2018 Major League Baseball Millhouse Awards

Mike Trout - Photo taken by Daniel Millhouse

Before all the awards are announced and I fall too far behind the media outlets, I give you the 2018 Major League Baseball Millhouse Awards. As a bonus, I give you a comparison of my pre-season compared to what actually happened.

American League:

MVP: J.D. Martinez...Admittedly, I did not see Martinez being in competition for a possible triple crown in the American League. He had the power, but I did not foresee his average being so high.

Runners Up: 2. Mookie Betts, 3. Jose Altuve, 4. Mike Trout, 5. Francisco Lindor.

Preseason Prediction: 1. Manny Machado, 2. Mike Trout, 3. Aaron Judge, 4. Francisco Lindor, 5. Mookie Betts...Looking at my preseason predictions, I didn't do so bad. Aaron Judge's injury knocked him out of contention. Being traded to the Dodgers took out Machado's chances.

Cy Young: Blake Snell...Definitely didn't see him challenging for the Cy Young Award, especially pitching for Tampa Ray. In any other season Verlander would have been the front runner.

Runners Up: 2. Justin Verlander, 3. Gerrit Cole, 4. Edwin Diaz, 5. Corey Kluber.

Preseason Prediction: 1. Corey Kluber, 2. Justin Verlander, 3. Chris Sale, 4. Luis Severino, 5. Gerrit Cole...I was pretty spot on with Verlander, Kluber, and Cole. Severino would probably be the sixth or seventh place guy if I went that deep. 

Rookie of the Year: Miguel Andujar...Just missed hitting .300 with 30 homers and he plays in one of the toughest cities for a rookie to start their career in. To top it off, Andujar wasn't the top projected Yankee rookie prior to the season.

Runners Up: 2. Shohei Ohtani, 3. Gleyber Torres, 4. Joey Wendle, 5. Daniel Palka.

Preseason Prediction: 1. Gleyber Torres, 2. Willy Adames, 3. Joey Wendle...This was definitely the year of impact rookies. Gleyber Torres's stats would have won a Rookie of the Year award in most seasons. Adames did well, but didn't play a full enough season. Ohtani, as predicted, ended up hurting himself while pitching.

Fireman of the Year: Edwin Diaz...I would not have predicted that he would be even one of the top five closers, let alone a top 10. I was wrong 57 saves later.

Runners Up: 2. Blake Treinen, 3. Aroldis Chapman, 4. Craig Kimbrell, 5. Jose Leclerc 

Manager of the Year: 1. Bob Melvin...He got so much out of the lowest payroll in baseball.

Runners Up: 2. AJ Hinch, 3. Kevin Cash, 4. Alex Cora, 5. Aaron Boone

Most Improved Player: Whit Merrifield...He hit .304, stole 45 bases, scored 88 runs, and hit 12 homers. And no one noticed.

Silver Sluggers: C - Yan Gomes, 1B - Edwin Encarnacion, 2B - Jose Altuve, 3B - Alex Bregman, SS - Francisco Lindor, OF - Mookie Betts, Mike Trout, Khris Davis , DH - J.D. Martinez

League Review: The majority of my runners up predictions came true. The award winner for each category came out of nowhere. I think anyone would be lying if they said that they saw Ian Snell being in contention of the Cy Young. I believe Mookie Betts is the front runner to win with the baseball writers, but how can you write off a hitter who almost won the triple crown? As far as Andujar possibly winning the Rookie of the Year, I would have thought his teammate was the more likely candidate to win the award. 

As far as the American League standings, I did fairly well if you take a look at my preseason predictions. The Mariners were a surprise and the A's doing as well as they did was also a surprise. But I did have the Yankees, Red Sox, Astros, and Indians all going to the playoffs. 

National League:

MVP: Christian Yellich...I had in in my preseason top five and drafted him in my fantasy leagues. He even did better than expected, taking a triple crown race to the final game of the season. He hit .326, 36 homers, 110 RBI's, and stole 22 bases. 

Runners Up: 2. Nolan Arenado, 3. Javy Baez, 4. Trevor Story, 5. Max Scherzer.

Preseason Prediction: 1. Nolan Arenado, 2. Paul Goldschmidt, 3. Bryce Harper, 4. Christian Yellich, 5. Max Scherzer...Goldschmidt would probably be sixth if I went that deep. He still had a great season. Bryce Harper fell off from a batting average standpoint, dropping his MVP candidacy. Yellich's homers surprised me and Trevor Story challenging his teammate, Arenado, for best player on the Rockies was a bit surprising too.

Cy Young: Max Scherzer...This is the closest race for an award this season. It was a coin flip between deGrom and Scherzer, but I felt Scherzer edges him out because of his dominance. He had 300 strike outs exactly, leading the league. Scherzer also led the league in wins on a team that underachieved, led the league in WHIP, and was third in ERA. 

Runners Up: 2. Jacob deGrom, 3. Aaron Nola, 4. Kyle Freeland, 5. Miles Mikolas.

Preseason Prediction: 1. Max Scherzer, 2. Clayton Kershaw, 3. Jacob deGrom, 4. Aaron Nola, 5. Robbie Ray...It really didn't surprise me that Kershaw ended up having injuries that knocked him out of the top five. Scherzer, deGrom, and Nola still remained in the top five at the end of the season. A Rockies pitcher (Freeland) was the pleasant surprise and one that I cheer about. I tend to secretly root for Rockies pitchers, although, I'm not a big fan of theirs. I just want someone to succeed in pitching in the Colorado air.

Rookie of the Year: Ronald Acuna Jr...This was the preseason favorite prediction for so many news outlets and it looks like he lived up to the hype. I just didn't foresee that a 19-year-old would challenge him so closely.

Runners Up: 2. Juan Soto, 3. Harrison Bader, 4. Franmil Reyes, 5. Jorge Alfaro.

Preseason Predictions: 1. Lewis Brinson, 2. Ronald Acuna Jr., 3. Jorge Alfaro...Being a fan of the Lake Elsinore Storm, I was happy that alumnus, Franmil Reyes, did so well in his time in the Majors.

Fireman of the Year: Raisel Iglesias...Some may argue about this choice, but he still managed to rack up 30 saves on a team that performed horribly. He had a 2.38 ERA and had a 1.07 WHIP. 

Runners Up: 2. Josh Bader (yes, I know he's not a full-time closer), 3. Felipe Vazquez, 4. Sean Doolittle, 5. Kenley Jansen.

Manager of the Year: Craig Counsell...Look how far he took a team that still needed a little help in their starting pitcher before being considered a contender for the National League title winner.

Runners Up: 2. Brian Snitker, 3. Bud Black, 4. Joe Madden, 5. Mike Schildt

Most Improved Player: David Peralta...He hit 30 homers, nearly hit .300, and had 87 RBI's, all while in the shadow of his teammate, Paul Goldschmidt. Max Muncy is a close second, hitting 35 homers after not even playing in the majors in 2017.

Silver Sluggers: C - J.T. Realmuto, 1B - Jesus Aguilar, 2B - Scooter Gennett, 3B - Nolan Arenado, SS - Trevor Story, OF - Christian Yellich, David Peralta, Charlie Blackmon

League Review: The National League had some surprises for the season. A 19-year-old who played like a veteran, several Rockies players vying for awards (Story and Freeland), Christian Yellich nearly winning the triple crown (where did that power come from?), and the Atlanta Braves youngsters playing like veterans and earning a playoff spot. It should be noted that my preseason prediction blog posting even featured a photo I took of Christian Yellich while he was a Marlin. Oh, just in case Yellich was so bored that he came across my season predictions while surfing the internet on a sleepless night, I apologize for the typo (I accidentally referred to him as Christina Yellich, which was by total error on my part since I'm a fan of his and not trying to stir up controversy like Jim Rome - see Jim "Chris" Everett footage on YouTube). 

The Retirement of a Legend: Ichiro Suzuki

Photo of Ichiro Suzuki by Daniel Millhouse

A legend retired today.

To some, Ichiro Suzuki was a good hitter but not scary. They would be wrong. Yes, he only won the MVP Award once (2001), but he was perhaps the best overall hitter for several years during his peak.

He had 3,089 hits in his Major League Baseball career and that's after he had 1,287 hits in Japan. During his rookie year, he hit .350 with 242 hits, 56 stolen bases, and won the Rookie of the Year, the MVP, a Gold Glove, and a Silver Slugger Award.

By 2004, Ichiro broke the single season hits record in the MLB by tallying up 262 of them. He only hit .372 that season.

Some would dispute that Ichiro wasn't "great" because he didn't hit with massive power. Ichiro held back though. Like Rickey Henderson before him, Ichiro had the ability to hit with more power than he showed, but he refused to sacrifice his batting average and on base percentage to do so.

Not only was he a great hitter, but he was a great fielder. Few had an arm in the outfield like he did and even fewer covered as much ground. This is why he won 10 Gold Gloves and could have easily won a few more.

Perhaps the only thing missing in Ichiro's otherwise complete career was a winning the World Series. He had made it twice to the American League Championship Series, once with the Mariners in 2001 but falling to the Yankees, and again in 2012, this time with the Yankees as they lost to the Tigers. It wasn't for the lack of trying. He hit .346 in his postseason career.

Ichiro should be a sure bet for Cooperstown when his time comes. His career in America came to a close with over 3,000 hits, 500 stolen bases, a career average over .300, nine batting titles, and 1,420 runs scored. He's already a member of The Golden Players Club (the Japanese baseball hall of fame) and five years from now, he will be ready to be a first-ballot pick for the Major League Baseball one.

2018 Millhouse Major League Baseball Predictions

Christian Yellich joins the Brewers to form the strongest outfield in the MLB in 2018; photo by Daniel Millhouse

It's that time of year again! The Millhouse predictions for the 2018 Major League Baseball season.

American League:

AL East: 1. New York Yankees, 2. Boston Red Sox, 3. Baltimore Orioles, 4. Toronto Blue Jay's, 5. Tampa Bay DEVIL Ray's...The Yankees have bounced back from rebuilding mode to top of the class. With the addition of Judge's doppelganger, Giancarlo Stanton, the Yankees feature immense power and feature one of the best bullpens in baseball.

AL Central: 1. Cleveland Indians 2. Minnesota Twins 3. Chicago White Sox, 4. Detroit Tigers, 5. Kansas City Royals...it shouldn't be a surprise that the Indians should take the Central. What should be noted is that the Royals have fallen so far within such a short amount of time.

AL West: 1. Houston Astros, 2. Texas Rangers, 3. Oakland A's, 4. ANAHEIM Angels, 5. Seattle Mariners...It looks like the Astros have gotten even better than they were last year. They bolstered their starting staff with Gerrit Cole and with the addition of Justin Verlander last season. Their young players have a little more experience under their belts, as well. 

AL Award Winners

MVP: 1. Manny Machado, 2. Mike Trout, 3. Aaron Judge, 4. Francisco Lindor, 5. Mookie Betts....Machado is already in the conversation of being one of the best players in baseball. Thrown in the fact that it's a contract year and he's playing shortstop and he should be a front runner for the MVP. 

Cy Young: 1. Corey Kluber, 2. Justin Verlander, 3. Chris Sale, 4. Luis Severino, 5. Gerrit Cole...Kluber is the odds on favorite. He's in his prime and he plays for a winning team, which the voters love.

Rookie of the Year: 1. Gleyber Torres 2. Willy Adames, 3. Joey Wendle...There is no clear front runner. Some will ask where is Shohei Ohtani? He could be a winner as long as he has a solid season at hitting or pitching, but I'm not counting on his arm holding up a complete season.

National League:

NL East: 1. Washington Nationals, 2. Philadelphia Phillies, 3. Atlanta Braves, 4. New York Mets, 5. Miami Marlins...The Nationals should take this division. The Marlins are in full rebuilding mode, the Braves have a ton of young talent that is a year or two from developing into star players, and the Phillies are climbing but are not quite not there. The Mets don't have the offense, though their pitching could jump them up a spot or two if it holds up.

NL Central: 1. Chicago Cubs, 2. Milwaukee Brewers, 3. St. Louis Cardinals, 4. Pittsburgh Pirates, 5. Cincinnati Reds...This may be the toughest division in baseball this season. The Cubs are strong again, but the Brewers had an extremely strong off-season to the point that Ryan Braun is no longer considered a full-time starter. With the additions of Christina Yellich and Lorenzo Cain, the Brewers could be a season away from being the top dog in the Central.

NL West: 1. Arizona Diamondbacks, 2. Los Angeles Dodgers of Silver Lake, 3. Colorado Rockies, 4. San Francisco Giants, 5. San Diego Padres...The Diamondbacks have slowly improved each season, putting together a formidable roster that could challenge for the league title. The Dodgers will make a run for the title as well, but may not have enough to hold off the Diamondbacks.

MVP: 1. Nolan Arenado, 2. Paul Goldschmidt, 3. Bryce Harper, 4. Christin Yellich, 5. Max Scherzer...Mike Schmidt praised Arenado as possibly being one of the best third basemen of all-time. He not only can hit, but is also the best fielding third baseman in the National League.

Cy Young: 1. Max Scherzer, 2. Clayton Kershaw, 3. Jacob deGrom, 4. Aaron Nola, 5. Robbie Ray...Scherzer and Kershaw are arguably the top two pitchers in all of baseball. Scherzer gets the edge as he is less injury prone and is more likely to be a voter favorite because he pitches for the Nats.

Rookie of the Year: 1. Lewis Brinson, 2. Ronald Acuna Jr., 3. Jorge Alfaro... Everyone is predicting Acuna to win this award, but Brinson is being overlooked. Acuna will start the season on the minors and Brinson will have a better chance to play the whole season as he plays for the Marlins.

Playoffs:

AL: Wildcards - Minnesota Twins and the Boston Red Sox; League Winner - Houston Astros...It may be a repeat of last year's ALCS of Astros versus Yankees.

NL: Wildcards - Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers of Silver Lake; League Winner - Washington Nationals...The Nationals felt the sting of losing in the NLCS last year when they should have gone on to their first World Series. This roster is too strong not to make at least one World Series run.

World Series: Houston Astros over Washington Nationals in six games.

R.I.P. Cranberries' Dolores O'Riordan Gone at 46

A screencap of Dolores O'Riordan in the movie Click

A new year begins and the list of entertainers that pass away begins again. Last year seemed like a bad year for those who really made an impact on the world. This year is starting out rough as well. 

With a new year at foot, the entertainer that passed away today that once touched the world in a big way was a complete shock. Dolores O'Riordan, lead singer of the Cranberries, passed away at the age of 46.

The Irish songstress was one of the prominent voices of those who grew up in the '90s. Songs such as "Zombie", "Dreams", "When You're Gone", and perhaps the Cranberries' biggest hit, "Linger", were all songs that O'Riordan's voice took to a whole new level.

Although not as great as the first concert of the same name, Woodstock '94 featured some special performances. One that could be argued as the make or break performance and perhaps the most notable of the whole event was when the Cranberries performed "Dreams". For the '90s generation, the song seemed to captured the spirit of the youth for the entire decade. Not only was their performance spot on, but the fans began to sing along so loud that O'Riordan stopped singing and let them take the lead.

Not only was she prominently known for her fronting a plantinum-selling band, but she also had a budding solo career and had even was asked to sing for the Pope.

And for the movie junkies, "Linger" not only was the featured song of the Adam Sandler movie Click, but also gave O'Riordan a chance to make a cameo in the film.

It has yet to be determine what the cause of O'Riordan's death is, but it's shame to have occurred at such a young age. She was in middle of recording a new album and had a long life still ahead of her. She suffered from back problems and was one of the few celebrities that was open about their bi-polarism. 

R.I.P.: Entertainers That Passed Away in 2017

Screencap of Tom Petty from the music video for "Don't Come Around Here No More"

As with every year, entertainers who have brought some sort of joy to your life pass away. This year was no different. In fact, there were some big names that passed away this year.

I bring you a list of the top 10 celebrity deaths that hit me the hardest. This is not to take away from those I don't mention below. For everyone, this list can be different and in a year crappy year like 2017, I could have easily made this list longer than 10 names. People like Nelsan Ellis, Chester Bennington, Mary Tyler Moore, Michael Parks, Robert Guillaume, and Malcolm Young could have made this list in any other year.

Rest in Peace to following 10 entertainers who made big impacts on me. (in no particular order)

1. Chris Cornell - This death was a big one for me. Chris Cornell was the front man for Soundgarden and eventually went on to Audioslave. Much of his music could have been the soundtrack for my high school and college years. He was behind hit songs such as "Black Hole Sun", "Blow Up the Outside World", "I Am the Highway", and much more. He was nominated for 15 Grammy Awards and had won twice, but his impact on the rock music world was substantial.

2. Fats Domino - Newer generations of music fans may not appreciate Fats Domino's impact on rock and roll, but he did sell over 65 million records before his passing this year. His hits include "Blueberry Hill", "Ain't That a Shame", and "I'm Walkin'". He was one of the premier piano players of his time and had a voice that went perfectly with the music he played. Because of his music achievements, rock and roll, blues, and R&B were forever changed.

3. Tom Petty - Tom Petty took music to another level. He not only recognized that the music was important, but during the time of MTV's music video domination, he also put out some of the best music videos of his time. His music was great for road trips and cruising the California coast. Selling over 80 million records, Petty was one of the best selling music artists of all-time. His hits include "Runnin' Down a Dream", "Refugee", and "I Won't Back Down". His music video for "Don't Come Around Here No More" is perhaps one of the best music videos ever produced.

4. Hugh Hefner - Not necessarily an entertainer himself, Hefner did contribute to igniting the sexual revolution via Playboy. He also hosted Playboy After Dark which opened the door to entertainers who may have never got a chance to make it in the mainstream. A popular joke, "I only read the magazine for its articles," was not necessarily untrue. Playboy featured interviews with political and civil rights leaders, featured short stories by legendary writers such as Hunter S. Thompson and Truman Capote, and more.

5. Jerry Lewis - Lewis was the slapstick comedian who partnered with Dean Martin to form the comedy duo of Martin & Lewis. Unfortunately, they ended up splitting up. Lewis didn't let this hurt his career as he moved on to star in movies such as The Nutty Professor, King of Comedy, and The Bellboy. Later on, he would become known for his telethons that raised money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

6. Adam West - Quite simply, Adam West was Batman for children who grew up from 1966 until the release of Tim Burton's movie. Yes, his portrayal was campy, but it was supposed to be. A Western actor before his three-year stint as the Caped Crusader, West would eventually become forever adored by comic book geeks all over the world.

7. Roger Moore - Not the best actor to portray James Bond, Moore was still a prominent enough actor to be knighted by the British Empire. His stint as 007 was longer than any other actor including Sean Connery and Pierce Bronson. He starred in Live and Let Die, For Your Eyes Only, and The Spy Who Loved Me.

8. Don Rickles - Quite possibly the biggest entertainer death this year for me besides Adam West, Rickles was one of the last surviving unofficial members of the Rat Pack. His comedy made him a favorite and close friend to Frank Sinatra. So close, that Rickles was one of the last people to see Sinatra alive. He made over 100 appearances on the Tonight Show and rounded out his career by taking on voice acting roles in movies such as Toy Story. He can easily be argued as being one of the top standup comedians of all-time.

9. Chuck Berry - Another legendary rock musician, Berry was a member of the Chess Records stable. His hits include "Johnny B. Goode", "Roll Over Beethoven", "Rock and Roll Music", and "Maybellene". His guitar skills were unmatched at the time of his peak. His music was so significant that his song "Johnny B. Goode" is the only rock song that was included in the Voyager Golden Records that were sent to space and intended to be listened to by any future intelligent life forms to listen to.

10. Powers Boothe - Gaining notoriety for playing TV Detective Phillip Marlowe, Booth went on to play Curly Bill in Tombstone, Cy Tolliver in Deadwood, and Senator Roark in the Sin City movies. Nominated for various acting roles, Boothe was both an underrated actor and a star actor during his lifetime.

2018 Millhouse Baseball Hall of Fame Vote

Vladimir Guerrero swings at a pitch that bounced before hitting it for a double

Another year goes by and the Baseball Writers Association of America nears another vote for the Major League Hall of Fame. The new class features a couple of possible future hall of famers, but it's those who still are eligible from previous seasons that may demand more attention.

The new class of players that are first-time eligible include Chipper Jones, Jim Thome, Scott Rolen, Andruw Jones, Johan Santana, Jamie Moyer, Johnny Damon, Omar Vizquel, and more. Players from previous years that are still eligible include Trevor Hoffman, Vladimir Guerrero, Edgar Martinez, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Mike Mussina, Manny Ramirez, Larry Walker, and more.

Despite the many choices, the BBWAA seems to be able to only agree on one or two players for the last several years despite each member possessing the ability to vote for up to 10 former players. 

I may not be a member of the BBWAA, but I give to you my votes for this year's ballot. Hopefully, other BBWAA members will act rationally and forget their biases against players that they did not like personally or want to accuse of using performance-enhancing drugs with no proof.

1. Trevor Hoffman - Hoffman retired as the all-time saves leader, yet has been passed over twice so far. He received 74 percent of the vote last year. With 601 saves and a career ERA of 2.87, it seems beyond belief on how the BBWAA has passed him over, especially in an ERA when relief pitching has become predominant.

2. Vladimir Guerrero - Passed over last season, Vladimir Guerrero spent his career as one of the more feared hitters in the MLB. He hit 449 homers, had 181 stolen bases, a .318 batting average, and a cannon for an arm. Sure, he swung at everything, but he also hit everything. It is feasible that Guerrero is the last former Montreal Expo to be inducted to the hall if he is voted in.

3. Roger Clemens - Arguably one of the greatest pitchers of all-time is now up for his sixth go-around. 354 wins, a career ERA of 3.12, and 4,672 strikeouts. He's won 7 Cy Young Awards, an MVP award, is 9th all-time in wins, and 3rd all-time in strikeouts. His fastball inspired the nickname, Rocket. Accused of taking performance enhancing drugs, the biggest argument that voters are writing about is not the pharmaceutical help the claim he had, but the fact that they just thought he was an ass of a human being. There's nothing in the rules saying that attitude is a determining factor for the hall. The articles of late cite Roger Clemens cheating on his wife with country music star, Mindy McCready and incidents like his toe-to-toe confrontation with Mike Piazza. If that is enough not to be inducted to the hall of fame, then players like Ty Cobb should be booted out as he may have killed two people and attacked a handicapped spectator during a game. Is Clemens an angel? No. Is he a hall of famer? Yes.

4. Barry Bonds - The other legend the BBWAA is holding a grudge against, Bonds is arguably one of the best hitters of all-time. He has the most homers of all-time with 762; 514 stolen bases; 1,996 RBI's (fifth of all-time); the most walks taken at 2,558; and the most intentional walks ever issued at 688. He also holds the single season record in homers with 73. He has won 7 MVP's, 8 Gold Gloves, and 12 Silver Sluggers. If other players such as Mike Piazza and Jeff Bagwell can be inducted to the hall of fame despite the accusations of performance enhancing drugs, Bonds should be eligible as well. No one seems to hold the admitted use of "greenies" by Hank Aaron and Willie Mays against them, so it even seems more unfair that Bonds should be held out of the hall for the accusations against him.

5. Fred McGriff - Silent in terms of headlines, McGriff was a scary hitter to face. He hit 493 homers, had a .284 career batting average, and drove in 1,550 career RBI's. Even though he played first base at the same time as Jeff Bagwell, Will Clark, John Kruk, Will Grace, and Andres Galarraga, McGriff still won three Silver Sluggers. If McGriff played in any other generation, he would be considered a hall of famer. What's even better, he's one of the few power hitters not accused of taking any PED's. 

6. Mike Mussina - Other than his rookie year, Mussina was a double digit winner in every season he ever played, retiring after winning 20 games in his last season. Mussina won 270 wins overall and had 2,813 career strikeouts. He was a top six candidate for the Cy Young Award 8 times in his career, but Mussina never placed better than second. He had also won 7 Gold Gloves during his career. Mussina was the ace for the Yankees and Orioles during his career and is worthy of hall consideration.

7. Billy Wagner - Able to reach 100 MPH on the radar, Wagner is sixth all-time in career saves with 422. That is only two less than the all-time lefty saves leader, John Franco. Wagner dominated as a closer and was one of the most feared relievers of all-time. His career ERA is 2.31, his career WHIP is 0.998, and a career strikeouts-per-9-innings of 11.9. Not once in Wagner's career did he ever have an ERA over 3.00 in a full season. 

8. Chipper Jones - This should be proof that the BBWAA should be able to vote for a player to make it to the hall, even if they don't like them. I'm not a fan of Chipper, but he is hall of fame worthy and he receives one of my 10 votes. Jones hit 468 career homers, had a career batting average of .303, and an on base percentage of .401. He also had 1,623 career RBI's. Jones won the MVP award in 1999 and led the National League with a .364 batting average in 2008. Like McGriff, Jones played at the same time as other top level third basemen such as Scott Rolen, Matt Williams, Robin Ventura, Ken Caminiti, and David Wright. This caused him not to get as much attention as being a star player at his position. 

9. Jim Thome - A power hitter who finished his career with 612 homers, in 22 seasons Thome never won an MVP award and only won one Silver Slugger. Despite being known for his power, Thome also only led the league once in homers. Still, Thome drove in 1,699 career RBI's and is 7th all-time in walks taken. He was often the left-handed power hitter that protected other all-stars such as Manny Ramirez, Ryan Howard, Paul Konerko, and more. 

10. Gary Sheffield - The nephew of Dwight Gooden, Sheffield hit 509 career homers and drove in 1,676 RBI's. Sporting a .292 career batting average, Sheffield won five Silver Sluggers and was the cleanup hitter on the Florida Marlins team that defeated the Cleveland Indians in the World Series in 1997. Sheffield was also in the top 10 in MVP votes 6 times in his career. Sheffield also played at least 300 games at third base, left field, right field, and designated hitter. This will be Sheffield's fourth attempt at being voted in.

Black Friday Consumes Thanksgiving

The logical thing to do after stuffing your face full of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie is to hibernate for a good 10 plus hours or so. Somehow, in the last 20 years, retail businesses lured family away from their homes and into lines to get into their stores. 

Need an extra 15 percent off of a television you don't really need that badly? Eat dinner early and stand in Best Buy's line for five hours while waiting for them to open. Worse, once they open, you find out that they only had two of those televisions and you're now in a mad dash to beat eight other people to that television. Just remember...no one talks about fight club.

To compound the problem, brick and mortar stores are now whining about online stores drawing these customers away. At least with the online stores such as Amazon, you don't have to be pulled away from your family on holidays to save five dollars. I'm not saying that brick and mortar stores need to go away, but it is hard to feel sympathy for businesses that don't allow for people to spend the holidays with their family so they can make two percent more in their overall fourth quarter sales than they would have if they had just opened during normal hours on "Black Friday". 

Is employee morale really worth that two percent? When you consider higher turnover rates and being less attractive to new potential employees, two percent is nothing. Turnover and training cost a company more than two-percent. Reputation on how a company treats their employees causes them to lose potentially stellar recruits.

The problem with retail businesses today is that they rarely think in long-term parameters anymore. They'll gladly sacrifice a potentially long-term customer to make a few extra bucks today. This is why Black Friday turning into Black Thursday and ruining some family's Thanksgiving holidays has come about. Businesses are determined to steal that extra dollar from their competition by beating them to the sale.

But from the standpoint of the common person who doesn't work in retail, is Black Thursday really worth it? Yes, it may get you out of those awkward conversations about politics that you may find yourself in with your Uncle Buck after he's been able to down several beers. What about the positive experiences from family get-togethers? Days such as Thanksgiving give some kids their warm memories that they revere so much in their adult years.

This is not necessarily a rant against Black Friday. It's more of a call out to those who shop on Thursday evening to save a few extra dollars for something they probably didn't need anyways. Without you, the consumer, willing to sacrifice precious family time and memories, retail businesses wouldn't deem it necessary nor profitable to be open on a major holiday. Rather than unwittingly punching your child's gym teacher in the face to grab the last discounted Blu-Ray player, spend it with your family and purchase it on Black Friday or one of the other days that come before Christmas.