization should ask the Hall to change the limit of 10 players per ballot. .Y. - Artem Sergeev scored the winner shorthanded at 17:28 of the third period as the Syracuse Crunch edged the St. .com) - Kyle Okposo notched his first career hat trick, including the game-winner in the third period, and totaled four goals as the New York Islanders rallied for a 6-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. .J. -- Marshawn Lynch said Thursday it will be good to get back to football after the Seattle quiet talking running back wrapped up his final mandatory media session of Super Bowl week. MADRID, Spain -- Fernando Llorentes brace helped Athletic Bilbao to a 4-2 comeback win at Schalke in the Europa League, while Atletico Madrid beat Hannover 2-1 in the other first-leg quarterfinal between Spanish and German teams on Thursday. After Llorente put Bilbao ahead in the 20th minute, Schalkes Raul Gonzalez rallied the hosts back in front with two goals on each side of halftime. But Llorente headed in the leveler in the 73rd to turn the high-tempo contest in Bilbaos favour for good, as Oscar de Marcos and Iker Muniain scored late on at Veltins Arena. "It was a great game," Llorente said. "It wasnt at all easy because they responded very well to our first goal. What Raul did was incredible. You cant ask anything more of a match." Also, Dutch league leader AZ Alkmaar beat Valencia 2-1, while Sporting Lisbon downed Ukrainian side Metalist Kharkiv 2-1. The second legs will be next Thursday. Both sides started well but Bilbao struck first through Llorente when he poked in his own rebound that goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand failed to hold on to. Bilbaos lead lasted just two minutes before Raul redirected Atsuto Uchidas cross inside the near post. The former Real Madrid star then made it 2-1 in the 60th with a dipping volley from outside the area. With Schalke pressing for another goal, Llorente muscled by a pair of defenders to flick in a corner for his 25th goal in all competitions. Back in the game, Bilbao showed the same attacking flair that led it to ousting Manchester United in the previous round as De Marcos netted the winner in the 81st off a rebound and Muniain sealed the win in stoppage time on a counterattack. "We knew they were good on the break, but we let our guard down," Schalke defender Christian Fuchs said. "Everyone wiill now be against us, but we can still pull off a miracle. . We need three goals but anything is possible." At Vicente Calderon Stadium, Radamel Falcao capitalized on Atleticos early dominance by heading home a free kick nine minutes in for his seventh goal of the competition this season. The Colombia striker is the Europa Leagues all-time leading scorer with 22 in 23 appearances. Hannover pulled even through Mame Dioufs 38th-minute goal and looked set to head back to Germany with a positive result until Eduardo Salvio blasted in a strike from long range to grab Atletico the victory in the 89th. "Thank God for the goal, it gives us some breathing room heading to Germany," Salvio said. In the Netherlands, Australia midfielder Brett Holman scored one and created another as AZ Alkmaar bettered Valencia, the third representative of the Spanish league to make the final eight. Holman put AZ in front with a powerful volley in the 45th but Mehmet Topal levelled for Valencia six minutes later off a header. Maarten Martens converted Holmans cross from six yards in the 78th to earn the win for AZ. Striker Roberto Soldado had two chances for Valencia just before Mertens goal but was twice denied by AZ goalkeeper Esteban Alvarado Brown. Sporting dealt Metalist Kharkiv its first away defeat in the competition with second-half goals from Marat Izmailov and Emiliano Insua. Izmailov scored off a cross from Diego Capel in the 51st minute, and Insua extended the Portuguese clubs lead 13 minutes later with a low drive from a free kick. Cleiton Xavier got a valuable away goal for Metalist Kharkiv with a 90th-minute penalty. Sporting has won all of its home games in the tournament this season but had yet to concede a goal at Jose Alvalade Stadium. ' ' '