Alomar gets jobbed by BBWAA

Baseball Betting Lines

01/06/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - I am sorry, I don't think Andre Dawson is a Hall of Famer.

I don't get it. How in the world did Dawson get into the 2010 Hall of Fame class, yet Roberto Alomar misses out? Don't get me wrong, Dawson was a great, great player, but come on, You shake a baseball tree in the 1980's and plenty of Andre Dawsons fall out.

Alomar, on the other hand, is arguably the best second baseman to ever play the game.

Plus I have a question for the 420 people who voted Dawson in. How exactly is the Hawk more deserving than Fred McGriff? To be fair, I don't think McGriff should have been elected, but if you want to compare the two, it is not even close.

Dawson topped 30 home runs three times and went over 100 RBI just four times. McGriff, meanwhile, hit at least 30 home runs 10 times and drove in over 100 runs eight times.

Of the 45 players with 400 or more home runs, Dawson's .323 on-base-percentage ranks lower than only that of the illustrious Dave Kingman (.302). Plus his .279 career average is the lowest of any outfielder elected.

Let's be honest, Don Mattingly had more dominant seasons than Dawson and the only way Donnie Baseball gets into Cooperstown is if he pays admission. If you want to go even further, Tim Raines had a better career than his former Expos teammate Dawson, and he is not even a consideration.

This is more about Alomar getting snubbed, though. I would love to hear why voters left him off their ballots. A lifetime .300 hitter, Alomar ended his career with 2,724 hits, 210 home runs, 1,134 RBI, 1,508 runs scored and 474 stolen bases. Plus he was a 12-time All-Star and his 10 Gold Gloves are more than any other second baseman.

What more did Alomar have to do?

Alomar is not in for one reason, and one reason only, and that is because of the incident in Toronto in 1996 when the then-Oriole spat in the face of umpire John Hirschbeck, who threw him out of the game for arguing a called third strike.

Alomar defended himself by saying Hirschbeck had uttered a racial slur, and that Hirschbeck had been bitter since one son had died of the rare nerve disorder ALD, and another had recently been diagnosed as well.

However, both Alomar and Hirschbeck have long settled their differences and actually have done many charity events together in the time since. They have put that behind them long ago, and the baseball writers who left Alomar off their ballot should have done the same.

Then again, you tell a Mets fan that Alomar is a sure-fire first-ballot Hall of Famer and you might be laughed out of the room. I can't remember a player falling off more than him towards the end of his career. His first 14 seasons, though, were phenomenal.

In the end, Alomar came up eight votes shy and will likely get voted in next year - he's simply too good to be overlooked for too long - and that is the most important thing in the end.

It just leaves a sour taste in my mouth that he has to wait a year.

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Colts give the ‘D’ its due

The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.

They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.

"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."

Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.

New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.

Not so sound on the ground

If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.

Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com

“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.

Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.

Brees says bring it on

Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.

Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.

Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.

"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."

SportsBooks ready for a shootout

Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.

“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”

New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.

The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.

“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”

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