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THREE HUNDRED SEVENTY FIVE.

Move that team. Give San Antonio a shot for christsakes.

Copied below are my thoughts from March. Knowing what we now do, I think the case for Posada is now approaching borderline. A 160 OPS+ is going to give him an all-time season, so if he can be productive (OPS+ around 110) for two or three more seasons, I think he becomes a lock.

March 20:
Posada's HoF case is hurt by the relatively late start he had (thanks in part to Joe Girardi, but mostly because he was a converted infielder). With only 5,000 PA, Posada would need to play at least 4 more seasons to reach the 7,000 PA mark that seems to be the average range of so many Hall of Fame catchers.

With an OPS+ of 122, Posada's offensive production is already on par with the Hall's catching fraternity. If (and it's a big if), Posada can maintain a similar level of production for 3-4 years, I think you could start making the case for him. Everything from history tells us the chances of a mid-30's catcher maintaining his production are slim. Having said that, perhaps Posada relatively light workload might help him reverse the overwhelming precedent?

That being said, he'll probably be voted in by the veteran's committee. There are two factors which are unchangeable and will forever hold him back: 1) the Yanks wouldn't play him full-time until he was 28; and 2)the vast majority of his time has been spent hitting 6th or lower in the batting order. Those two factors have colluded to dramatically reduce his ABs so that his career numbers are exceedingly low for a HOFer.

Since you brought up Simmons, let's compare: when Simmons finished his age 35 year, he had 8,269 ABs. Posada will finish this year (his age 35) with roughly 4,800. Yet you can say that Simmons' career numbers are not that far beyond what Posada already has. Jorgie will likely surpass Simmons in most cumulative categories and AB for AB is a much better hitter than Simmons ever was.

But, the fact that he only has 1,300 hits and therefore may not reach even 2,000 is very damning for HOF consideration. So, I think the BBWA might not get the distinction, but the veterans committee will.

I agree, to a point .... bodies still age, regardless of when you start playing a position.

Posada has made himself a nice little career, but not-HOF worthy, especially not from the defensive side of the equation during his early years.

Posada has been underrated throughout most of his career and may finally be getting much-deserved recognition with his outstanding season this year, but I don't believe his current resume would be enough. However, he might become a "probable" HOFer if one is willing to project his recent successes over the life of his next (and likely final) contract.

Don't go for the avant-garde myself, but I was fortunate enough to catch Miles at the end of his career. It was at the Jones Beach Theater on a chilly, misty night. He was wrapped in a blanket, and played with his back to the audience most of the show, but it was a thrill to be in his presence, and hear his unamplified horn. Didn't play a lick of Beach Boyz either.

Simmons is probably lost in his era, but it seems like Posada is now starting to stand out. I think the jury will convene on Jorge once he hits that magic 7,000 PA threshold that seems to be the domain of most Hall of Fame catchers.

ron darling actually has played piano his whole life. he has 2 sons who are musicians, one of whom is in his 2nd year at Berklee and is a heavy metal guitarist.

i got to meet darling when i was a young boy and my godfather was the VP of the Mets. i also got to hang with Ron a coupla times last year (unless it was the year before, who can remember...) with my Jazz trio. he was doing radio for the Nats and ended up at a Jazz club downtown Atlanta after a Braves game. i, of course, recognized him immediately. he was really into my trio and tipped us nicely. on the set break, we spoke for a solid 25 minutes. he gave me his email addy and i let him know the next time we'd be playing that would correspond with when the Nats would be playing the Braves and he'd be in town. well, Ron came out to see me play yet again! he was very cool.

he had some seediness to him, as well, which was a little weird. but hey, who am i to say anything about his, um, extra curricular activities...

Hmmm... Posada moves to 1B and we sign Martinez when he becomes a free agent...

did you see the cool Evelyn Glennie dvd Touch the Sound w/ Fred Frith? very great stuff!

good stuff, thelarmis!

Darling seemed to be an old pro at this at it didn't faze him in the slightest. no embarrassment or anything. his ex-wife Toni took him for millions. he's got college-aged kids, etc. etc. he's good looking, single, smart and on the road. in our circles, he's pretty famous and a multi-millionare. to Keisha, he was just a lonely drunk in a suit with a posh hotel room around the block. for Ron, there's a hundred dollar love affair, no ?'s, no trails, no ties.

still, it's kinda icky and it was weird to watch go down. twice! he obviously saved keisha's digits for when he was to be back in town like i saved his email addy to let him know next time we were playing...

23 Dang. Darling always fielded his position well. Wouldnt figure him to go sloppy in retirement.

Speaking of jazz: R.I.P. Joe Zawinul.

Not to belabor the Munson v. Posada thing, because I guess it's hard to argue against Posada's superior offensive output, but here's a couple more thoughts:

Munson was considered to be considerably better than Posada defensively, wasn't he? That's got to count for something.

Munson usually hit third for the Yankees, suggesting that in the context of his team (at least according to his manager), he was more important to the Yankee offense of his day than Posada was and is for the Yankee teams of the current era.

Also, he played in a tough era for offense.

I'm mostly playing devil's advocate here but the more I think about it the more I'm talking myself into it.

i bet that isn't too rare a habit with former athletes, but it still made me laugh.

i'll definitely be playing 'Mercyx3' Sat nite w/ the jazz trio. it's at the aforementioned venue. and, guess what? the Nats are in town! too bad Darling is back w/ the Muts... ; )

26 Munson was considered to be considerably better than Posada defensively, wasn't he? That's got to count for something.

This is one of the big problems with assessing and comparing catchers. Everybody agrees that it's a crucial defensive position, but we have absolutely no way to assess a catcher's defense. With all due respect to the late JD, RATE and ZR and the like tell us absolutely nothing of value. SB% tells us something about one aspect of a catcher's game, but I don't know that it even measures that one aspect all that well.

So we're left with what their contemporaries said about them. I suppose that counts for a little more than Gold Glove voting, but not a lot.

I love late Coltrane, though. Never mind understanding it, I just love hearing him blow from the bottom of his feet, with pure, insane passion. In that veinL have you ever heard the Franklin Kiermayer CD where Pharaoh Saunders blows his heart out?

nope, don't know franklin kiermayer. i do like pharaoh sanders though. derek bailey is more 'out' than anyone on the planet. not the easiest stuff to stomach. he did a really weird record, where - and i might get this slightly wrong - he watched a naked japanese dancer guy and improvised what he saw on the guitar. then released it as a cd. i betchya ron darling has it! ; )

fred frith is really cool. i don't know him outside the glennie dvd. col. bruce knows him (of course!) and says he's great, also...

i like old Trane, too. but moreso when elvin was still there and he was the only drummer. of that stuff, Sun Ship is my fave.

Also the remark about where they bat in the order is a bit unfair having much more to do with the talent of others in the lineup than anything else. Munson may have well batted 8th or 9th in the current Yankee lineup.

That being said, unless the more statistically enlightened Neyer/Gleeman/Corcoran types of the world take over the HOF voting, I don't see much of a possibility of Posada being voted in.

i'm playing with a cool trombonist next thursday - my jazz trio is backing him up. he does quite a bit of 'out' stuff and all the albert manglesdorf polyphonics. ray anderson, too. can't wait!

How . . . dare . . . you.

Just kidding. (Sort of.)

I'll say this, if Jorge can hit 190 more home runs, as Fisk did after age 34, then he's a lock for Cooperstown.

But OK, white flag on the whole Munson-is-better-thing. I guess I'm just turning into a crusty old "everything was better in my day when I had to walk five miles to school everyday uphill both ways through snowstorms" kind of guy.

And to bring the Beach Boys and jazz together...don't forget Charles Lloyd played on a BB track or two in the 70s. A Roger McGuinn album too, if I recall correctly.