11-21-2019 Passed Ball Show. John opens up the program by talking about the workout held November 16th by Colin Kaepernick for NFL teams. Kaepernick deserves the right to work, the right to seek employment, and in no way deserves to be blackballed from the National Football League. However, the decisions made to change the destination of the workout add murky details to an already confusion set of events. Does Colin Kaepernick want to play in the NFL again? Did he hold the workout more for his post-workout speech? Does he want to be a quarterback in the NFL or does he prefer to be a Martyr? There is a reason to be concerned over Kaepernick's interest at this point. Has he come to grips with his football career being over at this point? The other aspect is the obvious need for good quarterbacks in the NFL and the fact that Kaepernick is clearly as good as some that are in the league and making starts. Names like TJ Yates, Tom Savage, Chase Daniel, Luke Falk, and others have started games in the NFL over the past couple of seasons. Colin can clearly perform at the levels of the above named, even being three years removed from playing in the NFL. John then talks about the Baseball Hall of Fame and comparisons people like to do when it comes to cases being made for those not in. It is weak to make a case that a non- Hall of Famer is more worthy than Harold Baines, but it is worse when some are trying to discredit the credentials of Tony Gwynn. Gwynn will never be known as a power hitter and because of that, numbers like OPS+, WRC, and similar stats inflated by power numbers make him look less of the player he was. Gwynn was a throwback player- would have stood out even in the deadball era and hit for a higher career batting average than anybody since Ted Williams. Those comparisons are looking kind of lazy. Finally, there is no reason to make a case for another Hall of Fame baseball player until Barry Bonds is inducted. Bonds belongs in based off the merits of his accomplishments. He is the only player in baseball history with over 600 doubles and 700 home runs. Bonds is one of four players with a career on base percentage of over .440 and a career slugging percentage of over .600. The other names are Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Ted Williams. No other player in baseball has over 500 home runs and over 500 stolen bases. How about the fact that he was one of three players with over 1000 more walks than strikeouts? The other players are Williams and Eddie Collins. In the history of a sport that has its share of cheats, some of whom are in the Hall of Fame, why discredit a player who did more in their career than anybody else in this lifetime?
