04/20/24
November 03, 2005
What is Roberto Alomar thinking?: Roberto Alomar and Danny Bautista were reinstated from the voluntary retired list Thursday by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and the pair filed for free agency.
posted by the red terror to baseball at 07:17 PM - 11 comments
Who cares! If the guy likes to playball and someone is stupid enough to pay him, why not.
posted by needle park at 01:06 AM on November 04, 2005
Couldn't open the posted article without signing up for something. Without having read the post, I agree with the two previous comments. Hell, I'll play if some team is dumb enough to pay me.
posted by drevl at 09:27 AM on November 04, 2005
ALOMAR IS DONE!....he lost it a whie ago (before 2002 season) think he would fit in well with THE NEWARK BEARS, or one of those ATLANTIC LEAGUE Teams, doubt he will come back to "the show"
posted by no band waggon at 09:37 AM on November 04, 2005
(Here's a link that works.) I am wondering if he's doing it for the money, or if he thinks he's on the HOF bubble. Personally, I thought he was a shoo-in. But I also thought he retired to protect his career .300 batting average. The two WS championships, the Gold Gloves and the .300 mark look perfect on a bronze plaque. His BA faltered badly his last three seasons -- IMO the main reason he retired was to protect the .300 BA. (Might sound cynical of me, but it's not unreasonable, he did the same thing at the end of the 1995 season, benching himself to protect his season .300 average and make sure it looked pretty when he filed for free agency days afterward.) Alomar's career .300 is right now so tight, that a few bad games out of the gate and his average dips immediately below the magical mark -- maybe never to recover. And remember, he's now missed an extra season, which means he hasn't played at an elite level since 2001. He's also 276 hits away from 3000 hits. If he hits that target, then the sub-.300 BA becomes irrelevant. But Alomar would require two seasons of steady play and production to hit the target. (Alomar has 178 hits over his last two seasons played.) Do you think he might jeopardize his HOF chances? Or is he in regaradless of how bad he flops? Or maybe he doesn't care jack about Cooperstown and just wants to be flush with ca$$$h?? I also seem to recall Alomar having difficulty with his vision...did he ever get corrective eye surgery?
posted by the red terror at 09:51 AM on November 04, 2005
Well, I think he's already worthy to be enshrined and even at a reduced level - he's only going to add to his totals. I don't think he'll play enough to really hurt his chances, anyway. I can't see him getting 176 hits in two years - let alone one. The .300 average is sexy, but it's not what really makes him Hall worthy (defence, performance in the playoffs, the six year stretch when he was argualbly one of the best players in the game). At .295 he still has enough monster years (by comparison to both his peers and to historical second basemen) to more than qualify. Especially considering the blacklash that will affect the power hitters of his era - his type of career will have an even greater value. I don't think he's risking the Hall at all.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 10:13 AM on November 04, 2005
Roberto Alomar is going to the hall. He already has the crudentials no matter what he does now. In less he gets caught taking steroids, I dont see him not getting in.
posted by mannyfan at 11:06 AM on November 04, 2005
He was great when he played in Toronto. Hopefully the spitting incident won't keep him out of the HOF. He should go play with Ricky if he just wants to play ball.
posted by badbri41 at 11:39 AM on November 04, 2005
Someone'll take a chance on Alomar. A spot utility infielder who might still have a good year or two in him? Why not? Bautista... well, he'll be riding a bus somewhere in middle America, doing what he presumably loves. I can't really argue with that.
posted by chicobangs at 03:44 PM on November 04, 2005
I remember when this guy came over to the metropolitans and was proclaimed to be one of the best second basemen who ever lived. While he was in the blue and orange I got to see him on a more consitent basis and needless to say he did not impress. I can't think of a player in recent memory have such a huge turn around. I find the baseball HOF to be rather unpredictable (like Donnie Baseball still being shut out)
posted by HATER 187 at 04:37 PM on November 04, 2005
There's no way a 12 time all-star with 10 Gold Gloves who is inarguably the best second basemen of his era gets shut out of the hall.
posted by panoptican at 06:18 PM on November 04, 2005
I'm thinking that he's thinking I like to play baseball and if someone wants to pay me to play baseball even though I'm old and not very good, that would be sweet.