LA Angels Weekend News Crash: Minnie Things to Discuss

Have you heard about the lockout? Yeah, MLB owners and players are trying to figure out how to split up a huge pile of money. Apparently they can’t figure that out and operate at the same time.

So there’s not a ton of new stuff to link right now.

And don’t expect that to change any time soon. The owners and union will enjoy their holidays before resuming talks in January.

One thing that never stops is the need to give back. David Fletcher is hosting a poker tournament to raise funds for Summer Harvest Food 4 Kids. You can buy your tickets at www.summerharvest.us and help support this cause. There are tickets for food and the meet and greet for us non- poker players. I’ll see you there.

When the freeze is lifted, the Angels still have some team building to do. How much is left likely hinges on whether the team considers Marsh and/or Adell worthy of starting.

It could also hinge on whether other teams consider them worthy trade chips. Not to be overly dramatic, but how Perry views these two will drastically impact the Angels roster for years to come.

During this pause in the action we can look and see what teams are paying per WAR on the free agent market and how it compares to recent years.

Continuing on with the theme of honoring the greats of the past recently inducted into the Hall of Fame, let’s take a look at Minnie Minoso.

I think it is important to put how different the baseball landscape was during Minoso’s career. While rosters are populated with dark skinned guys from Latin America in the modern game, that wasn’t the case in Minoso’s day. Minoso was the first black player on the White Sox.

Also, counting stats and batting average were more valued in his time than they are now. Leading the league in hits and batting average really meant something as contact was preached, not power. The two strike approach, putting the ball in play, hitting behind the runner, speed on the base paths. Those were the things highly valued in his day (and under valued today IMO) and Minoso was great at all of those.

This is a really great article on Minoso’s career. I wish this was in print so I could feel the pages and see the glossy photos.

Here’s another great piece on Minoso from a website I just found called cooperstowncred.com that looks to have plenty of things for future links. This piece also touches on the informal quota teams placed on players of color back in his day, which I think is important. You had to be starter quality to make the squad. This might have denied him an opportunity to play in a utility role for a few years, extending his career and increasing his career stats.

Minoso is hailed as “a real hero” by those who knew him and played alongside of him. There’s a great quote in there from his son.

Minoso was truly “Mr. White Sox” and will always be remembered fondly for those in the organization and the fans who saw him play, coach, and be a goodwill ambassador for the club and baseball.

Speaking of the Hall of Fame, the bowtie takes a look at why roid freak David Ortiz is expected to get so many more HOF votes than roid freak Sammy Sosa. At least Sosa played defense.