I Demand a Recount

Well everyone, one of the most joyous days of the year has finally arrived. Yep, that's right. The votes have been counted and the results of the Brewers Walk of Fame voting are in! Outside of pretty much every other day that has even a minor Brewers affiliation; THIS is the biggest day of the year for Brewers fans. Let's all take a trip over to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and take a look at the votes, shall we?

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/37517854.html

Just for the record, here are the actual honorees of the Walk of Fame: Hank Aaron, Rollie Fingers, Paul Molitor, Robin Yount, Cecil Cooper, Bud Selig, Harry Dalton, Bob Uecker, Jim Ganter, Gorman Thomas, Harvey Kuenn, Don Money, Eddie Matthews, Warren Spahn, and John Quinn.

That is definitely a pretty impressive list of Milwaukee baseball players and icons. And while none of the people on this years ballot are of the same caliber as any of the elected members; at the very least, most of the candidates were memorable members of the Brewers or Braves organizations. You can't quite help but feel nostalgic looking at names like Teddy Higuera, Ben Oglivie, and of course, Pete Vukovich. Sure, these guys aren't the greatest ballplayers to play in Milwaukee, but they are undeniably deserving of at least being mentioned. The reality is that their highest honor shouldn't really be anything greater than being featured on the laminated placemat which I eat pizza off of; but at the same time, they are notorious enough that it's foolish to get upset over any of these guys being mentioned as candidates.

Wait, whats that? Alex Sanchez got a vote? ALEX FUCKING SANCHEZ?!?!?!?!?!?!

The biggest claim to fame Alex Sanchez has in his entire life is that he was the first Major League player to ever be suspended for violating the MLB drug policy. Now, I am not one to say that simply using performance enhancing drugs should result in an exclusion from any sort of honor.

But come on, he wasn't even good at baseball. At the time of his suspension, Alex Sanchez had hit four home runs! At the conclusion of his five year major league career, he only hit six fucking home runs! Just for fun I decided to compile a brief list of former Brewers who have hit more than six home runs in their careers: Brooks Kieschnick, Jody Reed, Matt Mieske, Mike Matheny, Glenn Braggs, Ernest Riles, Randy Ready, Alex Ochoa, Bobby Hughes, Lou Collier, and Brian Banks.

For another exercise that will surely have you scratching your head as you scream "WHO THE FUCK ARE THESE GUYS?"; lets take a look at the Most Similar Batters courtesy of BaseballReference.com

1. Fred Lewis (962)
2. Algie McBride (955)
3. Tike Redman (955)
4. Fred Brickell (955)
5. Buzz Boyle (953)
6. Sam Dungan (952)
7. Buster Mills (951)
8. Moose McCormick (950)
9. Jack Lelivelt (949)
10. Estel Crabtree (948)

Great company you've got there, Al. I think I'm making my point but that will not stop me from going Billy Mays on you, Just a Bit Outside faithful reader. Because, WAIT THERE'S MORE! Who wants to look at some career statistics? Probably no one, but it's going to happen anyways.

Batting Average: .296
On Base %: .330
Slugging %: .372
OPS: 702
Adusted Batting Runs: -29.4
Batting Wins: -2.7

These numbers range anywhere from "disgustingly awful", to "simply very terrible", to "average at best". What about Alex Sanchez makes him worthy of receiving even a single vote for any sort of baseball honor? In terms of baseball ability, it would be an overstatement to claim that he has any. And in the eyes of many, even being mentioned in the same sentence as steroids is a kiss of death. Please, someone explain to me how this was allowed to happen? There is no redeemable quality about Alex Sanchez.

Now, mystery voter, I do understand the glory of casting a joke ballot; I once voted Nader. But this is the Walk of Fame, it deserves to be taken more seriously.