2018 Hall of Fame Ballot!

Once again, tomorrow is the date for one of my favorite debates.  Who should be in the Hall of Fame? 

First, I'm going to go through my "ballot" (remember, you can only vote for 10).  Second, I'm going to give a simple yes or no for whether each guy on the ballot should be in.

My ballot (alphabetical order):

Vladimir Guerrero

            The best bad ball hitter I've ever seen (though I hear Yogi Berra was pretty good).  Tons of power, plenty of speed (though the Montreal turf destroyed his knees), a cannon of an arm.  The only knock was he was pretty bad with the glove, but who cares?  Has to get in his second year.

Trevor Hoffman

            Those who say "he wasn't Mariano" are stupid and have a ridiculously high bar for success.  He was the second best closer of his time.  Plus, there's no beating him entering to Hells Bells (they basically invented the closer walkup music).  The only knock I've seen against him was his postseason record.  I would counter the postseason should only help your chances, not hurt them.  I'm not joking when I say I am waiting for my return trip to Cooperstown until after he is in.

Chipper Jones

            This is a reluctant vote to show I am not biased.  I hated Chipper.  First, because he was a rival (in my mind at least) to Caminiti.  Second, because the Astros could never get past those annoying Braves.  But, I can't argue with his stats.

Jeff Kent

            Added to my ballot this year because there's more room.  One of the greatest offensive second basemen of all time.  He had a decent glove but was apparently not a great teammate.

Edgar Martinez

            The greatest designated hitter of all time (sorry Papi), only injuries and a late start kept him from 3000 hits.

Fred McGriff

            The second greatest casualty (after the Expos) of the 1994 strike, because he fell 7 home runs short of 500.  It's crazy he doesn't get more consideration, especially since people now want to laud clean power hitters from the 90s.

Curt Schilling

            Perhaps the most dominant postseason starter in the modern era, it was also unquestioned that when he paired with Randy Johnson in Arizona they were the best 1-2 punch of their time.  Anybody who doesn't vote for him because of his post-career outspokenness is an idiot.

Jim Thome

            Do you realize he hit 612 home runs?  In any other era, that number would be bonkers.  He also had a lifetime .956 OPS, way better than Sheffield or Sosa (fourth best on the ballot, behind Bonds, Ramirez, and Walker).

Billy Wagner

            Closers are supposed to be dominant.  Nobody, except maybe Mariano, has been more dominant.  Only his lack of innings is keep his consideration down.

Larry Walker

            As someone else said, if you vote for Vladimir you have to vote for Larry.  They were basically the same person, but Larry was less flashy (and he played in Colorado).  He also had one of the strongest arms in right field you will ever see.

So there's my 10, and honestly there's only one other that I would consider:

Barry Bonds - blatant roid user, no

Chris Carpenter - no

Roger Clemens - same boat as Bonds

Johnny Damon - no

Livan Hernandez - no

Orlando Hudson - no

Aubrey Huff - no

Jason Isringhausen - no

Andruw Jones - no, an annoying showoff in the field, he coasted defensively on reputation and offensively on a couple of good seasons, his drop off was dramatic

Carlos Lee - HA! no

Brad Lidge - no

Hideki Matsui - no

Kevin Millwood - no

Jamie Moyer - no

Mike Mussina - Yes - 270 wins and a 123 career ERA+ pitching entire career in AL East (same as Juan Marichal, better than Bob Feller, Eddie Plank, Don Drysdale, Warren Spahn, etc.)

Manny Ramirez - no - twice tested positive

Scott Rolen - no, though he was underrated

Johan Santana - no because of injuries, he still pitched the most impressive game I've seen in person (and I've seen a no hitter)

Gary Sheffield - based on numbers, yes, but no

Sammy Sosa - no, see Bonds

Omar Vizquel - no and I don't understand why there's even a debate.  Sure, he was flashy with the glove (or no glove), but he was terrible offensively and only put up big counting numbers due to longevity

Kerry Wood - no

Carlos Zambrano - heck no (I seriously hated this guy)

Rome Pilgrimage Day 8: Final Day

Our final day in Rome began with an early trip to the Vatican for the Papal Audience.  Though it was scheduled to start at 10:00, we got there before 8:00 for seats.  Thankfully, since this is still winter, it took place inside a large auditorium with seats rather than outside in St. Peter’s Square.  I’m not one for waiting in large crowds.  Also thankfully Pope Francis actually made his entrance before 10:00.  The way it works is that the Gospel for Sunday is read in various languages (Italian, French, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Arabic), then the Pope gives his reflection for the week (a catechesis on the Mass, in particular the Gloria), and that is then translated into those languages with greetings to the pope and from the pope.  In all it was about 45 minutes.  We booked it out of there as the pope was greeting the bishops in attendance to beat the crowd.

Let's be honest, the hall is ugly

A friend and I then walked over to the Castel Sant’Angelo, the last place I really wanted to visit on this trip.  It’s named after the large Saint Michael statue on top.  This castle is very close to St. Peter’s and has been built up over the centuries.  It began as a fortress by Emperor Hadrian (he of the wall in England and many other construction projects) and eventually became a hideout for popes when Rome was under attack.  In fact, there was a skywalk of sorts built connecting the papal apartments with the castle.  It was a very cool tour, starting on the ramparts and then working through the layers of the inner castle.  In the 1920s it was turned into a military museum, so they still have some artifacts in there.  It was well worth it, and especially interesting given our church history classes.

After that we were pretty much pooped and wanted some rest before travel day tomorrow.  We walked back to the hotel, grabbed lunch (with the rector, who happened to walk in soon after us), and I had about an hour of rest.

Don't think I've ever seen a catapult like this in person

Standing guard

Guard room

St. Michael

Pretty great view of the Vatican

Just a taste of the armaments

Two Michaels

Pope's apartment

Then, it was time to head to Chiesa Nouva for Mass.  This beautiful church is notable for being founded by St. Philip Neri.  We were able to have Mass in the chapel that holds his body.  Due to his devotion to Mary, the church is filled with beautiful paintings dedicated to Our Mother.  It even includes a Caravaggio and works by Rubens.

The Caravaggio (obviously it was dark in there)

Tonight we had our formal going-away dinner.  It’s always that kind of bittersweet time of a trip.  I’m happy to be going home, but I’ll miss Italy.  I hope to be back sooner than the 7 years since my last time here.

Rome Pilgrimage Day 7: St. Peter's

Today will go down as the Vatican day, or the walking day (I logged over 9 miles today).  We began with early entrance in St. Peter’s and Mass at the tomb of St. John Paul II.  It’s always a privilege to be on such holy ground.  I was there before, of course, but there is never enough time to take everything in.  I especially love walking in and immediately seeing Michelangelo’s most famous Pieta, probably my favorite statue.

JPII Altar

After this we made our way to the Vatican Museums.  It took awhile to get everyone wrangled, but we eventually made our way in.  I had already made plans for lunch with someone, and knew I might not have time to see everything, so I was told it was okay to roam ahead if needed.  Unfortunately we had the same guide as yesterday, so when we entered he spent way too long talking about the Vatican and the history of the state, etc.  I had enough, so I took off to spend more time where I wanted to.

I breezed through the Ancient Greece and Rome stuff, and slowed down through the magnificent Hall of Maps (amazing gold ceiling, walls lined with maps of Italy).  I also took my time through the Papal Apartments painted by Raphael.  While the School of Athens is always a site, I of course prefer the Disputation of the Sacrament on the opposite wall.  A couple of others guys caught up with me, and we were able to spend some quality time in the Sistine Chapel.  Just like my previous visit, while most people spend their time looking up, I was again transfixed by the Last Judgment.  It’s an awe-inspiring place (no photo!).

Umbria

Florence

The Disputation

School of Athens

After finishing I had a little time before lunch, so myself and another seminarian stopped off for a little gelato (amazing dark chocolate and mixed berries) and then meandered down the main religious artifacts street Borgo Pio.  I was able to pick up some holy cards to be blessed by the pope at the audience tomorrow.  Then, it started to pour.  As quickly as I could, I made my way to the restaurant for lunch.  It was a great chance to catch up with a priest friend from Houston.

Following lunch, it was back to the Vatican for the Scavi tour.  That simply means a tour of the excavations below St. Peter’s in the 1940s.  It was especially great that it was lead by a Madison seminarian!  No photos down there, but it was really cool to see the Necropolis, “Dead City,” uncovered below St. Peter’s.  Long story short, the tour ends at the bones of St. Peter which lie directly below the high altar.

After this tour, another seminarian and I took a taxi to another major store that sells clerical attire.  This was an adventure on its own, since I had no address, only a vague area, and the taxi dropped us off a 15 minute walk away (and way over charged us).  While I did not purchase anything, I saw this of course that I wanted.  Then, we decided to walk back to the hotel.  I was very happy that I used my map skills to find our way back in nearly the most economical way.

By the time we got back, it was almost time for me to immediately turn around and meet up with my diocesan brothers for a fantastic dinner at a restaurant near the Vatican.  We had a great time eating great food (antipasti, lasagna, tiramisu (finally) and limoncello (again finally)) and more importantly great companionship.

Tomorrow will be dominated by the papal audience and some more needed free time in the afternoon.

Rome Pilgrimage Day 6: Major Basilicas Galore!

Between last night and today, we toured three of the four major basilicas.

It started last night when we were hosted by Cardinal Harvey at St. Paul Outside the Walls.  He is from Milwaukee and is the titular cardinal of this basilica.  It is a truly enormous and inspiring place.  There are two main highlights.  First, it includes the images of each of the popes around the top.  The current pope is always specially lit.  Second, it includes the body of St. Paul and the chains when he was under arrest in Rome.  Cardinal Harvey was, as always, an amazing host.  He personally gave us the tour of the church.  He then led us in Vespers (Evening Prayer).  Following this, Cardinal Burke, who is from the Diocese of LaCrosse (in Wisconsin), arrived.  I was extremely blessed to be able to meet him and shake his hand.  He’s a rock star in my book.

At one point this was the largest church in the West

St. Paul is buried behind the grating, the chains are just above it in a box

We then were able to have dinner.  Since Cardinal Harvey is a huge supporter of the seminarians from Wisconsin who are studying in Rome, all of them were invited.  This meant that I was able to have dinner with my brothers from Madison.  We were waiting for everyone to end when, huge surprise, Cardinal Burke sat across from me!  I was so awestruck I could barely talk with him the whole night.  It was a great night.

This morning we started with a bus ride dropping us off on Palatine Hill.  We had a brief walk by the Coliseum before making our way to our first real stop, San Clemente.  As a historian, of course, I love the Roman stuff, so it was hard for me to walk by it all so quickly, even if I have been here before.

San Clemente is a big deal because it is a great example of a Medieval church in Rome (no photo) and it has a beautiful mosaic above the altar.  It was built on the site of one of the original “house churches” which have been recently excavated, so we were able to walk through those sites. 

We were then off to our next major basilica: St. John Lateran.  First, we stopped across the street for the Holy Steps, stairs brought back from Jerusalem by St. Helen, Constantine’s mother, that were where Jesus stood during his sentencing.  To ascend the steps themselves you must go on your knees.  I was unable to, so I walked up the side steps and spent some time in the upper chapels.

Next was St. John Lateran itself, the cathedral of Rome and the seat of the pope.  I had visited her before, but with Mass going on I was only able to see a little bit.  This time, I was able to explore more.  One highlight is the huge statues of the apostles (plus Paul) flanking the main nave.  Another major aspect is the heads of Peter and Paul in the baldacchino.  It is a truly magnificent church with more amazing parts that I simply can’t include here.  It was a real treat.

St. John

St. Peter

St. Paul

The heads

The Seat of Peter

We then hopped the bus over to our next major basilica, St. Mary Major.  First, though, was a quick lunch (including a stop off for gelato, my second in Italy – lemon and mixed berry, yum).  St. Mary Major was another church that I had visited but because of Mass could not really see.  I am especially glad to return here.  We had enough time that I had a half hour or so to pray before the tour began.  The tour was given by the canon of the church, a priest from Boston (including all requisite stereotypes)!  This was a real treat because he gave us kind of an insider’s tour.  Parts of this church, including the main columns, date back to 431!  One of the first things that cannot be missed is the gold ceiling, which only popped more when the turned the lights on (a real WOW moment).  Then, below the altar, is Jesus’ crib.  He asked us to pray for our families, with the intercession of the Holy Family, and then led us in Silent Night.  Next, we were able to see the sanctuary behind the altar including the amazing mosaic.  We were also shocked to find out that St. Jerome’s relics are in the altar!  The tour continued to the other side altars and finally up to the loggia, the “front porch.”  What a fantastic view!  The only bummer was that we were not able to get into the crucifixion side altar which includes the recently interred body of Cardinal Law. 

Chapel where Cardinal Harvey said Mass for us

The crib

I intentionally took this picture so that the cross is covering up the hideous window placed in the 90s

View from the loggia

Our day ended with another great Italian meal somewhere in unknown Rome.  Tomorrow we have an early wake-up call for Mass in St. Peter’s!  Hopefully the expected rain won’t “dampen” the day too much!