On Numbers
If you were to sort everything in the world by a factor of how much I pay attention to it vs. actual importance, what jersey numbers Michigan players wear is probably just below and to the left of Alan Trammell's snub.
His career was merely "average" for a Hall of Fame shortstop
If you don't care, I respect that; here's a report from BBC news on the rising nuclear tensions in South Asia that probably matters a lot to the long-term stability of the region and the horrifying possibility that our species might some day wipe out the better portion of the lifeforms we know of. If you do care who wears the numeral we associate with Woodson, maybe read up enough on the arms deal first so people will know you've got your priorities straight. All set? Alright here's what I think we should do with the Legends numbers.
The Legends Question
Earn it, Keith
I don't think anybody knows what they'll do with the program now. Hackett seems earnest in this evaluation period. I also have an idea where some of the pushback is coming from, since former players—in email groups, in private, and some publically—are a key demographic against them. Part of that's a get-off-my-lawn attitude among older guys regarding the over-attention paid to jersey numbers by kids these days. Part of it's the same jarring fan sensation of having long associations undone—the Kovacs Principle—and part of it's a new guy wearing sacrosanct numbers every year. I saw more complaints about Funchess wearing 87 while not blocking than Moore wearing it while not playing.
I wish they would keep this program, but only for underclassmen. The Seth Plan:
- Establish a set of attainable criteria for each number. Past Legends have input but this shouldn't be the Braylon gauntlet—that worked for Braylon because Carr tailored it specifically to Braylon.
- Establish a set of higher criteria for getting added to the patch.
- Underclassmen interested in wearing a Legends number apply to their coaches
- Number must be earned before a player either starts his 15th game, or reaches the end of his sophomore season of eligibility, whichever comes first.
- Back-elevate past Michigan greats based on Legends criteria.
- Add 2 (for Woodson, defensive backs), 77 (for OTs: Lewan, Long, Jansen, Jenkins), 46 (Harry Newman, for special teams players), and 27 (Benny Friedman, for quarterbacks) to the program. Make 98 for running backs.
- Establish a set of criteria for having a new number Legendsized (so future HSPs can hope to wear #5)
I imagine if more than one young player wants the same number Harbaugh won't mind competition.
Projecting the Fall Arrivals
I used to try this every year: attempt to predict numbers for the new guys to wear. Before MGoBlog it was an annual rite of rostering the new NCAA game. Last year I missed it; in 2013 I went 12 for 22 with the scholarship guys, but that was in June when some guys already knew their numbers. This year I'm gonna try to do it early and honestly.
[My methodology and sure-to-be-incorrect predictions, after the jump]
Method
The numbers I'm avoiding:
Residual Legends: I'm guessing for now they will re-retire. Let's just figure that 1, 11, 21, 47, 87, and 98 are out of circulation for incoming players, and 48 will be once Morgan moves on.
Walk-On Rules: Typically a walk-on doesn't get to hold onto his number if a scholarship guy comes along, but upperclassmen who've worked their way into the two-deep and preferred walk-ons are usually exempt from this. Other than the Holy Order of St. Kovacs, this includes running back Antonio Whitfield, receiver Bo Dever, fullbacks Joe Kerridge and Bobby Henderson, offensive lineman Greg Froelich, linebacker Dan Liesman, cornerback AJ Pearson, and kickers/punters Kenny Allen, Kyle Seychel, and Ryan Tice.
Already Filled: These numbers have a guy on both units already. Hoke didn't like this very much so there's not very many of them anymore. They are 7 (Morris and Poggi), 12 (Malzone and Gant), 18 (Whitfield and Pearson), 19 (Speight and Jared Wangler), 33 (Shallman and Taco), 44 (Winovich and Delano Hill), 52 (Mason Cole and RJS), and 73 (Fox and Hurst). Also I've counted 29 and 23 out because Ross Taylor-Douglas and Dennis Norfleet may play either unit.
Available to Offensive Players Only: I've noted (in maize) the numbers of defensive players who are likely to be on special teams. Receivers, fullbacks, and other guys planning to try out for kickoff and punt coverage/return duties should avoid these.
2, 5, 8, 9, 13, 15, 22, 25, 26, 28, 30, 31, 34, 35, 41, 42, 43, 50, 53, 56, 59, 66, 69, 90, 91, 93, 96, 99
Available to Defensive Players Only: 3, 4, 10, 14, 17, 20, 27, 32, 36, 37, 39, 45, 51, 55, 57, 61, 62, 67, 71, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 88, 94
Open Numbers: 6, 16, 24, 38, 40, 46, 49, 54, 58, 60, 63, 64, 65, 68, 70, 75, 77, 79, 89, 92, 95, 97
Predictions:
| Player | Pos | # | YMRMFSPA | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jake Rudock | QB | 15 | Grbac | Wore it at Iowa and was his high school number. Apologies to Garrett Moores |
| John O'Korn | QB | 5 | Tate, Wangler | Wore it at Houston and Aquinas before that (WR Ken Sloss is a sr.) |
| Zach Gentry | QB | 16 | Navarre, Denard, Reimersma | Was 11 in high school, but said that was just assigned. |
| Karan Higdon | RB | 22 | Gerald White | His varsity jacket reads "deuce-deuce." |
| Tyrone Wheatley Jr. | TE | 99 | Lots of DE/OLB types | Dad's 6 is open, but he wears 9. Our TEs wear 90s now. |
| Grant Perry | WR | 13 | Greg Mathews | Puts his locker next to fmr Rice teammate Malzone. |
| Grant Newsome | OT | 77 | Also Tony Pape | LTT has 72, but the Mich OT number is open |
| Nolan Ulizio | OG | 70 | Doherty, Erhardt | It's open. |
| Jon Runyan Jr. | OC | 69 | Jon Runyan Sr. | His 75 is open but doesn't seem to shy away from Dad. |
| Shelton Johnson | SDE | 97 | Beyer | Poggi is wearing his #7. This works. |
| Reuben Jones | WDE | 55 | B.Graham | Unless Delano Hill gives up 44. |
| Tyree Kinnel | S | 24 | Bobby Abrams | Wears 2 for Woodson now so... |
| Wayne Lyons | CB | 3 | Marlin, TH, Tripp | Countess is sittin on his # too. |
| Keith Washington | CB | 6 | Taylor, Warren | Lowest digit available. Wore 2 in HS |
| Andrew David | K | 38 | Rivas | Is a kicker |
| Blake O'Neill | P | 39 | DeLong, Finley | Houma isn't on punt coverage so okay to keep his # |
For his era he was the best hitter of any shortstop except Ripken* and the best fielder except Ozzie Smith. Trammell was as consistently good in every facet of baseball as Barry Larkin, and better in every single facet of baseball, at a more important position, than Ryne Sandberg. In a pitcher's era Tram was on pace for 12 years to finish over .300 until injuries decimated the last handful he stuck around for. Ironically if he'd done steroids like half the league and 75% of the guys his age still in baseball by the mid-'90s there'd be no question right now.
Of the players to go to the Hall since Trammell's first year on the ballot, I'd only put Maddux, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Tony Gwynn, Rickey Henderson, and Cal Ripken again of Tram, though I wouldn't disclude the rest. Tram just happened to hit the list when people who hadn't watched him were doing most of the voting and this bullshit "good but not GREAT" label got slapped on him. What's a great shortstop then? Like four shortstops ever had better careers by the standards of the Hall of Fame than Alan Trammell. If a guy you're reading has a vote and doesn't give it to #3 he knows nothing about baseball and you should tell him you're not reading him anymore.
(And Halls of Fame are just museums to celebrate history of the sport and thus irrelevant in the scheme of things unless you're the kind of person who gets really upset over the disclusion of apatasours from dinosaur exhibits that claim to be comprehensive).
* Unless you want to count Yount as a SS but he split betweent that and OF
I refuse to call that great sauropod by the undignified name of "apatosaurus".
Brontosaurus now, brontosaurus tomorrow, brontosaurus forever!
I'm hoping that the writers decided early on when it was clear that Whitaker wasn't going to get voted in, that they would wait until both guys were eligible to be voted in together by the legends committee so that they could be inducted together. They are like Hawaiian War Chant and Temptation. You can't have one without the other. I mean, they played like 19 consecutive seasons together. How do you split that up and only award one guy?
I am completely with you on Trammell. I was absolutely shocked and dismayed when I saw the results of the Hall of Fame voting the first year he was eligible. I think the crazy numbers of the steroid users skewed everyone's idea of what "great" was. It's unfortunate. I would love to see Trammell and Whitaker get in from the Veterans' Committee, if nothing else. But I'm glad I'm not the only one around who saw Trammell's greatness.
Preach!
[Edit - Meant for Seth's comment, but OK, fine.]
Trammell's WAR is slightly higher than Sandberg's, but Sandberg had a considerably higher career OPS (in a non-DH league) and more home runs.
April 14th, 2015 at 12:25 PM ^
I really disliked the legend's jersey's.
I would love it if they went back to the old way of just handing them out like numbers.
The reason I don't like them primarily is that I like to see a player make a number his own. When I think of 1, I first think of Anthony Carter. Putting Braylon Edwards on that jersey makes no difference. I think of Derrick Alexander second. Why? Because I was younger and I remembered everything back then (I can't remember what I had for lunch yesterday anymore).
What about the logjam at 77?
I appreciated the effort to do something special, but the numers are already special because of our memories of them. If that's not sufficient, or enough time has passed that no one remembers, then lets start a big wall outside the statium with every first-team all-american and his picture/number. Or something.
Obviouosly, there are minuses to something like that as well.
Just a thought.
April 14th, 2015 at 12:39 PM ^
It is used non-literally by Twain and Dickens and Fitzgerald and Joyce, all of whom were better writers than any of us.
And if non-literal literally bothers you, then you should (to be consistent) fight with everyone over EVERY non-literal use of a word, of which there are many (including "really").
April 14th, 2015 at 12:56 PM ^
Unfortunately, they are not. Words change their meaning. Words are used to mean opposite things. Peruse originally meant to read carefully. Now it also means to read informally.
Do you use "fantastic" to mean "amazing"? Well, it literally means "imaginary."
Do you use "awful" to mean "bad"? Literally it means "inspiring awe."
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of these kinds of words. To stick to their literally meaning only is really, REALLY pedantic.
they're called auto-antonyms: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-antonym
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
April 14th, 2015 at 12:55 PM ^
I agree with the poster above regarding the quantity of legends jerseys. Specific criteria needs to be established that is very stringent. There are very few things that warrant a legends jersey. Here are some of those.
1. Heisman (98, 21, 2) - duh.
2. POTUS (48) - sure.
3. Any previously retired number.
Things that shouldn't count:
1. Everything else.
What we should really talk about is what feats constitutes number retiring. Also, expectations need to be tempered with regards to the players that wear the numbers. Sure, it should be considered giving a legends jersey to a player with great potential and drive, but it isn't the end of the world if they don't replicate the same accomplishments.
The player needs to make his own number special, i.e., the man makes the number, the number doesn't make the man. I think the older players perspective should carry a lot of weight since they've been in the trenches already. Seen too many times last season where people wearing legends numbers was disheartening based on performance and IMO made the program a j***. So yeah, overall, not a fan of the program but would say, "make first team all conference" as a measure of your performance as an underclassman. Then you don't need all the internal numerical criteria, etc., i.e., The Seth Plan. (Yes, most likely you'd be going pro in lieu of your senior year and not wear a legends number anyway). The legends numbers prgram as it is/was seemed like a distraction. Let's just play some good football. I don't want to be thinking about if anybody should really be wearing a legends number or not as a side thought. Again, players need to make their own numbers special.
I've been looking for Sweet Lou Whitaker on your chart and can't find it. I assume its right underneath Tram's photo and thus can't be seen.
Whitaker is 78th in all-time WAR while Trammell is tied for 93rd. They both belong in the HofF.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/WAR_career.shtml
Can't say that I've had the displeasure of being a Comcast subscriber, but I saw this over the weekend. Damn that company is a savage.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/fire-destroys-mans-home-comcast-wouldnt-cancel-his-cable-040915.html
they have a better recap here though: link
I think you mean 1987.
April 14th, 2015 at 10:03 PM ^
Yes, you are remembering 1987, I think, and I had the same issue. My memory is getting fuzzy on this, but I remember seeing a Sports Illustrated article after the 1987 season complaining that Ozzie Smith should have been NL MVP instead of Andre Dawson. I actually wrote a letter to SI in response making a similar argument that Trammell should have been AL MVP instead of Bell. My letter did not get printed.
Don Moorhead wore number 27. Quarterbacking the maize and blue to that wonderful victory over Ohio State in 1969. That was the start of a special run by the maize and blue. Happy to see another successful steak started by coach Harbaugh. Go Blue!!!
I be certain that my best friend realey taking home money in there spare time on there computar. . there neighbour had bean doing this less than 15 months and recently cleard the mortgage on their villa and bourt a great new Mercedes-Benz S-class .
why not try here=============> JOBSREPORT
Comments