It’s the time of year when we start getting all of those lists about the cultural crap that underscore just how painfully young today’s incoming college freshman are. Things like “2015 incoming freshman never played stickball. Or persecuted the Irish. They are bioluminescent and are primarily silicon-based lifeforms; for this year’s incoming freshmen, ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ is just as far in their past as Puccini’s ‘E Lucevan Le Stelle’ is in ours.”
I hate those friggin’ lists. So excuse me while I turn away from the here and now talk about the past and future. Specifically, of the Hall of Fame.
- First the future, as our Joe Posnanski looks at the active players who have a chance to make the Hall of Fame. I quibble with him in some places -- I think Adrian Beltre and David Ortiz should be flipped on the “sure thing” and “probably but not sure” lists, mostly because I think writers will overrate Ortiz and underrate Beltre -- but it’s pretty solid all around. And a lot of players to chew on.
- Then, the past, as Graham Womack, whose “Baseball Past and Present” we’ve linked here before, begins contributing to the Sporting News. His first contribution: a look at the Hall of Fame case of Trevor Hoffman. This appears to be the first in a series of “Cooperstown Chances” in which Womack handicaps individual candidates.
Now, back to feeling old. Did you know that This year’s incoming Freshman have never eaten a sandwich? That the Boer War is totally foreign to them? That they don’t know a world without draculas? It’s true!