Sports and other information: April 2011

Friday, April 22, 2011

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Is the Hebrew Bible sexist?

One of the arguments of people to disregard the Hebrew Bible is that the Bible is sexist in nature. Clearly, there are many more prophets than prophetesses and as we have seen it has taken unique circumstances to even allow there to be female prophetesses in the first place. But it does not necessarily mean that the Bible is a sexist text. There is little likelihood that the biblical laws that reflect women's socially inferior status were relatively new, or even a particular Israelite development as it is paralleled in Mesopotamian legal codes going back to the third millenium BCE (Kugel 2008). The social roles played by women in biblical times are comparable to those found in traditional societies all across the globe (Kugel 2008). Many societies have worshiped a Great Mother goddess but it seems risky to jump from this religious way of conceptualizing fertility to any conclusions about social organization or gender-determined roles (Kugel 2008). There was also a prominent female goddess in ancient Palestine. This has suggested to some scholars that there was once a prominence in everyday lives of women, they may have once exercised a highly diverse and primary role in the economic and physical survival of ancient Palestine (Kugel 2008). The question then becomes, why did things change? There's an argument that it was brought about with a combination of plagues, wars, and famines late in the Bronze Age caused women's diverse social roles to primarily focus on child bearing and child rearing because rebuilding the population was a vital concern (Kugel 2008). Perhaps then dynamic female leaders such as Miriam, Deborah, and Huldah represent the last gasp of an ancient gender equality, perhaps remnants of a time when women were an integral part of the power structure (Kugel 2008). It's easy to merely dismiss the Bible as sexist without perhaps looking at the context of the text. Miriam seems to have been chosen as a prophetess because the male prophets, Moses and Aaron, were not leading the Israelites in a manner that they preferred. Instead of searching for another male leader, they chose Miriam. In the story of Deborah, it seems that Deborah was chosen because she was able to be a leader in a time when the social dynamics allowed her to be and led the Israelite army to victory. Huldah was chosen as a prophetess because she was able to take advantage of the dynamics to become one as well. It is possible that the Hebrew Bible is sexist, however, it seems more probable that it is trying to teach people that anyone can be a leader, especially if they take advantage of the social dynamics.

In the Hebrew Bible, most of the prophets who are mentioned are males. There are five women who get the distinction of prophet or the equivalent of prophet in the Hebrew Bible. They are Miriam, Deborah, the unnamed wife of Isaiah, Hulda, and Noadiah (Ackerman 2002). The title of prophet or the equivalence of such, was assigned to at least twenty-nine men (Ackerman 2002). This does not include the hundreds of prophets mention in II Kings or some prophets who were not given the title but wrote books that are included in the Hebrew Bible, including Joel, Amos, and Hosea (Ackerman 2002). Nevertheless, looking at prophetic literature one would have to come to the conclusion that the words and deeds of prophets are almost exclusively the words and deeds of men. However, there is a slight mention of the prophetesses so there must be an important reason for them to be included. I will be focusing on Miriam, Deborah, and Hulda. There are many reasons for each of the prophetesses to be mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. These reasons include some of the textual evidence, as well as some historical evidence.

Miriam was Moses' sister. After the crossing of the Sea of Reeds, her title was changed to Miriam the prophetess (Exodues 15:20). Her exact role as a prophetess is summed up in only a couple of verses. “Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron's sister, took a timbrel in her hand, all the women went out after her in dance with timbrels. And Miriam chanted for them: Sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously' Horse and driver He has hurled into the sea” (Exodus 15:20-21). Moses was considered by the Israelites to be God and Aaron was considered to be Moses' prophet (Exodus 7:1). It is possible that Miriam was also considered to be a prophet in the same manner because like Aaron, she was close to Moses. However, there is no Biblical text to support this claim. However, there is a better explanation of why Miriam is considered a prophet that can be found in the text. There was a series of unusual circumstances that happened to allow Miriam to become a prophet. Normally, prophets will only be males. However, as the Exodus story begins the Pharaoh ordered that all the baby boys should be thrown into the Nile, but every girl should live (Exodus 1:22). So when Miriam is coming of age there are not that as many males coming of age, as well. The next circumstance is that after Moses and Aaron are denied by Pharaoh to go in the wilderness to sacrifice, the Israelites are ordered to make their bricks without straw without their quotas being reduced. When the Israelites did not meet their quotas the supervisors are then beaten. This leads to resentment for both Moses and Aaron. “As they [the Israelites] left Pharaoh's presence , they came upon Moses and Aaron standing in their path, and they said to them, 'May the LORD look upon you and punish you for making us loathsome to Pharaoh and his courtiers-- putting a sword in their hands to slay us'” (Exodus 5:20-21). It seems as if there is a growing resentment to both Moses and Aaron. The resentment towards Moses and Aaron grow while God hardens Pharaoh's heart which, in turn, leads to more suffering for the Israelites. Finally, the Israelites are allowed to leave Israel which also has quite a bit of strife for the Israelites. These factors led to a resentment to the prophets that were sent by the LORD and led to turning to a new person to be looked at as a new prophet. The Israelites may have at that point decided that Miriam could be a new prophet especially after she led them in song after crossing the Sea of Reeds.

The next prophetess mentioned in the Hebrew Bible is Deborah. She was also mentioned as one of the judges of Israel. She is the only judge to be mentioned as a prophet, as well. “Deborah, wife of Lappidoth, was a prophetess; she led Israel at that time” (Judges 4:4). There can be a few reasons to why Deborah may have been considered a prophet as well as a judge. Some historians argue that the time when Deborah was alive would have been an ideal time for a woman to get elevated to a higher status (Hackett 1985). The archaeological evidence suggests that the Israelite community was rural or village-based (Hackett 1985). There are no remains of palaces or large residences, no public or administrative structures, and no sanctuaries or temples (Ackerman 2003). Because of this, it is safe to assume that there was a “relatively undifferentiated and unstratified social order, with no political or religious elite and no civil bureaucracy” (Ackerman 2003). It's likely, according to the archaeological evidence, that Deborah was able to rise to some type of power in the Israelite community. Was Deborah actually a prophet though? James L. Kugel argues that the prose of the narrative of Deborah was written after the song of Deborah (Kugel 2008). It's obvious that the narrative and the song were written at different times. As the two of them have inconsistencies. Most scholars think that the song of Deborah was written before the prose was actually written, so I will agree. Kugel argues that the prophetic traits that Deborah is said to have had could have easily been placed at a much later date (Kugel 2008). In the song of Deborah, she is called by the LORD with “Awake, awake, strike up the chant! Arise, O, Barak, Take your captives, O son of Abinoam!” (Judges 5:12). This is important because most other prophets are called by the LORD in some way, which is usually recorded. There are other ideas that perhaps the battle that Deborah led the Israelites in was a holy war (Meyers 1994). If it was a holy war then that is also a role of prophets, it can be found in both I and II Kings. Some scholars even point to her being mentioned as the mother of Israel in Judges 5:7, as a sign that she was called to be a prophet much like Elijah (II Kings 2:12) and Elisha (II Kings 13:14) (Meyers 1994). This seems like a stretch to me, as they are not technically called father of Israel but are just referred to as Father in those verses. This may very easily be a translation error as I am reading it in English and not in the original Hebrew. Other scholars have indicated that the prose narrative is entirely dependent on the song of Deborah. So the indication of Deborah as a prophet in Judges 4:4 could be from the different markers in Judges chapter five (Hackett 1985). It seems likely that Deborah's role of prophetess was assigned after looking over the song of Deborah. Kugel's definition of a prophet includes a role as a divine messenger or at the very least messengers sent by God (Kugel 2008). In the song of Deborah she does not declare that she is from the LORD like most other prophets do, with their prophetic speech. This does not necessarily mean that she is not a prophet, just that she does not seem to be a divine messenger of the LORD. The only traits of a prophet that Deborah had seemed to be that she led the Israelites in the holy war, was called the mother of Israel, and she was called by the LORD. The qualifications of a prophet seem to be different when applied to Miriam and Deborah then with other male prophets.

Huldah is barely mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Her appearance is only mentioned in a few verses. “So the priest Hilkiah, and Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan and Asaiah went to the prophetess Huldah—the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah son of Harhas, the keeper of the wardrobe—who was living in Jerusalem in the Mishneh and they spoke to her” (II Kings 22:14). However, she finds herself mentioned as one of the few prophetesses in the Hebrew Bible. Like Miriam and Deborah, there were other factors that may have been at work that caused her to be mentioned as a prophetess. There are some scholars who seem to suggest that Huldah was mentioned as a prophetess here because of the other things that happened in Judah around the same time. During the reigns of Manasseh and Amon, the kings before Josiah, Judah must have at some point found themselves of Assyrian hegemony (Ackerman 2002). The result of this certainly could have caused some disruption of Judah's traditional religious regimes (Ackerman 2002). As we saw with Deborah and Miriam if there was any disruption of normalcy, there stands to arise a prophetess as compared to a prophet. There might be another explanation, as well. Huldah is the wife of Shallum, the keeper of the king's wardrobe (Bible cite). However, this role and Shallum, himself, are not mentioned anywhere else in the Hebrew Bible, so there is some type of mystery surrounding him. There is a notion among scholars that since she was the wife of an upper-class husband she may have been able to exert some type of individual power even though she lived in a time where females typically did not show much on their own (Ackerman 2002). It is mentioned in the text that King Josiah's subjects meet with her in the home, it is possible to suggest that because they were able to meet her there that she was able to exert even more power. If Huldah was so important, though, why is she gone from the rest of the text fairly quickly? One idea is that even though there are a few prophetesses mentioned in the Hebrew Bible none of them have much room in the text that actually talks about their roles. Deborah has the longest one but it is only a couple of chapters long and that is not even long compared to the long tomes of such male prophets like Jeremiah or Isaiah. A second idea is that this is purely coincidental. Huldah had a small role to play which was to verify the scroll was actually the book of the law and once that was done there was no real need for her. Another idea is that the very forces that led Huldah to be mentioned as a prophet were swept away quite quickly. The reforms that King Josiah undertakes seems to be in the manner of centralizing the political and religious power. Certainly bringing the priests back to Jerusalem would be cause enough for Huldah to be able to dissappear (Ackerman 2002). As normalcy is restored, the notion of a female prophet is taken away. It seems that only when there is some type of disarray or confusion that a female prophet can emerge.

Miriam, Deborah, and Huldah were three of the very few prophetesses mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. They were able to take advantage of the different social dynamics and became prophetesses however brief their appearances in the text were. It may not prove that the Bible is not sexist; it certainly gives the idea that anybody can become a leader regardless of sex or gender.

Pitcher Rankings: #250-246

250. Scott Kazmir- Career: 3.43. 5 Consecutive: 3.56. Average: 0.49. 3 Highest: 2.69. 10 Highest: 3.43. All-Star Seasons: 1. MVP Seasons: 0.

He's probably most remembered for being traded for Victor Zambrano by the New York Mets. He was also traded by the Rays to the Angels, when the Rays basically gave up on the 2009 season. His 2010 season was pretty terrible and if he continues with another bad season this year, he might fall out of the rankings which, as improbable as it could be, could happen. His best season was the 2007 season his fWAR was 5.3. He went 13-9 with an ERA of 3.48. His K/9 was 10.41 which was his highest for a full season. His BB/9 was 3.88. His FIP (fielding independent pitching) was 3.45 which was the second best season that he had. It was basically his best season by almost any measure, including WAR.

249. Andy Ashby- Career: 4.07. 5 Consecutive: 3.34. Average: 0.29. 3 Highest: 2.31. 10 Highest: 4.44. All-Star Seasons: 0. MVP Seasons: 0.

His best season was 1997. His FIP was 3.58, which was the best mark he got for any full season. I would have expected that 1995 would have been his best season. He had a better ERA, a better K/9 rate, and a better won-loss record. However, he had a better BB/9 rate, a better HR/9 rate, and he pitched 8 more innings. It appears that he was slightly more valuable in 1997 then he was in 1995. This appears in his WAR which was 3.5 compared to 3.0.

248. Mike McCormick- Career: 3.56. 5 Consecutive: 2.26. Average: 0.22. 3 Highest: 3.06. 10 Highest: 4.38. All-Star Seasons: 2. MVP Seasons: 0. While McCormick had two all-star seasons he also had 8 seasons where he was below the level of a replacement level pitcher. This severely hurt his ranking and it shows as players ranked right around him do not have as many of all-star seasons as he does but they also do not have as many season below 0 WAR. His two best seasons were 1960 and 1967. We'll compare and see where they're getting these rankings. In 1960 he was 15-12 with a league leading 2.70 ERA, he was 6^th in the league in WHIP with a 1.158 mark, 10^th in BB/9 with a 2.312 mark, a 2.369 K/BB ranked 10^th, .534 HR/9 which ranked 3^rd, and came in 5^th in ERA+ with a 130. He made the all-star team but did not get a Cy Young vote. In 1967, he went 22-10 with a 2.85 ERA, his WHIP was lower at a 1.147 but it wasn't a top 10 finish. His BB/9 was higher at a 2.8. His K/BB was 1.85 and his HR/9 was 0.9 which was higher and his ERA+ was 118, so not as good of a season. This is reflected in his WAR 5.8 in 1960 compared to 5.0 in 1967.

247. Rollie Fingers- Career: 4.88. 5 Consecutive: 2.5. Average: 0.29. 3 Highest: 2.1. 10 Highest: 4.86. All-Star Seasons: 0. MVP Seasons: 0.

His best season was 1981. His WAR was 4.1. Jon Heyman wrote in his Hall of Fame post why Bert Blyleven is not a Hall of Famer and Jack Morris is, that WAR rewards pitchers who pitch a lot of innings and strikes out a lot of hitters. Fingers pitched 78 innings in 1981 and his K/9 was only 7.0. Not exactly dominant numbers on either end. However, the rest of his numbers were pretty impressive. His ERA was 1.04, he led the league in saves with 28. He allowed 9 (!) runs in his 78 innings. His ERA+ was 333 and his WHIP was 0.872. I'd say he was rewarded with his high WAR with great pitching. The anti-WAR diatribe of Jon Heyman will be discussed later.

246. Ramon Martinez- Career: 4.71. 5 Consecutive: 2.84. Average: 0.34. 3 Highest: 2.25. 10 Highest: 4.55. All-Star Seasons: 0. MVP Seasons: 0.

His best season according to fWAR was 1990 at 5.1 and that same season got him a 4.1 rWAR. All in all a pretty good season. He won 20 games. There's many posts out there on why wins are not a good way to measure a pitcher's ability, if you haven't read it, I'd suggest using Google to search Keith Law on wins or Joe Posnanski on wins. Either one of them can explain much better than I can. When evaluating seasons by WAR, I have found that the easiest way to evaluate pitchers and judge how we used to using wins is to multiply the pitcher's seasons WAR by 3. A 5 win mark is equal to roughly what we'd consider a 15 win season (which is where we usually evaluate pitchers as having an all-star caliber season). So, if we use that mark, we average fWAR and rWAR and multiply by 3. So Ramon Martinez was really only worth about 14 win season by our regular measure. Now, this isn't an exact science (not that baseball is, in general) just something I use to approximate true value.

Right Field Rankings: #100

100. Carl Reynolds- Career: 4.22. Five consecutive: 2.87. Average: 0.32. Three Highest: 2.12. 10 Highest: 4.24. All-Star seasons: 1. MVP Seasons: 0.

I had never heard of him before I read the New Bill James Historical Abstract. It was actually that book, as well as Moneyball, and the writing on ESPN by Rob Neyer that got me back into baseball. His best season was 1930, which seems like it would be obvious, this was the same year Hack Wilson broke the RBI record. Reynolds' slash line was .359/.388/.584 with a wOBA of .424. It was his best season in each of those categories. Surprisingly he was not mentioned in the MVP voting but he was mentioned the next year, 1931, when his WAR was 1.7 (both fWAR and rWAR). He finished 20^th in the voting in 1931 but did not receive any votes in 1930. The Chicago White Sox in 1930 went 62-92 and Hack Wilson was a great hitter in the same city, but a different league, maybe Hack Wilson hurt Reynolds' chances. The 1931 Chicago White Sox went 56-97. It's hard to fathom why Reynolds was voted in the top 20 in the MVP voting in 1931 but not in 1930.

Centerfield Ranking: #100

100. Barney McCosky- Career: 4.51. Five Consecutive: 3.41. Average: 0.41. Three Highest: 2.44. 10 Highest: 4.67. All-Star Seasons: 0. MVP Seasons: 0.

His best season was 1940, with a fWAR of 5.2 and a rWAR of 4.0. His slash line was .340/.408/.491 with a wOBA of .404. It was his best season in each of those categories. He probably deserves to rank higher as his seasons from 1943-1945 were taken from him as he served in World War II. I don't move players up in my rankings based on that because that opens a can of worms for all types of what if scenarios. I'll concede that he deserves to rank higher as does most players whose careers were cut short because of the war.

Left Field Rankings: #100

100. Pat Burrell- Career: 4.2. Five Consecutive: 2.64. Average: 0.38. Three Highest: 2.28. 10 Highest: 4.34. All-Star Seasons: 0. MVP Seasons: 0.

He signed a free agent contract to play for the Tampa Bay Rays as a designated hitter. He struggled so immensely in that role that they released him.. He signed with the San Francisco Giants and won a World Series ring in 2010. He probably would rank higher had he not signed that free agent contract and continued to play left field. When he was coming out of college, he was supposed to be one of the better bats in that draft. He was selected with the first overall pick in the 1998 draft, it's up to you to decide if he lived up to that role. He'll probably move up a few more slots before his career is done. His best season was 2002, his fWAR was 5.1 and his rWAR was 4.1. His slash line was .282/.376/.544. His wOBA was .390. It was his best batting average, his 4^th best on-base percentage, his best slugging percentage, and his second best wOBA. He is a pretty patient hitter and a good slugger.

Shortstops Ranking: #100

100. Lyn Lary- Career: 4.16. Five Consecutive: 2.1. Average: 0.35. Three Highest: 2.21. 10 Highest: 4.32. All-Star Seasons: 1. MVP Seasons: 0.

His best season was 1931. His slash line was .280/.376/.416 with a wOBA of .367. His average was his 4^th highest, his on-base percentage was his 4^th highest, his slugging percentage was his 3^rd highest, and his wOBA was his 4^th highest. He didn't get a single MVP vote though in 1931. He was a solid overall player both in defense and on offense. Finishing as high as 10^th place in RBI's in 1931, 1^st in stolen bases in 1936, 4^th in times on base in 1936, 1^st in Assists in 1936, 1^st place twice in putouts (1936 and 1937), 2^nd in range factor in 1935, and 1^st in fielding percentage in 1934. Overall, a pretty solid player would rank higher if he played longer than 12 seasons. I wonder if he joined in World War II or was ever approached to play during wartime baseball as he was only 34 in 1940. He may have been a good enough player to play then.

3rd Basemen Ranking: #100

100. Jimmy Austin- Career: 4.32. Five Consecutive: 2.25. Average: 0.25. Three Highest: 1.88. 10 Highest: 4.16. All-Star Seasons: 0. MVP Seasons: 0
His best season was 1911. His fWAR was 3.7 and his rWAR was 3.4. His slash line was .261/.351/.359 with a wOBA of .347. It was his fifth best full season for avg, his 4^th best for onbase percentage, his best full season for slugging percentage and his best season for wOBA. It was also the only year that he was mentioned in the MVP voting, he finished 20^th according to baseball reference. Looking over his stats, he must have been a pretty good defensive third basemen, having the best range factor 6 times, best fielding percentage one time, most assists twice, and most putouts twice. Bill James talks about it in the New Bill James Historical Abstract but third basemen weren't always viewed as power hitters, they were originally viewed as how we view second basemen now. This means that we wouldn't expect much offense from him and it may explain why he was pretty consistently in the top 10 in the league for sacrifice hits.

Second Basemen Ranking: #100

100. Juan Samuel- Career: 3.05. Five Consecutive: 2.32. Average: 0.19. Three Highest: 1.88. 10 Highest: 3.47. All-Star Seasons: 0. MVP Seasons: 0
His best season was 1987 with a fWAR of 3.7 and a rWAR of 3.0. His slash line was . 272/.335/.502 with a wOBA of .357. It was his 4^th best avg, 4^th best OBP, 3^rd best slugging percentage and his 4^th best wOBA. He finished 13^th in the MVP voting that year, which is the highest he ever finished. He fascinated when I was younger because I would look at the back of his baseball card and see that he led the league in strikeouts all the time. I wasn't alive when he was playing at the beginning of his career so I always wondered how he looked playing and I just imagined a guy striking out every third at-bat. He led the league in strikeouts for four consecutive seasons 1984-1987, an accomplishment that deserves some recognition.

First Basemen Ranking: #100

100. Alvin Davis- Career: 4.36. Five Consecutive: 3.23. Average: 0.48. Three Highest: 2.73. 10 Highest: 4.36. All-Star Seasons: 1. MVP Seasons: 0.
His best season was 1984, his rookie year. His fWAR was 5.8 and rWAR was 5.6. His slash line was .284/.391/.497. His wOBA was .387 which was the second highest of his career. He would have ranked higher but he only played 9 seasons which hurt both his career number and his 10 highest. He had consistently high OBP every year mainly because he walked a lot. He also did not strike out that much. All in all he was a pretty good player, who may deserve to rank higher. His best season according to WAR also matches up pretty perfectly with other measures, as it was his only All-Star season and his best finish in the MVP voting, as well (12^th place). His second best season according to WAR was 1989 with a fWAR of 4.5 and rWAR of 3.9 and it was the only other time he received votes in the MVP voting as he finished 23^rd. I thought it was interesting because I have heard people say that WAR for past seasons may lead to a revisionist history, which I haven't found to be true.

Top 100 players at each position

I'll unleash the write-ups to the #100 player at each position (except pitcher, it'll be 250-246 and it will be posted soon enough)

100. Yadier Molina- Career: 2.53. Five Consecutive: 2.12. Average: 0.36. Three Highest: 1.71. 10 Highest: 2.53. All-Star Seasons: 0. MVP Seasons: 0
His best season according to fangraphs WAR was 2009 with 3.8. His slash line was .293/.366/.383 with a wOBA of .337. His wOBA was his highest of his career. It was second highest batting average and his second highest slugging percentage. It was the best season for OBP. He would rank higher but he's only played seven seasons. His average is right around 2 wins per season. He should move up a few spots by the end of this season. I was surprised to see him already rank in the top 100. He is a very good defensive catcher and will probably continue to put up more than 2-3 wins per season for the next couple of seasons.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Mock Draft

Since the NFL Draft is coming up in a little over a week, I will post my opinion of how the Mock Draft will go. I am not a reporter or anything and it's just my best guess.
1. Carolina Panthers- Marcell Dareus DE/DT Alabama- one of the premier players ready to play everyday. Everyone that I've read is selling low on Nick Fairley. I think the Cam Newton rumor at this pick is a smokescreen at this pick trying to get more picks so to select more players. If they keep the pick, Dareus is the selection, I think.
2. Denver Broncos- Patrick Peterson CB LSU- the best overall player in the draft, in my opinion. Broncos need a CB and Peterson is clearly the best.
3. Buffalo Bills- Von Miller OLB Texas A&M- he is one of the best players, probably the second best behind Peterson. I'm going with a lot of people's opinions that Miller is going to the Bills, here instead of Gabbert.
4. Cincinatti Bengals- Blaine Gabbert QB Missouri- I have Gabbert as the top quarterback in the draft. The consensus for the most part is that Gabbert is the better quarterback over Newton. I think the Bengals are cutting loose Carson Palmer ar this point and going ahead with the best QB in the whole draft.
5. Arizona Cardinals- Robert Quinn DE North Carolina- I think Quinn goes here because the Cardinals are looking for some pass-rush and without Miller on the board, I think Quinn is the pick.
6. Cleveland Browns- A.J. Green WR Georgia- Everyone is higher on him than Julio Jones. I prefer Jones over Green but I'm not a draft evaluator. Green is a good wide receiver and is a playmaker for Colt McCoy.
7. San Francisco 49ers- Cam Newton QB Auburn- I think Newton is going to be the bust of the draft but I think the Cardinals select him here, anyways, at least how my mock is going. The 49ers need a QB if they're going to cut ties with Alex Smith.
8. Tennessee Titans- Nick Fairley DT Auburn- Everyone has Fairley going to the Titans at this point. I think Fairley is a great match for the Titans who like to draft defensive line positions in the previous drafts.
9. Dallas Cowboys- Tyron Smith OT USC- I guess the Cowboys need a tackle and Tyron is the best tackle in the draft so that's a perfect match.
10. Washington Redskins- Julio Jones WR Alabama- if he falls here it's the best pick in the draft. I think Jones is the best receiver. Although, I reallly think Shanahan trades down to later in the first round to draft Mallett who seems like the perfect match for Shanahan.
11. Houston Texans- Prince Amukamara CB Nebraska- KC Joyner at ESPN doesn't think he is that great of a CB and I hear reports of the same thing. But I think the Texans try to fix their secondary with this pick.
12. Minnesota Vikings- Da'quan Bowers DE Clemson- I think the Vikings try to hit a homerun with this pick.
13. Detroit Lions- Cameron Jordan DE California- He is regarded as one of the better rush end prospects in this draft. It's likely that they would draft a tackle in the first round to try and protect fragile Stafford.
14. St. Louis Rams- Cory Liuget DT Illinois- With Jones off the board, they look for a D-Line prospect.
15. Miami Dolphins- Mark Ingram RB Alabama- seems like it's a perfect match.
16. Jacksonville Jaguars- Adrian Clayborn DE Iowa- I don't really like Ryan Kerrigan that much and the other ends/LB's seem to fit in the 3-4 instead.
17. New England Patriots- J.J. Watt DE- makes too much sense
18. San Diego Chargers- Muhammed Wilkerson DE/DT Temple
19. New York Giants- Mike Pouncey OL Florida- I've been hearing that he's not as good as his brother and that if his last name was different he would fall.
20. Tampa Bay Bucanneers- Ryan Kerrigan DE Purdue- I think Kerrigan might be a bust but he's going to a team that already had a bust Gaines Adams.
21. Kansas City Chiefs-Anthony Castanzo OT Boston College- he falls in my mock and the Chiefs reap the benefits.
22. Indianapolis Colts- Nate Solder OT Colorado-also slipping but a perfect fit.
23. Philadelphia Eagles- Danny Watkins OL Baylor- fills in the holes for the Eagles.
24. New Orleans Saints- Phil Taylor NT- I think is a good fit or Akeem Ayers from UCLA to go into their 3-4 and rotate into Williams' defensive schemes.
25. Seattle Seahawks- Andy Dalton QB TCU- I don't really believe the Seahawks are going after a QB after the Whitehurst situation but I have seen enough NFL expert say that Dalton is the man so I'll agree.
26. Baltimore Ravens- Jimmy Smith CB Colorado-The Ravens always seem to have a player drop to them perfectly.
27. Atlanta Falcons-Cameron Heyward DE-they need a pass rusher and he's the best d-line prospect left, in my opinion.
28. New England Patriots-I'd say they're going to trade but if they keep the pick I have them selecting Gabe Carimi OT Wisconsin
29. Chicago Bears- Derek Sherrod OT Mississippi St- they need an O-Linemen and I think they take him here after nobody else is really left
30. New York Jets- Marvin Austin DL North Carolina- character problems? check. Boom or bust? check. Sounds like a Jets pick.
31. Pittsburgh Steelers- have them trading their pick to the Vikings. The Vikings select Jake Locker.
32. Green Bay Packers- I have them selecting Ayers if he's there. Otherwise, it's another trade. The Miami Dolphins select Ryan Mallet.

Hall of Fame

I amputting together my Hall of Fame based on my ranking systems. I will choose players who are retired long enough to be elected to the Hall of Fame. Without further ado, here is the WrathofCrain Hall of Fame.

Catchers:

Johnny Bench

Gary Carter

Yogi Berra

Carlton Fisk

Joe Torre

Bill Dickey

Ted Simmons

Mickey Cochrane

Bill Freehan

Roy Campanella

First Base:

Lou Gehrig

Jimmie Foxx

Roger Connor

Jeff Bagwell

Dan Brouthers

Johnny Mize

Cap Anson

Hank Greenberg

Willie McCovey

Dick Allen

George Sisler

Mark McGwire

Bill Terry

Eddie Murray

Harmon Killebrew

Rafael Palmeiro

Keith Hernandez

John Olerud

Tony Perez

Frank Chance

Norm Cash

Fred McGriff

Second Base:

Rogers Hornsby

Eddie Collins

Joe Morgan

Nap Lajoie

Charlie Gehringer

Jackie Robinson

Rod Carew

Frankie Frisch

Joe Gordon

Bobby Grich

Ryne Sandberg

Roberto Alomar

Lou Whitaker

3^rd Basemen:

Mike Schmidt

Eddie Mathews

Wade Boggs

George Brett

Ron Santo

Brooks Robinson

Home Run Baker

Edgar Martinez

Sal Bando

Ken Boyer

Paul Molitor

Graig Nettles

Buddy Bell

John McGraw

Darrell Evans

Robin Ventura

Ron Cey

Jimmy Collins

Shortstop:

Honus Wagner

Cal Ripken, Jr.

Arky Vaughan

Ernie Banks

George Davis

Robin Yount

Lou Boudreau

Luke Appling

Joe Cronin

Pee Wee Reese

Alan Trammell

Hughie Jennings

Barry Larkin

Bill Dahlen

Ozzie Smith

Bobby Wallace

Jack Glasscock

Jim Fregosi

Left Fielders:

Barry Bonds

Ted Williams

Stan Musial

Rickey Henderson

Carl Yazstremski

Ed Delahanty

Joe Jackson

Al Simmons

Goose Goslin

Fred Clarke

Jesse Burkett

Sherry Magee

Willie Stargell

Tim Raines

Ralph Kiner

Billy Williams

Minnie Minoso

Joe Kelley

Joe Medwick

Charlie Keller

Bob Johnson

Zack Wheat

Jimmy Sheckard

Center Field:

Willie Mays

Ty Cobb

Tris Speaker

Mickey Mantle

Joe Dimaggio

Duke Snyder

Billy Hamilton

Jimmy Wynn

Richie Ashburn

Cesar Cedeno

Larry Doby

Willie Davis

Vada Pinson

Earl Averill

Right Field:

Babe Ruth

Hank Aaron

Mel Ott

Frank Robinson

Roberto Clemente

Al Kaline

Pete Rose

Reggie Jackson

Harry Heilmann

Paul Waner

Larry Walker

Sam Crawford

Elmer Flick

Bobby Bonds

Reggie Smith

Tony Gwynn

Andre Dawson

Willie Keeler

Rocy Colavito

Dwight Evans

Dave Winfield

Pitchers:

Cy Young

Walter Johnson

Kid Nichols

John Clarkson

Pete Alexander

Lefty Grove

Christy Mathewson

Tim Keefe

Tom Seaver

Old Hoss Radbourn

Bob Gibson

Gaylord Perry

Phil Niekro

Warren Spahn

Amos Rusie

Robin Roberts

Bert Blyleven

Steve Carlton

Ferguson Jenkins

Tony Mullane

Bob Feller

Bob Caruthers

Juan Marichal

Ed Walsh

Sandy Koufax

Kevin Brown

Nolan Ryan

Jim Bunning

Don Drysdale

Carl Hubbell

Tommy Bond

Joe McGinnity

Hal Newhouser

Dazzy Vance

Eddie Plank

Jim Palmer

Vic Willis

Stan Coveleski

Three Finger Brown

Rube Waddell

Wilbur Wood

Bret Saberhagen

Rick Reuschel

Eddie Cicotte

Luis Tiant

Dwight Gooden

Don Sutton

Red Faber

Clark Griffith

Kevin Appier

Jerry Koosman

Silver King

Billy Pierce

Starting with the top 100 lists

I'll break down the individual players after posting the list. (Catchers scored are multiplied by 1.15 because it's harder for catchers to get high scores in WAR especially for their career) Again active players are through the 2010 season. I'll update the list at the end of this season. I'll list the bottom 20 first then break them down on a different couple of posts.
100. Yadier Molina: 10.6375
99. Heinie Peitz: 10.8215
98. Frank Snyder: 10.9825
97. Brian Harper: 11.109
96. Mike Lavalliere: 11.132
95. Babe Phelps: 11.684
94. Hank Gowdy: 11.822
93. Ron Hassey: 11.891
92. Jerry Grote: 12.2705
91. Shanty Hogan: 12.305
90. Dan Wilson: 12.305
89. Hank Severeid: 12.3855
88. Mike Macfarlane: 12.4315
87. A.J. Przynski: 12.673
86. Harry Danning: 12.719
85. Doggie Miller: 12.719
84. Jody Davis: 12.9605
83. Johnny Edwards: 13.1445
82. Duke Farrell: 13.179
81. Phil Masi: 13.271