The embarrassment that is ESPN, Jack O'Connell & the BBWAA

• Dear John Delcos (ESPN heavy, BBWAA voter OF THE JOURNAL NEWS), Here's your award-winning ESPN/Hall of Fame quote. It's not going away. After that, see the math needed for your insulting claim:

"Unfortunately for Hoffman and other relievers of his era, they are compared to Rivera's body of work in the playoffs. There's no denying Rivera's greatness, but had the Yankees had Hoffman instead, I believe they would have been just as successful.'' -- John Delcos, The Journal News (New York)"

• John Delcos quote from ESPN.com, "Hoffman Deserves a Plaque in Cooperstown," Crasnick: Surveying Hoffman's Hall of Fame Case," 6/1/07

• Poster "Bull Pain" on BBTF, 10/9/07

"If you count Trevor Hoffman's blowup v the Rockies as a 'post season game,' he'd need to go 104 more post season innings and allow just 2 ER to match Rivera's ERA.

• Mariano's playoff history: 76 games, 117.1 IP, 72 hits, 10 ER, 16 BB, 93K, .77 ERA, 1 L."

(Comment posted on "Rivera to Test Market," on BBTF (Baseball Think Factory)

• Update: 10/12/07, AP report: "Trevor Hoffman has elbow surgery." Pitchers with bad elbows can't help their team. Hoffman also missed most of 2003 with surgery.

Tweet Stumbleupon StumbleUpon