Special: 2021 Baseball Hall Of Fame

So I did one of these posts 2 years ago around this time, which you can find HERE I'm going to continue off that post since as per usual the Baseball Hall of Fame is a very slow moving process however 5 players on that ballot have since been voted in... Yay! So here are the returning votes:

Todd Helton: I've made no secret that I think Helton belongs in the Hall but voters hate guys that played in Colorado. Walker eventually got in on his last shot, Helton was less of a player than he was but hopefully with voter turnover Helton will get there one day.

Jeff Kent: Kent is on his 8th year on the ballot and hasn't really gained any notable ground. He is one of the best hitting 2B of all time, especially in the power department and has an MVP award with his name on it but it seems he'll be left on the outside looking in. I'll continue to check his name on my make belief ballot knowing he'll likely need a committee nomination to get in.

Scott Rolen: Unlike Kent, Rolen has seen some pretty nice gains since he was first included on the ballot and it seems he may actually get there one day, as he absolutely should. He was a quiet 3B that fielded everything cleanly and hit enough to be among the best of his era.

Omar Vizquel: Yikes, rough time for Vizquel to get some allegations against him. I definitely believe women and Vizquel was already a borderline case struggling to get support due to his lack of offence and now his ex-wife has claims domestic abuse. He'll stay on my ballot this year but expect him to drop off next year as soon as someone more deserving gets on.

Billy Wagner: He lacks the gawdy save totals the other relievers have in the hall, however the hall of fame is coming around on relievers and Wagner is as elite as they come so he should be given his due while he's still on the ballot.

Alright, let's check on the first year players:

Mark Buehrle
A.J. Burnett
Michael Cuddyer
Dan Haren
LaTroy Hawkins
Tim Hudson
Torii Hunter
Aramis Ramirez
Nick Swisher
Shane Victorino
Barry Zito

All these guys had fine careers but the only ones that really deserve a deep look are Buehrle, Hudson and Hunter. It'd be nice if these guys got the 5% they needed to stay on the ballot but no slam dunks here so I'll leave them off my ballot for now.

Now here's the other returnees I haven't touched on yet:

Bobby Abreu: When Abreu first hit the ballot last year he was in the same boat as the newcomers above I listed and he made it but unfortunately I'm not prepared to give him a spot on my ballot yet.

Barry Bonds: The roids and a loaded ballot kept him off my ballot in my 2019 write-up but with the ballot clearing class that year I added Bonds last year on my ballot and he stays on this year as he was likely a HOF without the roids he just wanted to be the best so he juiced like the other best players were doing.

Roger Clemens: See Bonds, Barry above. He gets my vote.

Andruw Jones: Jones was a borderline case for me in my last write-up as he had an absolute crazy peak of 5 years but not a whole lot outside of that. The loaded ballot clearing class of '19 also gave me the opportunity to add Jones on '20's ballot and he remains on this year as he's gotten some intriguing support as of late.

Andy Pettitte: In my last write-up I said I believed Pettitte was a HOF'er I just didn't have room on the ballot for him until this year with Jeter/Walker getting in last year. He was one of the last to get in because of the roids connection which may hold him back as he hasn't gotten much new support over the years but he still has time.

Manny Ramirez: Manny was a great hitter, but also a known roid user and was suspended for it multiple times even when it became illegal unlike the other known roid users on this list. I'm not completely shutting the door on voting Manny eventually but I just can't bring myself to drop anyone for a guy who failed several drug tests.

Curt Schilling: Racist asshole, working in his favour is he hasn't said or done anything stupid recently, he'll need to keep that up for another year as another year of silence may just get the writers to vote him in on his last chance on the ballot. But I can't see his name appearing on mine.

Gary Sheffield: Another one from my last write-up that I kinda glossed over due to the roid connection. He was a hell of a hitter and a hell of a bad defender. If he DH's consistently his numbers look great and he probably gets in. Unlike Manny he never failed a drug test once it became illegal and since I'm voting Pettitte, Bonds and Clemens I should have no problem adding Gary to the ballot so he'll take the other spot opened up from Jeter and Walker getting in.

Sammy Sosa: So based on the above I should vote for Sosa as well right? Well maybe. Like Manny I'm not closing the door on ever voting for him but I don't think any singular player was aided more by roids then Sammy. He went from likely being included in the "good career, but not a HOF'er" section to "The 600 homers say he should be in". 

That's all folks so to recap I'd be checking off 10 names on my ballot:

Barry Bonds
Roger Clemens
Todd Helton
Andruw Jones
Jeff Kent
Andy Pettitte
Scott Rolen
Gary Sheffield
Omar Vizquel
Billy Wagner

Special: Batman Vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Screwball, See You Yesterday Mini-Reviews

Batman Vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:

Synopsis: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles go to Gotham City and discover that the Foot Clan is working with the League of Assassins to reign terror over Gotham. Batman then teams up with the Turtles while investigating to save Gotham from the newfound alliance.

My thoughts: I had previously read the comic book series and worried it would be a near identical adaptation but it was changed enough while keeping the core story in tact that it was enjoyable for me without being too much of a retread. Overall the movie was strong but I wasn't a fan of the animation style so it's hard for me to call this a perfect movie. I will say that DC and Nickelodeon did a great job balancing this flick so it appeals to DCAU fans while still being kid friendly enough for the Nickelodeon fans.

Final verdict: 4 cartoon crossovers out of 5.

Screwball:

Synopsis: Recounting the high-profile doping scandal that rocked Major League Baseball, director Billy Corben (Cocaine Cowboys) takes us into the surreal Miami underworld that provided performance-enhancing drugs to Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez and other star players. They say South Florida is a sunny place for shady people and this is certainly true of steroid peddler Anthony Bosch and his most notorious client, Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees. While Bosch's medical credentials may be lacking, his storytelling skills are first rate as he hilariously details the rise and fall of his "health clinic", including mob connections, financial chicanery, his cocaine habit, and Rodriguez's eccentric behavior. The documentary plays like a madcap Floridian crime comedy in the vein of Elmore Leonard or the Coen Brothers while it raises serious questions about the ethics of professional sports. Powerful interests would be happy to let this story slip from memory, but Screwball makes it unforgettable.

My thoughts: You normally wouldn't rave over the storytelling of a documentary but you have to for Screwball. They have the real life people recounting their stories while children dressed like them act it out. It's a riot. It's compelling and it's incredibly interesting even if you only have passing knowledge of steroids in baseball.

Final verdict: 4 anti-aging clinics out of 5.

See You Yesterday:

Synopsis: High school best friends and science prodigies C.J. and Sebastian spend every spare minute working on their latest homemade invention: backpacks that enable time travel. But when C.J.'s older brother Calvin dies after an encounter with police officers, the young duo decide to put their unfinished tech to use in a desperate bid to save Calvin. From director Stefon Bristol and producer Spike Lee comes See You Yesterday, a sci-fi adventure grounded in familial love, cultural divides and the universal urge to change the wrongs of the past.

My thoughts: A nice modern day time travel tale. I'll be up front in saying sci-fi is not my cup of tea so this was a harder sell but as far as these things go this was fine even if it was a tad predictable the powerfulness of the story made up for that.

Final verdict: 3 time travelling backpacks out of 5.

Special: 2019 Baseball Hall of Fame

It's time for the baseball hall of fame ballots to go out so I've decided to share with you my ballot... Well my ballot if I actually got one. First off some background. To be on you need to have spent 10 years in the major leagues and have been retired for at least the last 5. Once your name is included on the ballot you need to keep at least 5% of the vote to continue on the next year up to a total of 10 years before you drop off.

So in saying that there are 35 players on the ballot this year, the vast majority will drop off after their first year so lets weed those out right away as they are not worth talking about in this context. Fine careers all of them but just not hall of fame worthy:

Rick Ankiel
Jason Bay
Freddy Garcia
Jon Garland
Travis Hafner
Ted Lilly
Derek Lowe
Darren Oliver
Juan Pierre
Placido Polanco
Vernon Wells
Kevin Youkilis

Other first year candidates:

Lance Berkman
Roy Halladay
Todd Helton
Roy Oswalt
Andy Pettitte
Mariano Rivera
Miguel Tejada
Michael Young

So in this 2nd grouping we see some definite hall of famers. Rivera deserves to be there but a few years ago we saw Trevor Hoffman be left off 1st year ballots because some voters felt "he wasn't a first ballot HOFer" which is ludicrous but I don't expect that to Rivera. He'll get in. Outside of him it's a big question mark though. Halladay and Pettitte will probably get in eventually but on the first ballot? Not likely for Pettitte, it's possible with the late great Halladay departing this world the sympathy will get him in first ballot, which he deserves. Oswalt is the only other pitcher on this list, I think he has a HOF case but it'll likely be a slow build.

How about the franchise cornerstones of Young and Helton? I think there is a possibility Young falls off right away but I think enough people will have a soft spot for him in Texas to keep him on at least 1 year. Helton has a legit HOF shot but as we'll see later people who spent their career in Colorado don't get the respect they deserve and he's also likely looking at an uphill 10 year battle on the ballot. Berkman is another cornerstone, although he did bounce out of Houston at the end of his career. I don't personally think he belongs in the HOF but I wouldn't argue against it. He's close. But with guys like Fred McGriff struggling to get traction I can see Berkman following suit. The last guy is Miguel Tejada. I wanted to highlight him since his offence numbers certainly appear hall worthy but he has steroids hanging over his head and if guys with better numbers can't get in it's likely Tejada falls off after this year.

Now onto the returnees, years on the ballot in parentheses:

Andruw Jones (2)
Scott Rolen (2)
Omar Vizquel (2)
Manny Ramirez (3)
Billy Wagner (4)
Gary Sheffield (5)
Jeff Kent (6)
Mike Mussina (6)
Sammy Sosa (7)
Curt Schilling (7)
Barry Bonds (7)
Roger Clemens (7)
Larry Walker (9)
Fred McGriff (10)
Edgar Martinez (10)

Let's tackle the steroid issue right off the bat. Bonds and Clemons were 2 of the best to ever play the game of baseball. Yes it's obvious they both used roids later on in their careers. But you can make the argument that both had already had HOF worthy careers when their heads grew 10 sizes. The same probably can not be said for other known steroid users Sheffield, Ramirez and Sosa. Until Bonds and Clemons get in (which will happen eventually) the other 3 don't have a chance. There's an argument that the hall should've just given the voters guidelines to follow when it comes to steroid users but once some break through I think that opens up the possibility of other standouts to get through.

Both McGriff and Martinez are looking at their last years on the ballot. Martinez is a slam dunk for election but unfortunately for the Crime Dog, he'll have to hope for better luck from the Vet's committee in the coming years as he'll no doubt fall short. On his penultimate year on the ballot Walker is looking to move up like Martinez did last year setting up a final year election but as mentioned earlier playing in Colorado did him no favours even though he no doubt deserves to be in the hall. That leaves one other position player on the ballot for 3+ years with Jeff Kent. He was one of the best hitting, if not the best, for a decade at the 2nd base position unfortunately his voting seems stalled but he can always hope for a surge in his last few years like Martinez and Walker got.

Only 3 first-timers from last year didn't get elected and got over 5% to move on. All 3 are known for their defense primarily, however surprisingly, the worst hitter among them has the best shot to get in with SS Vizquel, detractors will point to his sub .700 OPS but others point to his longevity and considered one of the best at the hardest position in baseball as reasons to vote him in. I believe all 3 of these guys have HOF resumes but I believe Rolen's speaks the loudest especially compared to other 3B that are already in the hall. He ranks mere percentage points behind Ron Santo in War and ahead of many other hall 3B even if most played in the dead ball era. Jones is a hard one to peg, he really only had 8 great, full seasons... However he was among the top 5 baseball players during those seasons. I think he can get in, but he'll have to campaign and it'll be a long drag out several years.

That leaves us with only a handful of pitchers to look at. I'm a Billy Wagner believer, unfortunately he was no Hoffman or Rivera so he doesn't get the attention they did but he was one of 5 guys to get 400 career saves. Sure Franco and Smith should be in but we are just now starting to realize the importance of elite relievers and I believe both will get their due eventually so why not give Wagner his while we can? How Mussina isn't in already is crazy to me but I think he'll get in, if not this year then certainly next year. That leaves us with Schilling. Look at the numbers, he belongs in the HOF, but he's also a racist asshole and there's no need for that kind of attention in the hall.

Having said all this this is how my ballot would look:

Roy Halladay
Todd Helton
Jeff Kent
Edgar Martinez
Mike Mussina
Mariano Rivera
Scott Rolen
Omar Vizquel
Billy Wagner
Larry Walker

The big decisions was to leave off  Bonds, Clemons, Pettitte and Jones. Leaving Jones and Pettitte was strictly because they have lots of years left on the ballot. Bonds and Clemons deserve to be in the hall but there just wasn't any room on my ballot for them this year and if someones gonna go it's going to be the steroid users. Rivera and Martinez are slam dunks to get in this year and with only Derek Jeter looking like a likely 1st year vote next year it's very possible they'd both make it on next year, especially if Mussina or Halladay can join this years hall of fame class.