The Baseball Digest Archives 5/84

Apr 07, 2025

May 1984

The Andre Dawson cover shot is a result of this month’s article which lists the 9 most complete players in the game at the time. The criteria used in the selections was basically to see which players best exemplified the classic 5 tools, and that certainly describes Dawson’s game before the years of playing on Olympic Stadium’s artificial turf ravaged his knees. The selections are listed below; 2 of them stand out. First, it shocks me to see how frequently Baseball Digest wrote about Dickie Thon. I remember that he was highly regarded, but I don’t remember the praise having been this effusive. Second, Tony Pena? In his younger days he was much more nimble than the average catcher, but I don’t recall analysts describing him as a 5-tool talent.

A “best player 25 & under” list has a time capsule feel to it, and it’s always fun to look at this type of content to see who panned out and who did not. There are a number of future Hall of Famers here, a number of future perennial all-stars, and a number of players fated to fall into Remember Some Guys category. The list of pitchers serves as another sobering reminder of the volatility of young pitching. Few things can break your heart quite like a talented young pitcher.

This issue contains two features on old time players, and if you have a magazine that was published in 1984 that means an old timer is a real old timer. I’m talking about a dude who played with most of the Black Sox old. Bibb Falk had a 12 year long major league career, and he had his first cup of coffee with the 1920 White Sox, which was the final year for the careers of the soon to be banned eight men out. In 1920 Falk was teammates with 7 of the 8. Falk said that when he asked Eddie Cicotte about the allegations the response was “Ah, that’s a lot of bull. There isn’t anything to it.” So there’s that.

Hall of Fame shortstop Joe Sewell is remembered for two things. He had one of the lowest strikeout rates in history; in 1925 he struck out only 4 times in 608 plate appearances. Safe to say he never had a golden sombrero. He also had a streak of 1,103 consecutive games played which at the time was the third longest in MLB history. But Sewell also had a connection to one of the darkest moment in the game’s history. His first break came when he became the eventual replacement at shortstop for Ray Chapman, whose fatal beaning made him the only man who was killed on a major league baseball field.

Finally, I found it interesting to see an article written about run differential in 1984. Bill James was already making the correlation between run differential and a team’s expected won-loss record, but it would still be around a decade until analysts starting using the Pythagorean Theorem as part of the calculation. The article in this issue uses a mathematical formula predicated upon a team’s run differential and compared the expected 1983 standings to the actual ones. Expected v. actual matched up in 3 divisions; the only difference is that the Dodgers should have defeated the Braves for the NL West crown.

Most Memorable Moment - Chicago Cubs

MLB’s original choice in 1976: Ernie Banks hits his 500th career home run.

My updated choice: Kris Bryant fields a ground ball and fires it to first.

Honorable mention should go to Gabby Hartnett’s Homer In the Gloamin’, a walk-off homer late in the 1938 season which helped the Cubs win the pennant. It is a very famous moment, but it loses a bit of luster because there is no video and also because the Cubs did not go on to win the World Series that year. Little known fact, the Cubbies went more than 100 years between titles.

There had been a sharp contrast in reactions between the Cubs and Red Sox fanbases during their long droughts. Part of it could be due to regional attitudes. The old puritan caricature is ingrained in New England; there is an implied feeling that they are meant to suffer. Cubs fans, on the other hand, were largely more zen as long as the sun was warm and the beer cold.

The longer it went on, however, the more impatient the fans were getting, especially after A) their rivals on the South Side, who had been titleless themselves for decades, finally won a championship of their own, and B) the drought passed the century mark. So with all due respect to Ernie Banks, the most memorable Cubs moment has to have come during the 2016 World Series. But which one?

The 2016 World Series was a matchup between the two legacy franchises, the Cubs and the then-Indians, that at the time had gone the longest without winning the Rob Manfred Ceremonial Piece Of Metal. The rules state that somebody’s gotta win the Series, so one streak had to end. Before the final out, the 2 most memorable moments of that WS were both Cleveland moments: Trevor Bauer bleeding like a stuck pig after he opened up stitches on his pitching hand, and Rajai Davis hitting a game-tying 3 run home run in the 8th inning of Game 7.

As legend has it, the most critical event of the entire World Series was the pep talk that Jason Hayward gave his teammates during a brief rain delay in Game 7, but that was off field, so it doesn’t count. I could say that THE moment was Ben Zobrist’s go-ahead RBI double in the top of the 10th but I will go with the game ending ground ball. Cleveland was down to their last man on their bench, the light hitting Michael Martinez, and reliever Mike Montgomery enticed a ground ball to third baseman Kris Bryant which ended the game and the World Series. After 108 years, the Cubs were the champs.

The embedded video below ends before the camera shot that made the moment even more memorable. An iso camera on Bryant caught him breaking out into a huge grin as he fielded the ball, knowing what was to come next. His expression matched that of all of the Cubs fans who had been long dreaming about this moment, while at the same time being fearful that it would never come. I bet a lot of Old Styles were downed that evening.

So, Who’s Getting In?

Over the past several weeks I have gone through each of the 14 names on this year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ballot. In doing so I think I have made it pretty obvious which of the nominees I feel are the most - and least - deserving. But I’m merely one lonely voice in the wilderness. It ultimately does not matter what I think, what matters is the consensus among the more than 1200 voters who cast ballots.

Voters can choose up to 7 artists on their ballots, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that there will be 7 inductees. Last year there were 8 acts inducted in the artist’s category; Hall chairman John Sykes indicated that this was because the vote totals separating #7 & 8 were so close that it made sense to induct both. (Remember, the totals are kept secret so we have to take his word for it.) I’ll work under the assumption that the same thing will happen this year and 8 out of the 14 will make it in.

With a voting pool that large it is difficult to attempt to gauge what will ultimately happen, which is why I don’t pay much attention to conspiracy theory thoughts about the voting. You know, the belief that artist A must get in to juice TV/streaming ratings or venue attendance. Do you really think enough voters care enough about Disney’s streaming numbers to make that a determining factor in their selections? Instead the two most reliable pieces of info I look at are past voting patterns as well as looking to see if any individual nominee has a clear path without too many similar acts on the ballot that could split the vote.

Which is why I believe Outkast is the closest to a sure thing this year. As the only pure hip-hop act on the ballot this year as well as an act with broad crossover appeal, they should have smooth sailing. A significant number of voters are classic rock loving baby boomers, so Bad Company looks to be this year’s Foreigner right down to the public lobbying effort that major acts are participating in. I mean, if Paul McCartney is pleading with people to vote for someone they are likely to listen.

This year’s Dolly/Willie/Cher is a tough call. It could be either Mariah Carey or Cyndi Lauper. I’ll go out on a limb and say that both of them will have enough support to finish in the top 7, although if it turns out to be only 1 of the 2 Cyndi Lauper sounds more likely. And I still feel that there will be enough support among voters eager to honor more relatively current artists to place the White Stripes over the top.

That makes 5, who else? I’m going to eliminate the following: The Black Crowes (don’t have enough cache to jump the line,) Maná (not enough voters are familiar with them,) Phish (their appeal is not broad enough,) and Chubby Checker (because I would slam my head through a glass window if he is elected.) I might be going with heart above head, but I think there is sufficient affection for both bands that the Joy Division/New Order combined entry will make it in. And all of the hard rock and alternative rock fans will join together to elect Soundgarden.

That leaves 3 nominees vying for the final spot, each of whom could be held back by similar artists on the ballot. The question in each case is simple - are there enough available votes? Joe Cocker could be this year’s Peter Frampton, and there is a lobbying effort to get him in as strong as the one for Bad Company. Billy Idol could be the representative candidate of 1980’s MTV, unless Cyndi Lauper siphons too many votes away. And Soundgarden and New Order could each do that same siphoning away from Oasis, with the added factor of some voters wondering if they should even bother voting for Oasis if the band members themselves don’t seem to care.

I’ll go with Billy Idol as the act who sneaks in as an 8th inductee. So, here are my predictions for the Class of 2025: Bad Company, Mariah Carey, Billy Idol, Joy Division/New Order, Cyndi Lauper, Outkast, Soundgarden, The White Stripes. Voting is open until April 21, so figure the official results will be announced shortly thereafter and we will see how wrong I have been.

The Hall Calls

The election process for the Naismith Hall of Fame makes the Rock & Roll Hall look like the paragon of transparency. The voting pool is a mystery and the choices are sometimes wacky. In 2024 there were 14 finalists, 13 of them were elected! At least this year there was more selectivity. 17 finalists, 9 inductees is a much more acceptable balance. And the choices, at least in the player category, are indisputable.

All 5 elected players are so obvious that each voter would only need to think for a millisecond before checking the “yes” box. All were first year eligibles, and being that the Hall just reduced the eligibility clock to only 3 years after retirement, it feels like the honorees were still playing as recently as last month. In fact, there were rumblings late last year that Dwight Howard was trying to get back into the NBA. Instead, he is now a Hall of Famer along with Carmelo Anthony.

There is one minor asterisk to the first year eligibility classification among the women. Maya Moore last played in the WNBA in 2018, but the Hall waited until after she formally retired from playing before she became eligible. Moore should have rightfully been inducted year ago, but her delayed induction resulted in the creation of tight connections among the 3 women in this year’s class. Moore and Sue Bird are both in the innermost circle of the great UConn legends. And Moore entering in the same class with Sylvia Fowles means that 4 out of 5 starters from the great Minnesota Lynx dynasty are now in the Hall.

The 2008 US men’s Olympic basketball team - The Redeem Team - is also part of this year’s class. Therefore Anthony & Howard are both to be inducted twice on the same evening. It is also the second induction for Chris Bosh, Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd, and Dwyane Wade. Finally, it means that LeBron James and Chris Paul are now both members in the Hall of Fame - even as they are still active NBA players!

As for the rest of the class, Billy Donovan is only a year older than I am. He’s much too young to have coached long enough to have qualified for the Hall, right? Right? Oh dear God, what does that say about me. Long time Miami Heat owner Micky Arison was elected; I can’t get too excited one way or other about an owner. Same deal with referee Danny Crawford; I feel there are too many refs in the Hall, but far be it from me to ruin a guy’s day. Good for him. The formal induction ceremony will take place in September.

Tending The Herd

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