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<\/a>Last night’s episode of The Baseball Show was only supposed to last an hour, but ultimately reached the hour and a half mark, which only means good things.\u00a0 Clint, MJ, and I touched on several different topics including the Hall of Fame, the Reds’ recent acquisitions, Howie Kendrick<\/a><\/strong>‘s extension, and our favorite bizarre MLB injuries.\u00a0 Last night also marked the debut of “Ask MJ,” a new series where Clint and I ask MJ whatever we want.\u00a0 Somehow he survived and actually came up with surprising answers, which can be found below.<\/p>\nHall of Fame Voting<\/span><\/p>\n – Barry Larkin is the lone Hall of Fame inductee from the Class of 2012. Would we all have voted for him? Yes.\u00a0 As a Reds fan, Clint is especially pumped, and we’re pumped for him.<\/p>\n – Larkin isn’t the only player we would have voted for\u2026so who else? We’re not quite sold on Jack Morris, but how about Jeff Bagwell? Absolutely.\u00a0 Tim Raines<\/a><\/strong>? Absolutely.\u00a0 Edgar Martinez<\/a><\/strong>? Hopefully. Perhaps Frank Thomas<\/a><\/strong>‘ imminent induction will open the door.<\/p>\n – MJ highly recommends Rob Neyer’s article about players’ integrity and character<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n – As we look ahead to the Class of 2013, we speculate about which players will make the cut? Our early unanimous votes go to Mike Piazza<\/a><\/strong>, Craig Biggio<\/a><\/strong>, and Curt Schilling<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Reds bullpen<\/span><\/p>\n – Clint weighs in on the Reds’ bullpen acquisitions, Sean Marshall<\/a><\/strong> and Ryan Madson<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Howie Kendrick<\/span><\/p>\n – A great deal for both teams as they lock up Kendrick for his prime years. We all consider him to be about the seventh or eighth best second baseman in baseball.<\/p>\n MLB Injuries<\/span><\/p>\n – This past week Dustin Penner of the L.A. Kings injured his back eating pancakes\u2026seriously.\u00a0 Don’t worry, despite the injury he still finished the meal.<\/p>\n – So naturally we discuss our favorite freak baseball injuries: Clint: Joel Zumaya<\/a><\/strong> injuring his elbow playing Guitar Hero; MJ: Clint Barmes<\/a><\/strong> falling down a flight of stairs while carrying a slab of deer meat; Mike (three-way tie): Smoltz ironing his shirt while wearing it, Kevin Mitchell microwaving a donut\/cupcake that caused the microwave to explode, and Jeff Baker<\/a><\/strong> burning his ass while trying to light fights on fire with the Cubs pitchers.<\/p>\n Ask MJ:<\/span><\/p>\n Clint’s questions:<\/p>\n – Jerry Dipoto: Over or under career fWAR of 5? – MJ answered under, and was wrong.\u00a0 Dipoto finished his career with a 6.6 fWAR.<\/p>\n – Worst pick up line ever used on a woman: Told strippers he’s a baseball writer; told women he could get them on a lingerie football team when they were actually having open tryouts; he’s a race car driver.<\/p>\n – In a four-year keeper league, would you rather have Justin Upton<\/a><\/strong> or Matt Kemp<\/a><\/strong>? – Kemp<\/p>\n – You have to go the next year of your life without either looking at Fangraphs (or any Saber-related site) or drinking booze. Which one would you choose: No booze\u2026it’s hard to be a blogger without using stats.<\/p>\n Mike’s questions:<\/span><\/p>\n Who will have more wins in 2012: Reds or White Sox? – Reds<\/p>\n Who would win in a game of scrabble: Delmon Young<\/a><\/strong> or Colby Rasmus<\/a><\/strong>? – Colby Rasmus<\/p>\n Name the three core ingredients in a Denver omelette: Green peppers, ham, and onions.\u00a0 Wow, he actually got it right, although his “I’m not even near a computer” claim remains suspect.<\/p>\n Rapid Fire Round – Pick one:<\/strong> Which Hostess product will you be sad to see go? Snowball (Editor’s note: Gross<\/em>)<\/p>\n Have you ever considered entering the medical field? Somewhat. I am actually a certified medical coder.<\/p>\n If you had the to domesticate one wild animal, what would it be? Probably a hawk or falcon to my bidding.<\/p>\n Who will win the 2012 AL Rookie of the Year? NL? AL: Matt Moore<\/a><\/strong>; NL: Paul Goldschmidt<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n How many dugout\/clubhouse brawls will the Marlins have in 2012? It will be a season-long brawl.\u00a0 Gatorade should remove all dispensers from their dugout.<\/p>\n
\nChuck or Steve Finley<\/a><\/strong>: Steve
\nFreddy or Jason: Jason
\nBraun or Kemp: Kemp
\nTodd Hundley or nobody: Nobody
\nShane Victorino<\/a><\/strong> or Benny Agbayani<\/a><\/strong>: Victorino
\nTodd Walker<\/a><\/strong> or Neil Walker<\/a><\/strong>: Neil Walker
\nNomo or Dice-K: Nomo
\nBonds or Aaron: Bonds
\nGoldstein or Neyer: Goldstein
\nTrout or Harper: Mike Trout<\/a><\/strong>
\nPaul Assenmacher or Terry Mulholland<\/a><\/strong>: Mulholland
\nVernon Wells<\/a><\/strong> or a pile of rocks: After clarifying that I’m not referring to the rocks beyond the left-centerfield wall\u2026rocks, hands down.
\nWhiskey or Rum: Rum<\/p>\n