Here's where we start to reach a little. Here's the full results again.
Will- Stacey King
If I was Will, I would justify this by just linking to the Stacey King soundboard.
Oh, you were expecting that link to go the soundboard, weren't you? Well, I'm not Will, so instead it goes to his career stats. 6.4 points! 3.3 rebounds! That kind of sucks for a big man! While Stacey is awesome as a color commentator, he never really lived up to his potential as the 6th pick of the draft, ahead of Tim Hardaway and Shawn Kemp.
Gomez- Robbie Gould
Gomez picked Robbie Gould about 10 rounds before you'd pick a kicker in a fantasy football draft. Next.
Ron- Lou Brock
Ron's draft was solid until this point, but Ron doesn't have Ethan's excuse of not understanding the criteria. Thus, Lou Brock is not a good pick. Lou Brock played 2 and a half seasons in Chicago, where he put up OPS+ numbers of 92 and 91 (100 is average), and stole a grand total of 50 bases. Here is a short list of Cubs outfielders off the top of my head who accomplished more than that in their first two seasons in Chicago:
Matt Murton (104, 99)
Kosuke Fukudome (89, 104)
Rondell White (115, 134)
Jeromy Burnitz (94, just one season)
Jacque Jones (108, 86)
Conall- Horace Grant
Horace was great, but the most iconic image of Grant is him celebrating beating the Bulls in the 95 playoffs. Then he talked trash and generally acted like an asshole after (I suppose he had a little right to, but still.) Then he and the Magic got swept in the finals by the Rockets, and the Bulls got revenge the next year.
BJ- Greg Maddux
Even keeping within the technical rules of the draft and discounting Maddux's time with the Braves doesn't affect my rationale for picking him here. Maddux's primary appeal to me growing up was how easy it was to connect with him as a somewhat unathletic, undersized, nerdy kid who loved sports. His legendary preparation and thoughtful approach to pitching are what made him historically successful, but he made the idea real to me that you actually could excel at the highest level by out-thinking the opponent. Also culturally ahead of his time making nerdiness cool in the 90s with the Chicks Dig the Long Ball commercials.
Sam- John Paxson
As a 5th round choice, John Paxson is kind of a steal. Not only was he an essential component of the first three championship for the Bulls in the 1990s - including draining the game-winning shot in Game 6 of the Finals against Phoenix - but he continues his contribution today as the very capable VP of basketball operations for the Bulls. While he may have bogusly fired Scott Skiles on Christmas Eve many years ago and was responsible for the debacle of VDN while he was the GM, he helped bring in TT into the fold and has consistently drafted and signed quality players who buy in to the team system. Bonus points for him being an assistant coach for the Bulls championship team in 1996.
Ethan- Carlos Lee
Again, Carlos Lee had some nice years on the South Side, I suppose, but he's now played almost as long for Houston as the White Sox, and he was gone by 2005 anyway. Meh.
Katz- Toni Kukoc
I don't have too many knocks on Toni, he always did what he was supposed to do, which was be an all-around offensive weapon. He sucked at defense, though, which is why I feel good about my next pick...
Tristan- Ron Harper
There was clearly a huge run on Bulls, so I felt the need to take one of my favorite Bulls, and one I have newfound respect for know that I understand basketball better than I did back in the 90s. Reading Phil Jackson's book The Last Season, he makes a great case for Ron Harper being more instrumental than I realized to the 2nd 3-peat, since he, along with Scottie, just understood defense better than most NBA players. Phil would take Ron out at the end of games and put in Steve Kerr, to open things up a little for MJ, so he's not in some of the most iconic moments in Bulls history, but they wouldn't have gotten there without him.
Showing posts with label Greg Maddux. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greg Maddux. Show all posts
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Monday, May 18, 2009
Thanks for the Memories, Greg?
One thing I always appreciated about the Cubs growing up was that, as an organization, they didn't shove their history down your throat. Sure, I knew about the billy goat, the sign in right field, and every year an uninspired sportswriter or two would brush off an article about curses and whatnot, but I feel like the Cubs themselves mainly focused on who was on the field.
I think one of the places where I appreciated this the most was in the fact that a 100-year old organization had only retired 2 numbers. I remember asking my dad about Ernie Banks and Billy Williams when I was young, thinking they must have been pretty special players if they were the only ones deemed worthy to have their numbers hanging from the foul poles. I also remember being confused when the Cubs were on the road and I saw other teams with upwards of a dozen numbers retired. I was kind of happy that the teams I root for (the Bulls as well, who only had 2 at the time,) were the kind of teams that don't retire numbers willy-nilly (coughMiamiHeatcough)
I was happy both times when Ron Santo and Ryne Sandberg joined them. I'm completely fine with Santo getting bonus points for his work in the booth. Both players had great careers that will forever be associated with Chicago Cubs baseball.
Which is where I have a problem with Maddux. I get that both Maddux and Fergie wore 31, which was at least part of the impetus for retiring their number at the same time. I was a little skeptical at first that 4 players from a team that pulled off one of the most notable collapses of all time needed their numbers retired (I know Ernie was on the very downside of his career then, but still.) But after checking Fergie's baseball reference page, I have to admit he has some stats that jump out at you, like a consistent ERA+ over 120 and a few years leading the league in BB/9 and WHIP.
But then you look at Maddux's page. Fergie's best year was below average for Maddux. Greg has back-to-back ERA+ years of 271 and 262! He led the majors in BB/9 pretty much every year in the 90s. You could make the argument that Greg Maddux is the best player to ever put on a Cubs uniform.
So why am I against his number being retired? 5 years from now Maddux is going into the hall of fame. It should be unanimous, or at least any writer who leaves him off should have his or her voting rights examined. But he's going in with an A on his cap, not a C. Maddux gave his best years to the Atlanta Braves because the Cubs were too stingy to pay him what he deserved (in fact, probably less than he deserved, considering his salaries in those mid-90s years were in the 6 million range.) You can't go back now and pretend those years didn't happen. Greg started just as many playoff games against the Cubs (1) as he did for them. I know Fergie pitched for other teams, too, but he will be remembered as a Cub, and for good reason. While we love Maddux, let's face it: he's a Brave.
Fergie- 167 wins as a Cub
117- other teams
Greg- 133 as a Cub
222- other teams (mostly Atlanta) (PS- did you know he was at 16 wins in 94 when the season was shut down?)
It's not quite the Heat retiring friggin Dan Marino's number, but it still didn't sit well with me.
Future posts:
1. Rick Telander, Ryan Theriot, and steroids
2. If you could go back to the last regular season Bulls game against Toronto and have them win, setting up a series with Orlando, would you?
I think one of the places where I appreciated this the most was in the fact that a 100-year old organization had only retired 2 numbers. I remember asking my dad about Ernie Banks and Billy Williams when I was young, thinking they must have been pretty special players if they were the only ones deemed worthy to have their numbers hanging from the foul poles. I also remember being confused when the Cubs were on the road and I saw other teams with upwards of a dozen numbers retired. I was kind of happy that the teams I root for (the Bulls as well, who only had 2 at the time,) were the kind of teams that don't retire numbers willy-nilly (coughMiamiHeatcough)
I was happy both times when Ron Santo and Ryne Sandberg joined them. I'm completely fine with Santo getting bonus points for his work in the booth. Both players had great careers that will forever be associated with Chicago Cubs baseball.
Which is where I have a problem with Maddux. I get that both Maddux and Fergie wore 31, which was at least part of the impetus for retiring their number at the same time. I was a little skeptical at first that 4 players from a team that pulled off one of the most notable collapses of all time needed their numbers retired (I know Ernie was on the very downside of his career then, but still.) But after checking Fergie's baseball reference page, I have to admit he has some stats that jump out at you, like a consistent ERA+ over 120 and a few years leading the league in BB/9 and WHIP.
But then you look at Maddux's page. Fergie's best year was below average for Maddux. Greg has back-to-back ERA+ years of 271 and 262! He led the majors in BB/9 pretty much every year in the 90s. You could make the argument that Greg Maddux is the best player to ever put on a Cubs uniform.
So why am I against his number being retired? 5 years from now Maddux is going into the hall of fame. It should be unanimous, or at least any writer who leaves him off should have his or her voting rights examined. But he's going in with an A on his cap, not a C. Maddux gave his best years to the Atlanta Braves because the Cubs were too stingy to pay him what he deserved (in fact, probably less than he deserved, considering his salaries in those mid-90s years were in the 6 million range.) You can't go back now and pretend those years didn't happen. Greg started just as many playoff games against the Cubs (1) as he did for them. I know Fergie pitched for other teams, too, but he will be remembered as a Cub, and for good reason. While we love Maddux, let's face it: he's a Brave.
Fergie- 167 wins as a Cub
117- other teams
Greg- 133 as a Cub
222- other teams (mostly Atlanta) (PS- did you know he was at 16 wins in 94 when the season was shut down?)
It's not quite the Heat retiring friggin Dan Marino's number, but it still didn't sit well with me.
Future posts:
1. Rick Telander, Ryan Theriot, and steroids
2. If you could go back to the last regular season Bulls game against Toronto and have them win, setting up a series with Orlando, would you?
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