Michael Jordan categorically is one of the top three players to ever play in the NBA. There’s even a very compelling argument that he’s the greatest NBA player of all-time. On the other hand, MJ doesn’t deserve consideration as an accomplished dual-sport athlete because he failed in his attempt to play professional baseball. I never imaged having to expose Jordan’s lack of baseball skills because I assumed it was incontrovertible. However, it appears that revisionist history may being confusing the matter. The truth is that Michael Jordan was a complete bust as an MLB prospect.
TOP 10 MLB BUSTS
Top 10 MLB Bust: Manager Dave Roberts
Despite the importance of coaching in team sports, the athletes on the field usually have the biggest impact on determining the outcome of any game. The 2018 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers proved why the previous sentence needs a qualifier. Of note, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had the most significant role in his team’s 4-1 series loss after continually making bad decisions. By micro-managing each and every game as if instructed by a computer, the skipper lost a feel for the game. In that regard, Roberts has earned Top10Bust recognition for his ill-advised managerial decisions.
T10B Busted: WAR (Wins Above Replacement)
Sabermetics has taken over how baseball teams are constructed, how games are managed, and how players are evaluated. Whereas stats like HRs, RBIs and BA used to delineate players, MLB general managers now seem to be obsessed with stats like OBP, OPS, and WAR. I fully appreciate the importance of statistics when evaluating players, but I question the current over-reliance on them. In this post, I hope to discount the importance of wins above replacement (WAR) when evaluating greatness.
Most Terrible New York Yankees Trades
It was a dark and stormy night, perhaps somewhere in the world; however, in my environs the unblocked sunlight radiated from our nearest star and penetrated through the depleted ozone layer of the Earth’s atmospheric shell (for it is on this planet that our scene lies) before gently reflecting off the ecru walls surrounding my cubicle and onto a computer screen which hadn’t been cleaned for several months. In honor of one of the the best known examples of superbly horrendous writing from the 19th century, I may have found its rival for the 21st century. In particular, I have found a writing sample so bad that it can only be called a masterpiece. Fashioned as a countdown of the most terrible New York Yankees trades, the piece reads like the most terrible countdown of NYY trades instead.