Philadelphia Baseball History

Pete Rose.  To say that he is a controversial figure is an understatement.  The mere mention of his name evokes strong emotional reactions, and not just from baseball fans.  Some people are extremely loyal to him.  He belongs in the Hall of Fame, and nothing will change their minds about that.  Some believe that he is a deeply flawed person, who doesn't deserve to be honored in his lifetime.  But, because his accomplishments on the field are so impressive, he does deserve enshrinement in the Hall, but only posthumously.  And then you have the people who feel betrayed by Rose, who find his moral character repugnant, that they have concluded that he should never be honored with Hall of Fame enshrinement.  Some in this category go so far as to try to minimize his professional accomplishments. For example, in 2016, Ichiro Sukui, an incredible hitter in his own right, passed 4,257 hits in his entire professional career.  Of course, this included...

This week, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that MLB was considering a proposal for a new playoff format .  Pursuant to the proposal, each league would send seven teams to the playoffs, as opposed to the current five.  The three division winners would be joined by four wild card teams.  The team with the best record in each league would earn a first round bye.  The division leaders, as well as the wild card team with the best record, would host a first round play-off series, which would be a best-of-three series.  That's right.  They would host all three games, not merely two out of the three. But so far, we have not reached the most unusual part of the proposal.  Two of the three teams hosting the first round of playoffs would get to choose their opponent from the bottom three wild card teams.  The division winner in this first round with the best record would have first choice.  The final division winner would get the second c...

Joe Morgan set the baseball world ablaze this week when he emailed BBWAA voters a letter stating that known steroid users do not belong in the Hall of Fame.  Morgan argued that PED users cheated to post big numbers, and in the process made the numbers of players who were clean look small by comparison. Morgan claimed that his opinion represented his only his own thoughts.  But the fact that he signed it as the Vice Chairman of the Hall of Fame, used a Hall of Fame email address, and sent it to an email list only the Hall had led many to believe that Morgan was speaking on behalf of the Hall itself.  Sportswriters also argued that Morgan's letter represented an attempt to counter the rising support Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens have enjoyed, both having received over 50% of the vote last year. Morgan's letter erupted a firestorm of debate.  Some, like Intentional Talk host Chris Rose, criticized Morgan's letter as sanctimonious.  Others wholeheartedly agree...