First off, we would like to congratulate both R.A. Dickey of the New York Mets and David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays. Both captured their first ever Cy Young Awards for being the best Pitcher in their respective Leagues. This got us thinking……does the Cy Young Award equal a future Hall of Fame induction? Actually we were quite amazed how many winners of the prestigious award were not even fringe candidates for Cooperstown.

From 1956 to 1966 there was only one trophy awarded to the best pitcher overall. In that time span, seven of ten winners were enshrined. This includes Warren Spahn, Early Wynn, Whitey Ford, Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax; who won three times. The other three include Don Newcombe, who we have in our 100 for consideration, but two others who are never thought of at all. In 1958, Bob Turley won of the New York Yankees after posting the best season of his career. He never ever came close to that again and never received a single vote for the Hall. Vern Law won in 1960, and realistically only had two other seasons (other than his Cy Young winner) that was worthwhile. Unlike Turley, Law at least received some support from the Baseball writers, but never got more than three percent.

In 1967, two Cy Young Awards were given out in each league. There is a staggering amount of hurlers who won the award and did not get inducted (and is of course Hall of Fame eligible:

Mike McCormick (1967, NL, San Francisco) Zero HOF votes

Jim Lonborg (1967, AL, Boston)   0.8% vote in 1985

Denny McLain (1968 & 1969, AL, Detroit)   0.7% vote in 1979

Mike Cuellar (1969, AL, Detroit)   Zero HOF votes

Jim Perry (1970, AL, Minnesota)   1.9% in 1983

Vida Blue (1971, AL, Oakland)   8.7% in 1993; on the ballot for four years

Mike Marshall (1974, NL, Los Angeles) 1.5% HOF vote in 1987

Randy Jones (1976, NL, San Diego) Zero HOF votes

Sparky Lyle (1977, AL, New York) 13.1% in 1988; on the ballot for four years

Ron Guidry (1978, AL, New York) 8.8% in 2000; on the ballot for nine years

Mike Flanagan (1979, AL, Baltimore)   0.4% HOF vote in in 1998

Steve Stone (1980, AL, Baltimore)   Zero HOF votes

Fernando Valenzuela (1981, NL, Los Angeles) 6.3% HOF vote in 2003, off the ballot the following year.

Pete Vuckovich (1982, AL, Milwaukee)   Zero HOF votes

John Denny (1983, NL, Philadelphia) Zero HOF votes

Lamarr Hoyt (1983, AL, Chicago)   Zero HOF votes

Rick Sutcliffe (1984, NL, Chicago)   1.8% HOF vote in 2000

Willie Hernandez (1984, AL, Detroit)   0.4% HOF vote in 1995

Dwight Gooden (1985, NL, New York)   3.3% HOF vote in 2006

Bret Saberhagen (1985 & 1989, AL, Kansas City)   1.3% HOF vote in 2007

Mike Scott (1986, NL, Houston)   0.4% HOF vote in 1997

Steve Bedrosian (1987, NL, Philadelphia)   0.2% HOF vote in 2001

Orel Hershiser (1988, NL, Los Angeles)   11.2% HOF vote in 2006, off the ballot the following year

Frank Viola (1988, AL, Minnesota)   0.4% HOF vote in 2002

Mark Davis (1989, NL, San Diego)   0.2% HOF vote in 2003

Doug Drabek (1990, NL, Pittsburgh) 0.4% HOF vote in 2004

Bob Welch (1990, AL, Oakland)   0.2% HOF vote in 2000

Jack McDowell (1993, AL, Chicago)   0.8% HOF vote in 2005

David Cone (1994, AL, Kansas City)   3.9% HOF vote in 2009

Pat Hentgen (1996, AL, Toronto)   0.2% HOF vote in 2010

Wow….a lot of ZERO votes in there, not to mention sub 1%ers in there. We hate to say it, but in his late thirties, you can add R.A. Dickey to this list. At this stage the knuckleballer has a long way to go just to get to 100 wins and the odds are string that this amazing season will not be duplicated.

At the age of 26, David Price already has as many wins as Dickey (61). He is already a three time All Star, and could very well be on a Cooperstown career. OF course, at the age of 26, who knows!

Regardless, winning the Cy Young is an amazing accomplishment and though that does not translate to immortality, it should be respected and praised.  

With it being the Hall of Fame weekend in Hockey (though there is no actual hockey being played in regards to the biggest league of the game), it seemed like a perfect time for us to look forward. As you have noticed, we have diligently worked on futures for the Baseball section. We are doing same for Hockey.

We have isolated ten players who we think may be worthy of some consideration for the greatest post career prize.

They are:

Brian Rafalski
Chris Osgood
Dominik Hasek
Doug Weight
Mark Recchi
Mike Modano
Owen Nolan
Pavol Demitra
Peter Forsberg
Sandis Ozolinsh
 

You know what to do! Check them out and cast a vote and give your opinion!

There may not be an NHL season, but this weekend the Hockey Hall of Fame officially inducts its latest class into Toronto.

The class is a solid one, headlined by Joe Sakic who enters on his first year of eligibility. The native of British Colombia won every accolade worth winning in hockey. He is a former Hart Trophy winner and Stanley Cup Champion. His trophy case also includes an Olympic Gold Medal, a World Junior Gold Medal, A Lady Byng and a First Team All Star Selection. Had Sakic not entered in his first year, it would have been considered a travesty.

Pavel Bure will also be recognized this weekend. The Russian Rocket was a goal scoring machine whose career productivity was cut short by injuries. Many have been clamoring for Bure to get in (he was eligible for six years) and for many this is an oversight that has been finally cleared by the powers that be.

Much the same was said about Adam Oates, who is also inducted this weekend. Oates got in his fifth year and is one of the few players who have over 1,000 assists. The gifted playmaker played with seven NHL teams in his career and is not commonly associated with any particular one. That may have been a big reason why it took as long as he did.

This cannot be said about Mats Sundin. The talented Swedish star spent his best years in Toronto where he was their best player for at least a decade. As the ceremony takes place in Toronto, and there is often recognition of the new entries at Leafs games during the Hall of Fame weekend, we were deprived of what would have been a stellar reaction from the Leaf nation.

We here at notinhalloffame.com congratulate this year’s class, and hope that some NHL games transpire before the next ceremony in 2013.

With a special thanks to our regular contributor, Spheniscus, we are please here at notinhalloffame.com to unveil our revised NASCAR list. With our numbers 1, 3 and 4 (Herb Thomas, Buck Baker and Rusty Wallace) all inducted, a major shift in the top five has occurred.

Tim Flock (Last year’s number #2 choice) has taken over the “Pole Position”. Joe Weatherly, Dale Jarrett, Bobby Isaac and Rex White were ranked 5, 7, 6 and 8 respectively last year and are now are top five.

It was not a stellar year for new entries as only Sterling Marlin (25) has a high debut of note. As always, we encourage you to take a good look at our revised list and give your opinions and votes!