Baseball
Established in 1936, and currently based in Cooperstown, New York, the Baseball Hall of Fame may be the most prestigious of any Sports Hall of Fame. Although Baseball may have taken a backseat to Football in recent years, there is no doubt that Baseball’s version of the Hall of Fame is by far the most relevant and the most difficult to get enshrined in. At present, a player has to receive seventy five percent of the votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America, which has proven to be no easy task. Failing that, a player could be inducted by the Veterans committee, though few have been inducted this way. Our list will focus on the players only, and although we could easily do a tally focusing on mangers, broadcasters or other vital personnel, as always it is far more enjoyable to discuss the merits of those on the field as oppose to those off of it.Until Then, Let’s get some peanuts and cracker jacks and cast some votes of our own!
Sincerely,
The Not in Hall of Committee.
Andy Pettitte took PEDs and apologized for it. He was forgiven not just by the New York Yankees' fans but by baseball fans in general. That fact (an important one) makes him the most intriguing candidate this year, as his contrition might make him Hall of Fame-worthy. Still, if the PED issue is not a factor, is Andy Pettitte a HOF contender? Let’s take a look! While Pettitte was only an All-Star three times, he was a top-five finisher in Cy Young voting four times and retired with 256 Wins and 2,448 Strikeouts. That is good, but aside from leading…
The man called “Superchief” was one of the great right-handed pitchers of the New York Yankees. Allie Reynolds was the first man to toss two no-hitters in a season in the American League, though that was just a small sample of what he accomplished. The Yankees were a loaded team, and Allie Reynolds was a huge part of that. During the Superchief’s tenure, the Bronx Bombers captured six World Series. His post-season record was 7-2, and he was starting as well as relieving, as shown by his four saves. This was the same type of way he was used in…
Will Clark is a justifiable member of the Mississippi Sports and College Baseball Hall of Fame, but it looks like the big one in Cooperstown will elude him as he failed to get past his first year of eligibility. A look at his career makes you wonder why he couldn’t get past that elusive first ballot. Nicknamed “The Thrill”, Will Clark became an instant favorite as he homered on his first at-bat against the legendary Nolan Ryan. Clark would become a major star in the Bay Area, exciting fans with his unequaled competitiveness and solid offensive play. He was ranked…
Luckily for Sherry Magee, there was no YouTube in 1911; otherwise, all that would ever be replayed of him was the time he decked an umpire with one punch after a called third strike. Of course, he played in the 1900s and 1910s, so there isn’t any footage of him on YouTube at all. Magee should not be remembered for that moment; his intensity led to moments like that. Magee was a rare star of the deadball era and, for ten years, made multiple appearances at the top of every offensive category imaginable. Magee was also stellar in the outfield…
Al Oliver came to the league in 1969 as a line-drive hitter and, for eighteen years, consistently smacked the ball for hits. He had over 2,700 hits in his career, and despite not being a genuine power hitter, he had a plethora of RBI’s. Oliver’s main gift was hitting for average. In addition to his 1982 Batting Title, he had ten other seasons where he hit the .300 plateau. Oliver wasn’t known for hitting home runs (though he did over 200 in his career), but he found the gap often and was perennially among the league leaders in doubles. As…
A converted third baseman, Bucky Walters took the mound later in his career, but once he did, he made up for the lost time. Walters would even win the MVP for his pitching prowess and was one of the rare hurlers who could often be used as a pinch-hitter. Walters did not just win the MVP in 1939; he won the coveted pitcher’s Triple Crown in the process. He would win twenty games on two more occasions and, with a dazzling sinking fastball, was more than adept at fanning hitters. The prime of his career saw Walters as the Reds’…
One of two things could happen when you play with a collection of superstars. Either you get lost in the shuffle, or you become incorrectly elevated among them. Neither was the case for Dave Concepcion, who became nationally known playing alongside Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench, and Tony Perez, but deserved the attention that came with it. Dave Concepcion played with some of the all-time greats with the Big Red Machine, but he, too, was a huge contributor to the success of that organization. He was the anchor of the defense, and in an era where shortstops were expected…
With a magical season, a pair of exceptional ones, and a few very good ones, Ron Guidry had an excellent career in Baseball all with the Yankees. Theoretically, “Louisiana Lightning” did everything you want to accomplish in a career as he won the Cy Young Award (and was in the hunt for a few others) and won the World Series, which he did twice. However, the knock on Guidry is that he was only a full-time player for nine seasons, and though he has one of the most impressive winning percentages in Baseball, his longevity is questioned in comparison to…
Regardless of the era, it is an impressive feat to be a key member of Chicago's rotation for a decade. The Chicago White Sox may not have won a World Series in the ’50s, but they were a good team, and much of their success was due to the pitching of Billy Pierce. Through the decade of the ’50s, few were more dependable on the mound than Billy Pierce. The southpaw won 154 games that decade and was constantly pitted against aces of other staffs. Pierce was occasionally the victim of poor run support from his own team, but was…
Another forgotten star in the pre-Babe Ruth era was Larry Doyle, who was easily amongst the most likable players of his era. Not only was he a natural favorite, but he was also one of the most consistent players. Larry Doyle was above average in almost every category and put together a monster 1912 campaign, during which he won the 1911 MVP. Although he had many very good seasons, his three World Series appearances were less than stellar, and he failed to lead his team to any championship. Had he kept to the standards he set from April to September,…
Omar Vizquel was considered one of the best defensive Shortstops of all time, earning 11 Gold Gloves and posting a career Defensive bWAR ranked in the top 10. This isn’t to say that Vizquel couldn’t provide assistance with his offense. The Shortstop had 2,877 career hits in a career that saw him play until he was 45 years old. He also had 279 career Stolen Bases, but what holds him back is a low on-base percentage (.336) and a lack of a power game. Advanced metrics don’t help him (offensively anyway), but in his prime (and evidently well past it),…
In the late 70’s, Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton famously noted that Steve Garvey was not the best player on the Dodgers; it was Reggie Smith. Garvey may have been the most popular, but Sutton was not alone in his assessment of Reggie Smith. In his prime, Reggie Smith was a legitimate five-tool player. He had decent power, decent speed, and was a smart player who always knew how to get on base. In retrospect, it is hard to find a real criticism of his game, as he was above average in every aspect of his baseball acumen. In…
If the main criteria for the Hall are perseverance and effort, then Rusty Staub should have been a first-ballot Hall of Famer. His hard work resulted in over 2,700 hits in a Major League career that many people who saw him early on would never have pegged him for. Nobody could ever accuse Staub of not giving everything he had, regardless of the endeavor. Those efforts included cooking, history, and, of course, baseball. They called him eccentric for these things, but his meticulous nature turned him into a pure hitter and gained him respect throughout the league. He made six…
If you look at the Wikipedia article on Albert Belle you will find that the section on his controversies is longer than his accomplishments. He fought with sportswriters, with fans, with other players, and his temper was legendary. So was his prowess with a bat. Albert Belle may have been the most feared slugger of the 1990s. He was the first 50/50 man (doubles and home runs) in baseball. He pounded out extra base hits by the truckload and was able to generate a decent Batting Average. He was a constant Triple Crown threat as he was to win the…
Baseball Players are notorious for being superstitious. We really don’t know if Bret Saberhagen consulted the Psychic Friends Network, but it always seemed curious that he performed significantly better in years that ended in odd numbers than he did in even ones. Saberhagen is one of the rare pitchers in Major League history to win two Cy Young Awards. When he was on, Saberhagen exercised pinpoint control and often performed well in pressure situations, as evidenced by his 1985 World Series performance. The problem with Saberhagen, though, is that despite his two Cy Young Awards, the rest of his campaigns…
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Felix Hernandez played his entire MLB career with the Seattle Mariners, the team where he would become the "King" of the Pacific Northwest and all of Baseball. “King Felix” made his first appearance in the Majors in 2005, and after showing gradual improvement over his first few seasons, Hernandez took the throne in 2009, leading the American League in Wins (19), H/9 (7.5), and finishing second in Cy Young voting. Hernandez was better in 210, winning the Cy Young, with a league-leading 2.27 ERA and 7.0 H/9, while also finishing atop the leaderboard in Innings Pitched (249.2). Hernandez would not win…
We admit we made a mistake not ranking Bernie Williams last year. Were we rebelling against a Yankee bias, or was it that we just considered him just not good enough? Regardless, that is the beauty of Baseball is that you can easily reevaluate what you may have missed the first time. Lord knows it happens all the time during the actual balloting process for the Hall of Fame. Maybe our initial thought was that the Yankees themselves were confused about Bernie Williams, too. He had some power, but was not a primary threat in that department. He was fast,…
For a seven-year period, Johan Santana was regarded as one of the top Pitchers in Baseball, where he won the American League Cy Young Award Twice, winning the ERA Title three times and leading his league in WHIP four years in a row. As great as Santana was, his career was relatively short for a Hall of Fame Pitcher (12 Seasons), and those who look for statistical accumulation (and many voters do), won’t find it with Santana, whose 139 Wins and 1,988 Strikeouts do not measure up to a lot of those already in Cooperstown. Still, his career bWAR of…
Marty Marion won the NL 1944 MVP based primarily on his leadership and fielding skills as opposed to anything he did with his lumber. His victory is certainly a reminder that there is a lot more to baseball than sexy offensive stats. Marty Marion was taller than the average Shortstop of his era, but he used that to his advantage. He was deceptively quick, but he used his large wingspan to gobble up any ground ball that got remotely near him. He was called the “octopus”, and he would have used those tentacles to grab every Gold Glove Award….if they…