The Baseball Show Podcast: Hall Of Fame Episode

We’re back with another episode of the The Baseball Show. Clint, Mike and I had a game plan to keep it around an hour but our Hall of Fame talk went a bit long and the debut of “Ask MJ” was a runaway train. The show ended up being and hour and a half but you should stick around for the “Ask MJ” segment at the end so you can send in your nonsense questions for next week. Once again, I’ll leave the description to Mike from The Golden Sombrero because he takes minutes during the show while I just enjoy adult beverages…

"Hall of Fame Voting– Barry Larkin is the lone Hall of Fame inductee from the Class of 2012. Would we all have voted for him? Yes. As a Reds fan, Clint is especially pumped, and we’re pumped for him.– Larkin isn’t the only player we would have voted for…so who else? We’re not quite sold on Jack Morris, but how about Jeff Bagwell? Absolutely. Tim Raines? Absolutely. Edgar Martinez? Hopefully. Perhaps Frank Thomas’ imminent induction will open the door.– MJ highly recommends Rob Neyer’s article about players’ integrity and character– As we look ahead to the Class of 2013, we speculate about which players will make the cut? Our early unanimous votes go to Mike Piazza, Craig Biggio, and Curt Schilling.Reds bullpen– Clint weighs in on the Reds’ bullpen acquisitions, Sean Marshall and Ryan Madson.Howie Kendrick– A great deal for both teams as they lock up Kendrick for his prime years. We all consider him to be about the seventh or eighth best second baseman in baseball.MLB Injuries– This past week Dustin Penner of the L.A. Kings injured his back eating pancakes…seriously. Don’t worry, despite the injury he still finished the meal.– So naturally we discuss our favorite freak baseball injuries: Clint: Joel Zumaya injuring his elbow playing Guitar Hero; MJ: Clint Barmes falling down a flight of stairs while carrying a slab of deer meat; Mike (three-way tie): Smoltz ironing his shirt while wearing it, Kevin Mitchell microwaving a donut/cupcake that caused the microwave to explode, and Jeff Baker burning his ass while trying to light fights on fire with the Cubs pitchers.Ask MJ:Clint’s questions:– Jerry Dipoto: Over or under career fWAR of 5? – MJ answered under, and was wrong. Dipoto finished his career with a 6.6 fWAR.– Worst pick up line ever used on a woman: Told strippers he’s a baseball writer; told women he could get them on a lingerie football team when they were actually having open tryouts; he’s a race car driver.– In a four-year keeper league, would you rather have Justin Upton or Matt Kemp? – Kemp– You have to go the next year of your life without either looking at Fangraphs (or any Saber-related site) or drinking booze. Which one would you choose: No booze…it’s hard to be a blogger without using stats.Mike’s questions:Who will have more wins in 2012: Reds or White Sox? – RedsWho would win in a game of scrabble: Delmon Young or Colby Rasmus? – Colby RasmusName the three core ingredients in a Denver omelette: Green peppers, ham, and onions. Wow, he actually got it right, although his “I’m not even near a computer” claim remains suspect.Rapid Fire Round – Pick one:Chuck or Steve Finley: SteveFreddy or Jason: JasonBraun or Kemp: KempTodd Hundley or nobody: NobodyShane Victorino or Benny Agbayani: VictorinoTodd Walker or Neil Walker: Neil WalkerNomo or Dice-K: NomoBonds or Aaron: BondsGoldstein or Neyer: GoldsteinTrout or Harper: Mike TroutPaul Assenmacher or Terry Mulholland: MulhollandVernon Wells or a pile of rocks: After clarifying that I’m not referring to the rocks beyond the left-centerfield wall…rocks, hands down.Whiskey or Rum: RumWhich Hostess product will you be sad to see go? Snowball (Editor’s note: Gross)Have you ever considered entering the medical field? Somewhat. I am actually a certified medical coder.If you had the to domesticate one wild animal, what would it be? Probably a hawk or falcon to my bidding.Who will win the 2012 AL Rookie of the Year? NL? AL: Matt Moore; NL: Paul GoldschmidtHow many dugout/clubhouse brawls will the Marlins have in 2012? It will be a season-long brawl. Gatorade should remove all dispensers from their dugout."

Good times.