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19.06.2019 12:34
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DETROIT -- Kerry Hyder looked up what a fine for roughing the passer might cost him in the NFL and saw that the penalty, $18,231, was more than any paycheck hed ever earned in his life.Then came the call from his agent.The NFL was fining Hyder for his hit on Cincinnati Bengals quarterback AJ McCarron on Aug. 18. The fine turned out to be for the exact amount that he had looked up -- and more than three times the $6,000 he would make the entire preseason.You know, I was a little hurt, Hyder told ESPN on Thursday night. Its definitely a bigger number than Ive ever made myself, so I hope we can figure something out with that, because as you know I havent made an active roster or anything.So its tough for me.Hyder, 25, said he is letting his agent handle the appeal process. The collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players association allows for fines to be reduced or appealed based on potential earnings this season.Hyder did all he could to try to make the team Thursday against the Bills, starting at defensive end and picking up three sacks in a 31-0 win. Hes somewhat of a long shot to make Detroits roster at a deep position, but his performance in the last preseason game could help him out. Last year, he had three fumble recoveries in the preseason finale against Buffalo and was cut.Hyder was on the New York Jets practice squad in 2014 and the Lions practice squad in 2015 before being called up for the final game of last season with the Lions. Hyders one-game check from last season, after taxes, would have approached the number he was fined for the roughing penalty.On appeal, a player may assert, among other defenses, that any fine should be reduced because it is excessive when compared to the players expected earnings for the season in question, the CBA states. However, a fine may be reduced on this basis only if it exceeds 25 percent of one week of a players salary for a first offense, and 50 percent of one week of a players salary for a second offense.Hyder was looking at it another way Thursday night. If he ends up having to pay the full fine, it might be for a very good reason.That means I made the 53-man roster, you know, Hyder said. Maybe its a blessing in disguise, so Im just trying not to worry about it, and Ill see what happens.Ill go through the whole process and see what happens. 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The freshman from Vaughan, Ont. Theres something important you should know about our insane attempt to rank the top 100 baseball players of all time. This list was not assembled by mathematicians, statisticians, sabermetricians, academicians or even dieticians.No sir. This list was assembled by us. By actual human beings. By a bunch of people who love baseball. Who cover baseball. Who write and talk about baseball. And who are pretty sure that we know a little something about baseball (or at least we used to be pretty sure, until we read our Twitter replies).So as you rummage through these rankings, it wont take long before the truth hits you. Some of the players on this list are way, way, way too high. Or way, way, way too low.Lets face it. Ken Griffey Jr. was not the 14th-best player in history. Roberto Clemente was not the 18th-best. Johnny Bench was not the 29th-best. Mariano Rivera was not the 49th-best. They were great. They were cool. They were awesome to watch. But you know what else they clearly were, judging by these rankings? Overrated. By us, anyway.On the other hand, Im not sure how we can possibly explain why Honus Wagner, Cy Young and good old Roger Clemens didnt even make our top 10. Heck, Tris Speaker didnt even dent our top 40. Mel Ott didnt crack our top 50. Grover Cleveland Alexander wasnt even in our top 90.Wow. Thats pretty, pretty, pretty crazy when you step back and think about it. But maybe these men always wanted to be considered underrated some day. Well, congratulations to them. They finally made it.Then there is a third group of iconic players on this list, men who fascinate me by where they wound up in these rankings. Pedro Martinez at No. 11. Joe DiMaggio at No. 15. Sandy Koufax at No. 16. Jackie Robinson at No. 30. Hmmmmm. Are we sure about those numbers? Really sure? Boy, I dont know about that.Our hearts tell us: We love those guys. Whats the problem? Then we hear a voice speaking to us from the computer command center, which may or may not (we cant confirm) be located in Bill James attic. That voice is wondering what the heck got into us. That voice has checked the numbers, apparently. Now it wants some explanations.Somehow or other, we managed to rank Pedro as the second-greatest pitcher in the history of baseball, behind only Walter Johnson. And we ranked Koufax as the fourth-greatest (with Greg Maddux squeezing in between Pedro and Koufax). Wait. We did what?We ranked both of them ahead of Cy Young (No. 17), Christy Mathewson (No. 28), Clemens (No. 19), Bob Gibson (No. 20) and Tom Seaver (No. 34)? And we ranked them so far ahead of poor Grover Cleveland Alexander (No. 97), hed need to change elevators three times just to get to check in with the receptionist in their penthouse.So whats up with that? Um, let me tell you what I think was up with that.I believe theres a mysterious force that washes over us as we watch sports, and especially as we watch certain charismatic people who play those sports. Were so drawn to them when theyre at their greatest, were willing to pretend that thats what they always were. Forever and ever.I once wrote a book on the most overrated and underrated baseball players of all time (The Stark Truth, still available wherever books are sold online, by the way). So I devoted like 50,000 words of eloquent prose to this subject. It was a book that kept coming back to one overriding theme, about how perception and reality can be two very different things. And since it generated so much conversation (polite word of the day) when I used that theme to explain why I thought Koufax was (gasp) overrated, lets start with him.If we use wins above replacement to measure Koufaxs all-time greatness, baseball-reference.com tells us he was not quite the fourth-best starting pitcher in the history of the universe. He was, well, the 117th. But hey, hes ahead of Bartolo Colon (No. 129) anyway.Maybe thats unfair, though, since were talking about a man whose throbbing elbow forced him to retire at 30 years old. So any data based on longevity doesnt apply to the great Koufax, right? His awesomeness was defined by his best years, not his staying power.So instead, well use Jay Jaffes fantastic invention, JAWS, to measure Koufaxs standing among the legends. JAWS also factors in a players seven-year peak, which would seem to be right in Koufaxs wheelhouse. Naturally then, JAWS elevates Koufaxs standing considerably -- all the way up to (uh-oh) the 88th-greatest starter of all time. Behind the likes of Tim Hudson, Dave Stieb and Chuck Finley, but ahead of Mark Buehrle and Mark Langston at least.I ccould explain more about why that is, but whatever.dddddddddddd. This is all we really need to know about how perception and reality diverge when anyone mentions that magical name, Koufax.Theres a certain romance that wraps itself around someone like him. Someone who disappears into the shadows of time at not just the peak of his own greatness but a peak that eclipses almost any pitchers greatness.That peak really lasted only four spectacular years, which you maybe can stretch to six if youre the biggest Koufax fan in the universe and you want acknowledgement of the two B-plus seasons that led up to that peak. But if you want to reflect on the very nature of perception versus reality, reflect on that.All we have, in Koufaxs case, is this: He was great. No, he was the greatest. And then he was gone. Click. So the perception of the superhuman phase of his career blots out all the reality those numbers above reflect. In reality, Koufaxs period of greatness was way too brief to merit ranking where he ranks on this list. He rode the perception express to a place he honestly shouldnt reside. And thats OK. It tells us something.Its not exactly what it tells us about Pedro, but its similar, right? JAWS would say he was the 21st-best starter ever, not the second-best. But heres the deal. Every one of us who voted remembers Pedro Martinez when he was at the pinnacle of his inimitable Pedro-esque brilliance. Grover Cleveland Alexander? Apparently, were a little fuzzier in our memories of him.So it was our vivid recollection of that Pedro, the dude firing 17-strikeout one-hitters at Yankee Stadium, that drove us to pile on the votes that landed him at No. 11 overall on the top 100, and No. 2 among starting pitchers. And thats OK, too. We might not be able to justify it mathematically. But its a reflection of who we are, just as much as a reflection of the dominator he could be on any given trip to the mound.Then there is DiMaggio. When I was writing my book, I talked to people who were trying to convince me he was the most overrated center fielder who ever lived. You know what I told them? No, he wasnt. But Ive never stopped thinking about those debates. How could I?Joe DiMaggio played baseball at a time when very few people actually saw him play baseball. So there are really two versions of DiMaggios career. There is the actual version, where he shows up as the sixth-greatest center fielder of all time, according to both JAWS and WAR. Then there is the romanticized version, where it feels as if hes hitting in 56 straight every season, in between dates with Marilyn Monroe.Should we have ranked the actual DiMaggio at No. 15, ahead of Rogers Hornsby, ahead of Frank Robinson, ahead of Mike Schmidt and Jimmie Foxx? Of course not. The actual Joe D should have shown up at No. 68, according to wins above replacement. Apparently, were romantics here at #MLBRank headquarters. Who knew?Finally, theres Jackie. In one corner of my brain, I cheered when I saw Jackie Robinson at No. 30 on this list. Its a reflection not only of the player he was but also the man he was. And the history-altering figure he was. We should never forget he was all of that and more.In the other corner of my brain, where the baseball historian in me still needs to be heard, I had to admit I asked myself: Isnt No. 30 kind of high? Truthful answer: Yeah, it is.We were instructed as voters to factor in players Negro League accomplishments. But remember, Robinson played only one season in the Negro Leagues, followed by 10 seasons in the big leagues. He was an amazing player. Rookie of the Year. MVP. Two stolen-base titles -- including one in a season in which he also won a batting title and slugged .528. But he was not the 30th-best baseball player of all time.WAR ranks him as the 165th-best. As voters, we ignored that. We rewarded him for being one of the five most important baseball players of all time. No one told us we couldnt. Hey, its our list. So we get to place him anywhere we like.As with all rankings -- whether its the greatest baseball players of all time or the greatest ice-cream flavors of all time -- certain things dont always apply. Science. Math. Facts. Reason. Reality. All optional.Perception? Emotion? Pure, unabashed irrationality? They can be powerful forces when someone says: Start ranking! So feel free to disagree. Feel free to debate. But dont call us crazy. You know what we really are? Human. Thats all. ' ' ' |
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