Interesting. The last I had heard on Mo he was still active around Boston, but looks like he is now focusing more in NY. Fine by me, he grew up in Southern Ct and went to college in NJ.
Its a shame what happened to him in his career. The guy was putting up HOF numbers and then the injury bug bit. In many ways he reminds me of Rice. Dominant hitter (not quite as dominant as Jim Ed) but faded fast. And if a guy like McGriff ends up in the HOF....
It really was an amazingly precipitous decline. His last year in Boston ('98) was great, with an OPS of .993 and 40 HR (5th in MVP voting). Then it dropped 130 points when he moved West (didn't he break his ankle falling into the dugout on Opening Day?). And then he was out for 2001. And then he went to the Mets. 'Nuff said.
Yup, opening day. There is a part of me that is glad he did not have Clemens-esque resurgence. Actually it wouldn't have been a resurgence as much as continuance.
One thing about Clemens leaving - people bitch about it all the time and in hindsight it was pretty bad to let him go (and even dumber to make the twilight comment), but if they had signed Clemens after 96, they probably don't make the Pedro trade after the 97 season. Pedro was immediately signed to his 6 (7 w option) year contract after the trade and had the Sox ponied up the 4 year commitment to Rog, they may not have had the resources to do it. And if the Sox sign Mo, they likely don't have $160MM to get Manny.
Interesting. The last I had heard on Mo he was still active around Boston, but looks like he is now focusing more in NY. Fine by me, he grew up in Southern Ct and went to college in NJ.
ReplyDeleteIts a shame what happened to him in his career. The guy was putting up HOF numbers and then the injury bug bit. In many ways he reminds me of Rice. Dominant hitter (not quite as dominant as Jim Ed) but faded fast. And if a guy like McGriff ends up in the HOF....
It really was an amazingly precipitous decline. His last year in Boston ('98) was great, with an OPS of .993 and 40 HR (5th in MVP voting). Then it dropped 130 points when he moved West (didn't he break his ankle falling into the dugout on Opening Day?). And then he was out for 2001. And then he went to the Mets. 'Nuff said.
ReplyDeleteYup, opening day. There is a part of me that is glad he did not have Clemens-esque resurgence. Actually it wouldn't have been a resurgence as much as continuance.
ReplyDeleteOne thing about Clemens leaving - people bitch about it all the time and in hindsight it was pretty bad to let him go (and even dumber to make the twilight comment), but if they had signed Clemens after 96, they probably don't make the Pedro trade after the 97 season. Pedro was immediately signed to his 6 (7 w option) year contract after the trade and had the Sox ponied up the 4 year commitment to Rog, they may not have had the resources to do it. And if the Sox sign Mo, they likely don't have $160MM to get Manny.
A late to the party comment, but good for Mo. He was such a prescence on the team, and you had to love him. He just let himself get too massive.
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