Top 200 Major League Baseball Players Ever...Additions, Corrections, Absolutions

As mentioned in the most recent post, I did a recalibration recently, and while outside of one or two, I could leave rankings 200-160 as they stand, resting on the idea that the numbers are so close, so tightly packed together in a Bush/Gore type of way, that any statistical separation is really hair splitting.



But let's split some hair.



When I finished the Top 100 movie list of the past quarter-century, I mentioned that I would be willing to warrant my top 100 baseball players on this top 200 list as the definitive, objective, statistically verifiable compilation of the top 100 major leaguers ever.



Instead of that - let's make it the full 200.




So, 5 players already listed as in:



Andruw Jones
Hank Greenberg
Joe Jackson
Mickey Cochrane
Dave Bancroft


...are now out.

Jones is still active, but I'm unwilling to give him the active player nudge, he's better positioned with Giambi, Helton, Hoffman, Posada, Pettitte, Delgado, and Tejada as guys who are just off the list; it's possible that all could be on by season's end, but possible they all continue to miss until sometime next year. Ichiro, Wagner, Berkman, Santana, Oswalt, Hudson, Halladay are on the next couple of tiers below and you could expect all to make the list by decade's end.

Duke Snider, Juan Marichal, Bob Elliott, Dizzy Trout join the other 4 players who were removed from my first attempt at this list as being just the slightest tick outside the top 200, not too far behind would be George Sisler, Bill Terry, Jim Kaat, Kenny Lofton, Wes Ferrell, Kevin Appier, Cupid Childs, Norm Cash, Omar Vizquel, Fred Dunlap, Dave Steib, Roy Campanella, Eppa Rixey, Charlie Bennett, Kirby Puckett, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, Red Faber, Billy Pierce, Ed Walsh, Jose Canseco, Lance Parrish, Dutch Leonard, Cesar Cedeno, Rube Waddell, Nomar Garciaparra, and Pee Wee Reese.

Just a little below are Bob Caruthers, Three Finger Brown, Carl Mays, Clark Griffith. Pete Browning, Urban Shocker, Hughie Jennings, John Franco, Gene Tenace, Brian Downing, Tim Salmon, Stan Coveleski, Jim Fregosi, Thurman Munson, Bucky Walters, Lenny Dykstra, Lee Smith, Rollie Fingers, Rocky Colavito, Darryl Strawberry, Sandy Koufax, Dizzy Dean, Charlie Keller, Kent Tekulve, Harry Stovey, Minnie Minoso, Ed Konetchy, Chuck Klein, Wally Berger, Ernie Lombardi, Vern Stephens, Eric Davis, Darrell Porter, Wally Schang, Ken Caminiti, Eddie Stanky.

Okay - so, when I gear up again, we'll have The Top 200 Major League Baseball Players Ever, version 2.0.

Revelation 23 - A Movie Worth Seeing is A Lawyer Walks Into a Bar

It's a documentary about people studying for the California Bar Exam. I took that exam in the summer of 1995, when I was 24 years old. Mysteriously, perhaps through a clerical error of some type, I passed.

It was a thing; I haven't practiced law in years; more than occasionally I will question...well, all of the decisions I've made in my life; I'm uncertain there's a great argument that law school was the right choice for me, all things considered. Nonetheless, it's nice to recall accomplishments. I would have preferred the film to focus more on the applicants for the Bar and less on the contextual question of "do we have too many lawsuits" as I'd suggest that corporate wrongdoing is exponentially a greater ill than the occasional plaintiff recovery. However, if anyone ever wanted to know how I spent the summer of 1995, it felt a lot like this movie.

Entertainment Weekly Ranks the Top 100 TV Shows of the Past 25 Years

In case you missed it.

The parameters are that shows which began from '83 on were eligible, earlier shows, meaning those which started before '83 but were still airing into the time frame were not.

I don't think of television as a lesser art form than film; either in content or in its revelatory nature; in an earlier post, I compared George Carlin to Mark Twain; let me suggest that if we're fortunate enough to still consider such things 50 years from now, academia will have properly found a way to fully allow the study of television to stand shoulder to shoulder with the study of other forms of art. There have been a few hundred (I'm assuming) writers for The Simpsons and that makes it difficult for us to endow one person with traits of greatness in the way that we can look at The Sound and the Fury and say "Faulkner - genius" - but were one to stack two decades of the Simpsons end to end and measure its artistic value against the most revered books in the Western canon, it's silly to dismiss the former because its words were primarily said and not read. Hamlet is a production, written and conceived as a production, and yet we have obviously demonstrated a readiness to treat it as substantial, as signficant, as genius - wouldn't it still be the same play if it weren't written by "one great man", Shakespeare, but instead by a collection of a few hundred writers? Would a rose by any other name still smell as sweet?

Regardless.

My point here is that I think about television critically and will offer...not my top 100, I don't think, but maybe my top 25 television series of the past 25 years...and I think I'll do it in order.

But not tonight. I have a job and whatnot.

Here's a spoiler....I think my number one show...is not on the EW list.

Here is that list, in case you did not see it.

1. The Simpsons, Fox, 1989-present



2 The Sopranos, HBO (1999-2007)



3 Seinfeld, NBC (1989-98)



4 The X-Files, Fox (1993-2002)



5 Sex and the City, HBO (1998-2004)



6 Survivor, CBS (2000-present)



7 The Cosby Show, NBC (1984-92)



8 Lost, ABC (2004-present)



9 Friends, NBC (1994-2004)



10 Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The WB (1997-2001); UPN (2001-03)



11 The Wire, HBO (2002-08)



12 South Park, Comedy Central (1997-present)



13 Freaks and Geeks, NBC (1999-2000)



14 The Daily Show, Comedy Central (1996-present)



15 The Oprah Winfrey Show, Syndicated (1986-present)



16 Arrested Development, Fox (2003-06)



17 The Office (U.K. version), BBC2 (2001-03)



18 American Idol, Fox (2002-present)



19 ER, NBC (1994-present)



20 Beverly Hills, 90210, Fox (1990-2000)



21 Roseanne, ABC (1988-97)



22 The Real World, MTV (1992-present)



23 The West Wing, NBC (1999-2006)



24 Star Trek: The Next Generation, Syndication (1987-94)



25 Miami Vice, NBC (1984-89)



26 Chappelle's Show, Comedy Central (2003-06)



27 Law & Order, NBC (1990-present)



28 The Larry Sanders Show, HBO (1992-98)



29 The Shield, FX (2002-present)



30 Late Show With David Letterman, CBS (1993-present)



31 The Civil War, PBS (1990)



32 Gilmore Girls, The WB (2000-06), The CW (2006-07)



33 My So-Called Life, ABC (1994-95)



34 24, Fox (2001-present)



35 CSI, CBS (2000-present)



36 thirtysomething, ABC (1987-91)



38 Beavis and Butt-head, MTV (1993-97)



39 Six Feet Under, HBO (2001-05) 4



0 Mr. Show, (HBO, 1995-98)



41 Frasier, NBC (1993-2004)



42 L.A. Law, NBC (1986-94)



43 Late Night With Conan O'Brien, NBC (1993-present)



44 Jeopardy!, Syndicated (1984-present)



45 Curb Your Enthusiasm, HBO (2000-present



) 46 Homicide: Life on the Street, NBC (1993-99)



47 30 Rock, NBC (2006-present)



48 Ally McBeal, Fox (1997-2002)



49 Twin Peaks, ABC (1990-91)



50 Baywatch, NBC (1989-90), Syndicated (1991-2001)



51. Melrose Place, Fox (1992-99)



52. Felicity, The WB (1998-2002)



53. Will & Grace, NBC (1998-2006



)54. Moonlighting, ABC (1985-89)5



55. Pee-wee's Playhouse, CBS (1986-90



)56. Desperate Housewives, ABC (2004-present



)57. The Amazing Race, CBS (2001-present)



58. The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, NBC (1992-present)



59. Battlestar Galactica, Sci Fi (2003-2008)



60. Xena: Warrior Princess, Syndicated (1995-2001)



61. The Office (U.S.), NBC (2005-present)



62. House, Fox (2004-present)



63. Mystery Science Theater 3000, Comedy Central (1989-96), Sci Fi (1997-99)



64. The Osbournes, MTV (2002-05)



65. Family Guy, Fox (1999-2002, 2005-present



)66. Grey’s Anatomy, ABC (2005-present)



67. Planet Earth, Discovery Channel (2007



)68. Jackass, MTV (2000-02)



69. The Colbert Report, Comedy Central (2005-present)



70. Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS (1996-2005



)71. Friday Night Lights, NBC (2006-present)



72. NewsRadio, NBC (1995-99)



73. Oz, HBO (1997-2003)



74. Wiseguy, CBS (1987-90)



75. Project Runway, Bravo (2004-present)



76. In Living Color, Fox (1990-94)



77. The Golden Girls, NBC (1985-92)



78. I'll Fly Away, NBC (1991-93)



79. The Comeback, HBO (2005)



80. King of the Hill, Fox (1997-present)



81. Murphy Brown, CBS (1988-98)



82. The Hills, MTV (2006-present)



83. Absolutely Fabulous, BBC2 (1992), BBC1 (1994-2004)



84. Northern Exposure, CBS (1990-95)



85. The Kids in the Hall, HBO (1989-92), CBS (1992-95)



86. Prime Suspect, ITV (1991-2006)



87. Deadwood, HBO (2004-06)



88. Malcolm in the Middle, Fox (2000-06)



89. SpongeBob SquarePants, Nickelodeon (1999-present)



90. Dawson's Creek, The WB (1998-2003)



91. Mad Men, AMC (2007-present)



92. The Ben Stiller Show, Fox (1992-93)



93. Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Bravo (2003-07)



94. Married...With Children, Fox (1987-97)



95. Designing Women, CBS (1986-93)



96. The Arsenio Hall Show, Syndicated (1989-94)



97. Party of Five, Fox (1994-2000)



98. MacGyver, ABC (1985-92)



99. The Bachelor, ABC (2002-present)



100. Saved by the Bell, NBC (1989-93)

Revelation 22: So, the Best 100 Movies of the Past 25 Years are...

For those of you who are reading the baseball list, understand that my warrant about that Top 100 is distinct from this list. I have only rudimentary knowledge of film, really limited to the United States; I feel stronger on documentaries than fiction, stronger on the quality of sports films than other types of fiction - this list is a product of multiple posts deconstructing the Entertainment Weekly list of the Top 100 movies since 1983. I think my list is better than theres, but, honestly, that's all the warrant I'll give it.

I'm currently at 159 on my baseball list. When I get to the top 100, I am flat going to say that is the definitive list of the best 100 major league baseball players who ever lived.

With that - this isn't in any order outside of the top 10; perhaps I'll rank them beyond that at some point, that point will not be today.

1. Pulp Fiction
2. Do The Right Thing
3. Boogie Nights
4. Raising Arizona
5. Adaptation
6. Say Anything
7. JFK
8. Clerks
9. Silence of the Lambs
10. Fahrenheit 9-11.

And the rest, again, in no particular order.
-Blue Velvet
-True Romance
-Philadelphia
-Saving Private Ryan
-Platoon
-Waiting for Guffman
-Hannah and Her Sisters
-Crimes and Misdemeanors
-Goodfellas
-Full Metal Jacket
-Swimming to Cambodia
-Die Hard
-Bull Durham
-Dangerous Liaisons
-Midnight Run
-A Fish Called Wanda
-This is Spinal Tap
-Barton Fink
-Millers Crossing
-Bob Roberts
-Election
-Ferris Bueller's Day Off
-The Color of Money
-Crumb
-Hearts of Darkness
-Bowling for Columbine
-American Movie
-Hoop Dreams
-Roger&Me
-When We Were Kings
-Why We Fight
-Murder on a Sunday Morning
-The Thin Blue Line
-Magnolia
-Swingers
-Shawshank Redemption
-Rushmore
-Lost in Translation
-Heathers
-Memento
-Lone Star
-Stop Making Sense (yeah, I know this is the 12th doc. and I said I'd limit it to 10, I lied)
-Better off Dead
-What Happened Was
-Breaking the Waves
-When Harry Met Sally
-Wag the Dog
-American Beauty
-Fight Club
-Three Kings
-Pleasantville
-Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
-Being John Malkovich
-The Spanish Prisoner
-House of Games
-Glengarry Glen Ross
-Death of a Salesman
-You Can Count on Me
-Dazed and Confused
-Leaving Las Vegas
-The Player
-Short Cuts
-Rain Man
-The Accidental Tourist
-Broadcast News
-Reservoir Dogs
-The Princess Bride
-The Usual Suspects
-The Truman Show
-Risky Business
-The Big Chill
-The Right Stuff
-L.A. Confidential (I think this is #100, were I to make a change, this is the film that loses its spot. In my head, Brazil, Donnie Darko, The River's Edge all all sitting just outside the list, I could probably be convinced to swap any of them in this spot)
-Prizzi's Honor
-Sex, Lies, and Videotape
-No Country for Old Men
-Fargo
-Natural Born Killers
-The Grifters
-Donnie Brasco
-Boyz n the Hood
-The Fisher King
-Unforgiven
-Thelma and Louise
-Quiz Show
-The Departed
-In the Company of Men
-Go
-Sideways
-The 40 Year Old Virgin

Wrapping Up the Entertainment Weekly Movie List

Okay, after pruning my thoughts from the first half of the EW list, here's where we are:

I have 75 movies in my top 100. So, from the next 50, I can take 25. And that's the name of that tune.

51. There Will Be Blood (2007)

Out. See how easy this is?

52. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad (1988)

Out. Good movie, but not near this level. I've already been through the films I would add in '88, the '88 comedies I'm adding are A Fish Called Wanda and Midnight Run. I sit at 75.

53. The Truman Show (1998)

In. That gives me 76. I liked this ranking a lot; Truman Show's tended to get forgotten in the last ten years, I thought it deserved this spot exactly. My regards to Amelie (and to Trainspotting, for that matter) neither is going to make my list. My apologies.

54. Fatal Attraction (1987)

Out. Still at 76.

55. Risky Business (1983)

In. 77. I'm...I'm gonna take The Big Chill too from '83. That gives me 78. Oh - The Right Stuff. The Right Stuff is terrific. That's 79.

56. The Lives of Others (2006)

I lied, I haven't seen all the films on the list, in fact, I think there are 3 I have not seen - this is one of them. So, not on the list. I'm just one man. I did see Half Nelson and Borat from '06, they are good films which won't make the list.

57. There’s Something About Mary (1998)

Aw, hell....the thing is, I prefer Kingpin, and as mentioned, it's not going to make it - so...out. Still at 79.

58. Ghostbusters (1984)

I was 13, so I loved me some Ghostbusters. Bustin' makes me feel good is a solid, under the radar, extra dirty lyric from a kids' movie. But no - it doesn't make it; I don't currently have room for Groundhog Day, a Murray I liked more. No. Still at 79. Better as a kids movie from '84 was Buckaroo Bonzai, which doesn't make my list....but...hmmm...no, doesn't make it. Karate Kid was better and doesn't make it. Starman - Starman was the best film in this paragraph. It doesn't make it. Still at 79.

59. L.A. Confidential (1997)

In. That's 80.

60. Scream (1996)

Out. Instead of '96 movies, let me consider '85, as I've just done '83 and '84 and that makes sense to me as I sit here on 80. Brazil....argh. Argh. Argh. Out. Argh. Prizzi's Honor - in. That's 81.

61. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

Argh. I'm an Eddie Murphy guy and the result of my list is that I';m not going to have any Eddie Murphy on the list. Out. Argh. Let's consider '86 - of the films I haven't yet discussed...where are we on Stand by Me? Nope. Still out. Sitting on 81.

62. sex, lies and videotape (1989)

In. 82. Of the films I haven't covered in '87...I don't think Roxanne makes it, No Way Out was also really good. I'm gonna stick at 82.

63. Big (1988)

In. I've done '88 talk - Talk Radio is a film that's just gonna miss for me. 83.

64. No Country For Old Men (2007)

In. Lower, however. I think this is it from last year for me. 84.

65. Dirty Dancing (1987)

Out. Way, way, way out. I'm good for other '89 films.

66. Natural Born Killers (1994)

In. And higher. That makes 85. The Grifters gets in from 1990. That's 86. I really liked both Metropolitan and Pump Up the Volume, they don't make it. I'm at 86 after all.

67. Donnie Brasco (1997)

In. I'll say Brasco in and Carlito's Way out. That's 87.

68. Witness (1985)

Argh...out. Yeah, out. I've got the Fugitive in and I'm gonna leave Witness out. Considering 1991, a note should be offered for all of the Michael Apted docs, they don't make it - I wanted to limit myself to ten and I've got 10. So, no. But 35 Up came out in '91. As did Boyz n the Hood - which is in, that's 88. And the Fisher King. Hell. 89.

69. All About My Mother (1999)

Out. Still at 89.

70. Broadcast News (1987)

In. 90. I've already put in Accidental Tourist, as mentioned. I'm gonna get stuck unable to put in either Defending Your Life or Lost in America. This list makes me sad.

71. Unforgiven (1992)

In. 91. And it should be higher. I've mentioned my '92 films.

72. Thelma & Louise (1991)

Yeah. 92. Clearly, I'm going to have to start cutting from my list. Fearless was a good '93 film as were Dave and Searching for Bobby Fischer. Oh - and Flesh and Bone, that was good. And A Perfect World and Bodies, Rest and Motion and Malice. "I am God" - who doesn't love some motherfucking Alec Baldwin? The War Room didn't make my doc. cut down to 10 incidentally.

73. Office Space (1999)

Nope. I'm at 92 and drawing the line! No, I'm not - Quiz Show was a 1994. That's in. I'm at 93.

74. Drugstore Cowboy (1989)

Ahhhhh. Ahhhhhh. Ahhhhhhh. Out. Kicking and Screaming and Swimming with Sharks are both real good 1995 films.

75. Out of Africa (1985)

Out. Welcome to the Dollhouse and Slingblade miss from '96. Celluloid Closet was a doc that didn't make the ten as was Looking for Richard. I liked Walking and Talking

76. The Departed (2006)

In. 94. The Sweet Hereafter is just going to miss, right along with The Ice Storm from '97. Grosse Point Blank misses...but I'm going to put in In the Company of Men. 95.

77. Sid and Nancy (1986)

No, like Office Space, I don't have the room. Happiness and Gods and Monsters miss from '98, but The Opposite of Sex...no, that misses too. Grumble.

78. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Out. I thought I was going to leave out Being John Malkovich, but I'm not. 96. I liked Go a lot from '99....no, I'm putting it in. Go. That's 97. I'm screwed.

79. Waiting for Guffman (1996)

In. 98. You Can Count on Me was really good from 2000. Yeah, it's in and the Fugitive is out, keeping me at 97. Okay, let's take something else out to keep me at 97...I'm going to take out the Thin Red Line. Not the Thin Blue Line, which stays - the Thin Red Line goes, keeping me at 97.

80. Michael Clayton (2007)

This is the second of the three movies I haven't seen, so out. 97. In The Bedroom was a real good 2001 movie that doesn't make it.

81. Moonstruck (1987)

Good film. Out. 97. I liked About a Boy, Igby Goes Down, and Roger Dodger from '02.

82. Lost in Translation (2003)

In. 98. The Cooler is a real good 2003.

83. Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987)

The 3rd movie I haven't seen. Out. You know what was good - Ghost World...no, no room. The Notebook was 2004; I feel a little embarassed that I liked it, not enough for the list - but i liked it - and either I'm embarassed because it's manipulative (a good reason) or because we've designated it culturally as belonging to women - and like reality tv and soap operas, entertainment that becomes assigned to the women's sphere is treated with an extra disdain.

84. Sideways (2004)

In. 99.

85. The 40 Year-Old Virgin (2005)

In. 100. I liked The Aristocrats - although the Seinfeld doc. Comedian is better. Yikes, I'm at 100. That means I have to dip into the original 75 if I'm going to add any of the final 15. A History of Violence was good in '05.

86. Y Tu Mamá También (2002)

Out. I'm out of spots!

87. Swingers (1996)

In. 101. That knocks out All the Right Moves. 100.

88. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

Out. I've run through 2006 and 2007, so we're on the glide path home.

89. Breaking the Waves (1996)

In. I take out Good Will Hunting.

90. Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

Out. No room.

91. Back to the Future (1985)

Out. I saw it and St. Elmo's Fire in the theatre on the same day, by myself, when I was 14. Good times.

92. Menace II Society (1993)

Out.

93. Ed Wood (1994)

Ahhhhhh. Out.

94. Full Metal Jacket (1987)

In. And much higher, this is so low I think I mentioned in an earlier post that it wasn't on the EW list. I'll take off Little Man Tate.

95. In the Mood for Love (2001)

Out.

96. Far From Heaven (2002)

Out.

97. Glory (1989)

Out.

98. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

I really liked this. Out.

99. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Out.

100. South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut (1999)

And out. 100. We're good. I'll put the full list of my 100, although probably not in order given time restrictions and my baseball list requirements.

Whew. 100 down. Enjoy your holiday.