Peter Gammons Leaving ESPN

Peter Gammons announced today that he is leaving ESPN.

Very sad as I always thought he was one of the top three talents on the network.

I hope that he takes some well deserved time off or ends up somewhere good!

From Forbes:

With player movement still minimal so far, the biggest bombshell at baseball’s winter meetings is the announcement on Tuesday that legendary MLB journalist Peter Gammons is leaving ESPN. Gammons leaves after a 21-year run at the network, preceded by five years at Sports Illustrated and a long career at the Boston Globe, during which he covered the Red Sox teams of Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Rice and Roger Clemens.

Gammons, 64, is known for his tireless work and old school penchant for getting information. In a crowded media landscape in which sports pundits look to stand out with loud voices and strong opinions, Gammons’ baseball reports hum along in print and on-air with detached analysis and conversational style.

Henderson, Rice Elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

Rickey Henderson ran his way into Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame on the first ballot today, and Jim Rice made it in on his 15th and final try. I’m happy for Rickey but I’m especially happy for Rice! This is a long time coming!

From the Associated Press:

Henderson, baseball’s career leader in runs scored and stolen bases, received 94.8 percent of the vote from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, well above the 75 percent needed.

Rice, among baseball’s most feared hitters in the late 1970s and early 1980s, got 76.4 percent of the vote after falling just shy with 72.2 percent last year.

Henderson became the 44th player elected in his first year of eligibility. Rice was only the third elected by the BBWAA in his final year, joining Red Ruffing (1967) and Ralph Kiner (1975).

The pair will be inducted into the Hall during ceremonies on July 26 in Cooperstown, N.Y. They will be joined by former Yankees and Indians second baseman Joe Gordon, elected posthumously last month by the Veterans Committee.

Henderson was picked on 511 of 539 ballots and Rice was selected on 412, just more than the 405 needed.

Rice received only 29.8 percent of the vote in 1995, when he appeared on the ballot for the first time. He topped 50 percent for the first time in 2000 and reached 64.8 percent in 2006 — the highest percentage for a player who wasn’t elected in a later year was 63.4 by Gil Hodges in 1983, his final time on the ballot.

Andre Dawson fell 44 votes short with 67 percent. He was followed by Bert Blyleven (62.7 percent), Lee Smith (44.5), Jack Morris (44.0), Tommy John (31.7) and Tim Raines (22.6). John appeared on the ballot for the final time.

Mark McGwire, stigmatized by accusations he used performance-enhancing drugs, received 118 votes (21.9 percent) in his third year of eligibility, down from the 128 votes he got in each of his first two tries.