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Alex Rodriguez to retire. PEDs will keep him out of the HOF

Alex Rodriguez to retire. PEDs will keep him out of the HOF
This must be the week for the Yankees and retirement.

When it was announced yesterday that the Yankees and Alex Rodriguez would be having a press conference today it was widely assumed that this meant that the slugger would be announcing his retirement at the end of the season.  As it turns out, his last game will be Friday.

A-Rod will be released from his player contract and take on a role with the Bronx Bombers as an advisor and instructor.  In what will now be his final year in Baseball, Rodriguez is batting only .204 with a .609 OPS and has been demoted to the bench. 

Many of the articles or opinions being brandished about concerning Alex Rodriguez concerns his lofty contracts and PED use, as he infamously signed the largest contract in sports ($252 million for ten years with the Texas Rangers in 2003) and being caught using PEDs twice, the latter resulting in a full season suspension in 2014.

Rodriguez will be eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022, and statistically he should be a lock.  He is 4th all time in Home Runs (696), 2nd all time in RBIs (2,084), 19th all-time in Hits (3,114) and 8th overall in Runs Scored (2,021).  He will retire with a career slash line of .295/.380/.550 and a bWAR of 117.9.  His trophy case has 3 MVPs, 14 All Star Game Appearances, 10 Silver Sluggers and 2 Gold Gloves.  5 times he led the league in bWAR, has a Batting Title, 4 Slugging Titles and 5 Home Run Titles.

Statistically, the biggest knock on Rodriguez was his poor playoff performance and while that is true, he did gain some kind of redemption with his 2009 playoff run, where he helped the Yankees win the World Series.

We say all of this but we know why he won’t get in.

Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are not likely to be inducted and they were never actually caught. 

Rodriguez was…twice.

While we say all of this we will be doing our best to watch his final at bats as a Major League Player and it looks like we have another player who will be ranked in our top five on the Notinhalloffame.com Baseball list in what may be perpetuity.   
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A quick look at the Pro Football HOF ceremony

A quick look at the Pro Football HOF ceremony
We love this weekend here at Notinhalloffame.com!

Today is the official induction of the 2016 Pro Football Hall of Fame Class leading to tomorrow’s first pre-season game, the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio.

This year’s class sees eight new busts to be included into the Hall, which is quickly becoming the go-to Hall of Fame for all American professional sports.

Former Wide Receiver Marvin Harrison was inducted first by Colts’ owner, Jim Irsay.  Harrison enters on his third ballot, though many (including us) have stated that he should have been chosen in his first year of eligibility.  Harrison caught 1,102 passes for 14,580 Yards and 128 Touchdowns; all of which place him in the top ten all-time.

He is also a three time Pro Bowl Selection and in 2002 he set the single season record for Receptions (143), which still stands.

In his speech, Harrison thanks the Colts fans, calling them the best in the world and notably thanked Quarterback, Peyton Manning and Genera Manager, Bill Polian.

Fittingly, Harrison’s longtime teammate, Offensive Lineman, Orlando Pace was enshrined next by his son, Justin.  Pace anchored the line that protected “The Greatest Show on Turf” and was a huge part of their win in Super Bowl XXXVI.  Pace went to seven straight Pro Bowls.

Up next, Marv Levy had the pleasure of inducting Senior Inductee and five time Pro Bowler, Dick Stanfel.  The Offensive Guard was a two time NFL Champion and has a Super Bowl Ring with the Chicago Bears as he was their Offensive Line Coach during the “Super Bowl Shuffle” run.  This is a posthumous induction as Stanfel passed away last year.

Tony Dungy was inducted next by his former Pittsburgh Steelers teammate, Donnie Shell.  The current Sunday Night Football analyst was an NFL Coach for 13 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Indianapolis Colts.  It was with the latter where he won the Super Bowl and made history as the first African-American Head Coach in NFL history.

Kevin Greene was then up and was inducted by his longtime coach, Dom Capers.  Greene was a five time Pro Bowler and recorded a whopping 160 Quarterback Sacks, making him third all-time.



The second of two Senior and posthumous inductees, Quarterback, Ken Stabler was inducted next by his former Head Coach, John Madden.  “The Snake” helmed Oakland to four straight AFC Title Games and was the winning Quarterback in Super Bowl XI.  Stabler died last year and many have felt that this was a snub for far too long and is something that he should have lived to see.

His daughter, Lisa, inducted former San Francisco 49ers owner, Eddie DeBartolo Jr.  Under DeBartolo Jr.’s watch, the Niners won five Super Bowls.  How badly do San Francisco fans want him still running the team!

The unquestionable headliner was up last in Quarterback, Brett Farve, who was inducted by his wife Deanna.  Favre was a Pro Bowler in 11 of his 16 seasons and too Green Bay to a win in Super Bowl XXXI.  In a sport known for grit and determination, Favre took those attributes to another level.  Constantly playing through pain and never throwing a ball that he thought couldn’t be caught, Favre set a myriad of records and gave us a litany of memories.

How perfect was it when Favre said he was going to wing his speech and than insinuated that he would ask Packers’ coach, Mike McCarthy (during the speech that he winged) if he could throw the first series in tomorrow’s Hall of Fame Game?

Typical Favre, and we hope he never changes!

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate this latest group of Hall of Famers and encourage you all to tell us who should get in next.

Our 2017 List is here, and ready for your votes and opinions!
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Mark Teixeira to retire. Hall of Famer?

Mark Teixeira to retire. Hall of Famer?
We needed a day to digest this.

New York Yankees First Baseman, Mark Teixeira has announced that this season will be his last in Major League Baseball.  At the start of the season had stated that he hoped to play another five years but as of this writing he has a Batting Average of only .202 and a bWAR under zero and Teixeira has cited that the body is no longer willing.

Teixeira will retire with some very interesting statistics, some of which reflect a Hall of Fame career, some if which do not.

A lot has been made of being one of the few members of the 400 Home Run/5 Gold Gloves club, a very impressive display of power and defense.  He has been chosen for three All Star Games, won three Silver Sluggers, and has a chance to finish with 1,300 career RBIs. 

Sabremetrically speaking he is in the conversation with a 52.2 bWAR and 45.1 JAWS, numbers that are nearly identical to another, that of Fred McGriff, who appears to be on the wrong end of the Hall of Fame discussion.  It also does not help that Teixeira will finish below 2,000 Hits, a key traditional metric and his career Batting Average of .261 does not blow anyone away.

At first glance, this appears to us as a player who will merit discussion, and from our end possibly debut in the 25 to 35 range on our Notinhalloffame.com baseball list.

But that is all this is…a first glance. 

We have some years to debate this Baseball Hall of Fame candidate, but that is not what is important now.

Let’s thank Mark Teixeira for his outstanding career, and enjoy the two more months we can watch him play.
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The Hockey List has been revised, Teemu Selanne now #1

The Hockey List has been revised, Teemu Selanne now #1
Updating and expansion…

That is what we will be doing (sort of) with our hockey revisions.

As most of you know, the Hockey Hall of Fame recently inducted three players from our notinhalloffame.com hockey list, Eric Lindros, Sergei Makarov and Rogie Vachon.  Lindros was ranked #1 by us last year and Makarov had been in varying spots in our top six since our website’s inception seven years ago.

When this occurs, it is always time for us to re-evaluate our list and we do that by looking at the following:



1. Analyzing your votes and opinions and adjusting our rankings accordingly.

2. Inputting the new hockey players who will now be eligible for the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2017.



We added several new players and rather than present the new “100”, we have 107 for your consideration as we did not take out those who did not make that round number.  Rather, our intention is to expand it to 150.  Look for that this winter.

Until then, let’s present the new Notinhalloffame.com Hockey List.

Teemu Selanne is now eligible for the Hockey Hall of Fame and the “Finnish Flash” takes over the top spot.  Selanne retired as a Point per Game player and famously scored 76 Goals in his rookie season.  He is also a four time post season All Star. 

Don Cherry has been on our list since the beginning either in the first, second or third spot.  The outspoken host of Coach’s Corner on Hockey Night in Canada has been ranked 2nd on our list the last two years.  He remains in that slot this year.

Paul Kariya, Mark Recchi, Theoren Fleury and Alexander Mogilny all moved up one spot to #3 though #6 respectively.  They are followed by Bernie Nicholls who moved up to spots to #7.

Daniel Alfredsson debuts at #8.  The “love him or hate him” Swedish forward should garner interesting votes and comments from all of you!

Jeremy Roenick (#9) and Dave Andreychuk (#10) round out the top ten.

There are two new additions to the top 60.  Five time All Star Defenceman, Ed Jovanovski, and Goalie, Nikolai Khabibulin debut at #46 and #51 respectively.

Ray Whitney, a member of the 1,000 Point club misses out on the top 60 making his first appearance at #61.  Former Stanley Cup Winning Goalie, Tim Thomas appears at #81.

We received emails and comments that we may have missed some players in previous lists.  Upon further review, we have agreed and three new former players who have been previously eligible but never ranked by us are now part of the list.

Those players are former 60 Goal scorer, Dennis Maruk (#70), 4 time All Star, Bill Guerin (#71) and 2 time All Star blueliner, Mathieu Schneider (#88).

You know what we want you to do!

Take a look at the new rankings and cast your vote and offer your opinions!

Thank you again from all of us at Notinhalloffame.com.











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44. Mathieu Schneider

44. Mathieu Schneider
A two time All Star with a 22 year professional career, Mathieu Schneider was one of the best American born blueliner in the game’s history.  Schneider was adept on the offensive side of the game as he scored over 700 Points and Internationally played for the U.S. on their 1996 World Cup winning team.  Schneider’s Hall of Fame chances almost depend on his longevity, but that is not always a stat that matters.
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156. Bill Guerin

156. Bill Guerin
Sometimes people forget just how good Bill Guerin was.  Winning the Stanley Cup twice over his 18-year career, Guerin became the first player in NHL history to score over 20 goals in a season for seven different teams.  That shows us two things, one, he was quite the scorer and two, that he was also quite the journeyman.
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Defensive Tackle, Kevin Williams Retires

Defensive Tackle, Kevin Williams Retires
Another day…another retirement worth looking at in sports.

Defensive Tackle, Kevin Williams retired after signing a one-day contract with the Minnesota Vikings, the team in which he started 171 Games with.  Williams was drafted by the Vikings in the first round (9th overall) in 2003 and immediately became a starter for the team.  Over his eleven years in Minnesota, Williams would record 60 Quarterback Sacks and was chosen as a First Team All-Pro five times as well as six Pro Bowls.  He would play his last two seasons with the Seattle Seahawks and New Orleans Saints respectively.

While Kevin Williams is not someone whose name seems to be associated with a Pro Football Hall of Fame induction his overall resume is not out of line with a discussion about his merits.  He will be eligible for the Hall in 2021 and will likely make the bottom half of our Notinhalloffame.com Football list.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to thank Kevin Williams for his career and we wish him the best with his post gridiron career.
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Amar'e Stoudemire Retires. HOFer?

Amar'e Stoudemire Retires. HOFer?
We waited a little bit before we decided to discuss the retirement of Amar’e Stoudemire from the National Basketball Association at the age of 33.  Perhaps it was because it is not know at this time if he will continue to play overseas or because we are not even certain that this will hold.  Regardless, we are going to do that now and ask the question we always ask when we have a retirement of this magnitude; is Amar’e Stoudemire a Hall of Famer?

Coming out of High School as the 9th overall pick in the 2002 Draft, The Phoenix Suns had an immediate star as the big man won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award.  He helped elevate Phoenix to an NBA Championship contender, pairing with Steve Nash forming one of the most devastating pairings in professional basketball. 

Five times with the Suns, Stoudemire would make the All-Star Team and he was named a Second Team All-NBA selection three times and a First Team Selection once.  In 2007, he would finish second in MVP voting to the eventual winner, Kobe Bryant.

Opting out of his contract with Suns, Amar’e Stoudemire joined Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks and was still in superstar form, earning another All Star Game appearance and a Second Team All-NBA nod.  Injuries would however pile up and season after season the 6’ 10’’ Stoudemire would become a shell of what he once was.  He would finish his career with stints with Dallas and Miami.

On Tuesday, Stoudemire signed with the Knicks and announced his NBA retirement, proudly stating “Once a Knick, Always a Knick” (though his run in Phoenix was far superior). 

Although Amar’e has no college resume (which can factor in the to Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame) his five All-NBA selections put him on the black side of the Springfield ledger.  He has good career number with a PER of 21.8 and 92.5 Win Shares, though his relatively low VORP (16.81) might raise a few eyebrows and his career Rebounds/Game are not huge for a man his size.

Stating that, Amar’e Stoudemire is a player who competed in the NBA All-Star Game six times; a number that equates to many as a Hall of Famer, though we aren’t ready to usher him in just yet.

He will be eligible for the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021 and will likely be placed on the lower end of our top ten of our Notinhalloffame.com Basketball List.  With Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan eligible the same year, Amar’e won’t get in immediately, and this is one case where if he got inducted in his second year or never, the result would yield equal surprise.

Still, we would like to thank Amar’e for the wonderful run and the memories he gave fans in Phoenix, New York and the NBA fans world over.  It was a great career!

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