Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB.  Once that is done, we intend to look at how each team honor their past players, coaches and executives.  As such, we are pleased to comment on the Los Angeles Lakers’ retirement of Pau Gasol’s number #16 last night.

Debuting in the NBA for the Memphis Grizzlies in 2001, the 7’ 1” Center, becoming the first European to win the Rookie of the Year.  An All-Star for Memphis in 2006, Gasol never had a year where his PPG was lower than 17, his RPG were lower than 7, and his Blocks were lower than 1.5 per Game.  Gasol was low-key one of the more complete players in Basketball, but was not noticed on the national level due to playing in Memphis.  This changed when he was traded to the Lakers during the 2007-08 Season.

Joining Kobe Bryant, Gasol had his perfect dance partner.  Gasol kept his scoring numbers strong, and was able to increase his rebounding stats, posting three straight 10-plus RPG years (2009-10 to 2011-12), earning three straight All-Stars (2008-09 to 2010-12), and most importantly, helped lead the Lakers to Titles in 2009 and 2010.  Gasol was never going to be under the radar again, and Los Angeles treated him like royalty.  He left the Lakers in 2014 for the Chicago Bulls as a Free Agent.

His #16 now hangs side-by-side with Kobe’s #8 and #24 it should be.  He also joins Wilt Chamberlain (#13), Elgin Baylor (#22), Gail Goodrich (#25), Magic Johnson (#32), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (#33), Shaquille O’Neal (#34), James Worthy (#42), Jerry West (#44), Jamaal Wilkes (#52) and George Mikan (#99).

Gasol is a Finalist for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this year, and is a probable first-year entrant.  2023 is shaping up to be a special year for Gasol.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Pau Gasol for earning this impending honor.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present our post 2022 revision of our top Milwaukee Brewers.

As for all of our top 50 players in baseball we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National League. 

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, Milwaukee won 86 Games, finishing second in the NL Central, though failed to make the playoffs.  There were no new entries in the Top 50, but five players were able to raise their rank.

As always, we present our top five, which has no changes.

1. Robin Yount

2. Paul Molitor                       

3. Ryan Braun

4. Cecil Cooper

5. Prince Fielder

You can find the entire list here.

Christian Yelich, who won the MVP three years ago, moved up from #10 to #7.

Starting Pitcher, Brandon Woodruff, who went 13-4 last year climbed to #23 from #31.

Right behind him is fellow starter, Corbin Burnes, who rocketed to #24 from #43, was the 2021 Cy Young winner and finished seventh last year.  He went to the last two All-Star Games.

Closer, Josh Hader, who was traded to San Diego during the 2022 Season, inched up one position to #27.

We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.

Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB.  Once that is done, we intend to look at how each team honor their past players, coaches and executives.  As such, that the Toronto Blue Jays will be inducting Jose Bautista into their Level of Excellence.

Jose Bautista's success in emerging as one of the game's top power hitters might be one of the biggest “Where the hell did this come from?” stories in Baseball.

Bautista was barely even a journeyman, playing briefly for Baltimore, Tampa Bay. and Kansas City before having a respectable season in 2007 as a Pittsburgh Pirate. The Blue Jays traded for him during the 2008 Season, and Bautista began 2009 as the fourth Outfielder. He worked all year with Toronto's hitting coach, Dwayne Murphy, who helped him work on his stance and leg kick. It yielded a coming out part in 2010 that blew everyone away.

After a previous high of 15 Home Runs, Bautista won the Home Run Title with 54. He also had 124 RBI, which would become his personal best. Bautista won the Silver Slugger that year and was fourth in MVP voting. Some in the baseball media thought he had to be a one-year wonder. He wasn't. Bautista won his second straight Home Run Title (43), and he led the AL in Walks (132), Slugging (.608), and OPS (1.056). He added a second Silver Slugger, and this year was third in MVP voting.

Bautista missed quite a few games due to injury in 2012 and 2013, though he still had at least 27 Home Runs in both seasons. Fully healthy in 2014, Bautista won his third Silver Slugger on a 35 HR/103 RBI campaign, blasted 40 taters in 2015, and helped lead the Blue Jays to the playoffs. In the deciding game in the ALDS against Texas, Bautista hit the game-winning Home Run and delivered after the most famous bat flip in Canada. Toronto did not win the Pennant that year, but Bautista's moment will be forever etched in Blue Jays fans.

Age caught up to Batista after, and so did a bit of karma, in terms of a punch to the face by Texas's Rougned Odor. He was not resigned after 2017, and he left the Jays with 1,103 Hits and 288 Home Runs.

Bautista will be officially honored on August 12 before their home game against the Chicago Cubs.  He joins George Bell, Dave Stieb, Joe Carter, Cito Gaston, Tony Fernandez, Pat Gillick, Tom Cheek, Paul Beeston, Carlos Delgado and Roy Halladay.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Jose Bautista for his impending honor.

One of the top female American hockey players is calling it a career, as Brianna Decker has announced that she is retiring from U.S.A. Hockey.

Decker compiled 170 Points in 147 Games, and won Gold at the 2018 Olympics along with two Silvers (2014 & 2022).  At the World Hockey Championships, Decker won Gold six times (2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017 & 2019) and Silver twice (2012 & 2021).

Collegiately, she led the University of Wisconsin to a National Championship in 2011 and won the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award the year after as the NCAA MVP.  On a club level, she was a two-time National Women’s Hockey League.

We are not sure if she will make the Hockey Hall of Fame, but Decker should be a lock for the United States Hockey HOF.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to wish Brianna Decker the best in her post-playing career.