The world of Baseball lost a legend today as it was announced that Al Kaline passed away today at the age of 85.  The cause of death was not disclosed.

The Outfielder debuted in 1953 as a teenager, and he would play a total of 22 seasons in the Majors, all of which were with the Detroit Tigers.  Kaline would become a star quickly, going to the All-Star Game in 15 of his seasons, and finishing in the top ten in MVP voting nine times.  His other accolades included winning the 1955 Batting Titles, ten Gold Gloves, and he would help Detroit win the 1968 World Series.

He retired after the 1974 season, one Home Run shy of 400. While he could have likely played another season, he had reached the 3,000 Hit mark late that year, finishing with 3,007 total.

After his career was over, he remained with the Tigers in some capacity until he died.  He served as their color commentator from 1975 to 2002, and he would be a Special Assistant to the President afterward.  With an over six-decade association with the club, could there be anyone else could possibly be called “Mr. Tiger”?

Kaline was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980, which was his first year of eligibility.  

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends and family of Al Kaline.  

Pro Football lost one of its greats as Bobby Mitchell passed away today at the age of 84.

A star at the University of Illinois, Mitchell was chosen by the Cleveland Browns with their seventh round pick in 1958.  Mitchell would share the backfield with the legendary Jim Brown, where he would play four seasons, totalling 3,759 Yards from Scrimmage with 32 Touchdowns.

In 1962, the Washington Redskins were under pressure from the NFL, as they were not yet integrated, and they would trade for Mitchell. He was moved to Flanker, and he would promptly lead the NFL in Receiving Yards in both 1962 and 1963 with seasons of 1,384 and 1,436 Yards respectively.  Mitchell led the league in Touchdown Receptions in 1964, and would manage to accrue at least 800 Receiving Yards from 1964 to 1967.

He retired after the 1968 season after accumulating 14,078 All-Purpose Yards with 88 Touchdowns.  The four-time Pro Bowl Selection would later serve as in the Redskins Front Office for over three decades.

Mitchell would enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983, and he earned three Super Bowl Rings as a Redskins Executive.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends and family of Bobby Mitchell  

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.  We have a new one to unveil today, that of the Chicago Cubs. 

When it comes to iconic sports teams in North America, few can come close to the Chicago Cubs.

The Cubs first came into existence in 1870 as the Chicago White Stockings would join the National League in 1876.  Before 1900, Chicago was one of the most successful teams.  Led by Cap Anson, Chicago would win the National League Pennant in 1876, 1880, 1881, 1882, 1885 & 1886.  They would go through a couple of name changes to the Colts, Orphans and would officially adopt the name of the Cubs in 1903.

The Cubs did well in the first decade of the 1900s where with stars like Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, Frank Chance, and Three Finger Brown and would win the World Series in 1907 and 1908.  That would begin the longest championship drought in sports.

You know the story.  The alleged curse of the goat.  Steve Bartman. 

It would take until 2016 when they would win the World Series again, although they did win the National League Pennant multiple times between them (1910, 1918, 1929, 1932, 1935, 1938 & 1945).  They also had Hall of Famers at that time, like Ernie Banks and Ryne Sandberg.

As of this writing, three World Series Championships is not very many for a team that has been around since the beginning, but again, how many organizations are as well-known as the Cubbies!

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.

Remember, this is ONLY based on what a player does on that particular team and not what he accomplished elsewhere and also note that we have placed an increased importance on the first two categories.

This list is updated up until the end of the 2018-19 Season.

The complete list can be found here, but as always we announce our top five in this article.  They are:

1. Cap Anson

2. Ernie Banks

3. Ryne Sandberg

4. Ron Santo

5. Billy Williams

We will continue our adjustments on our existing lists and will continue developing our new lists.  

Look for our All-Time Top 50 Oakland Athletics coming next!

As always we thank you for your support.

On the weekend of what was supposed to be NCAA’s Final Four, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced today their Class of 2020.

As expected, the triumvirate of Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett have all been selected for Springfield.  They comprised the top three in our most recent Notinhalloffame.com list of those to consider for the Hall.

Kobe Bryant tragically passed away along with eight other people (including his daughter, Gianna) in a helicopter crash.  Bryant played his entire pro career with the Los Angeles Lakers, where he would lead the Lake Show to five NBA Championships.  Individually, he would win the 2007-08 MVP, was a 15-time All-Star and was a First Team All-NBA Selection 11 times. Internationally, Bryant won the Olympic Gold Medal twice with the United States (2008 & 2012).

Like Bryant, Tim Duncan played his entire career with one team, his being the San Antonio Spurs.  “The Big Fundamental” took the Spurs to five titles, and he was a two-time MVP.  Duncan went to 15 All-Star Games, was a 10-time First Team All-NBA Selection, an eight-time All-Defensive First Team honoree, and was the Rookie of the Year. At Wake Forest, he was also the Consensus National College Player of the Year in 1997.

Kevin Garnett did not spend his career with one team, but he is easily the greatest Minnesota Timberwolves player ever.  It was in Minnesota where he won his MVP, but he would later help the Boston Celtics win the NBA Championship in 2008, while also winning the Defensive Player of the Year.  Garnett went to 15 All-Star Games, was a four-time First Team All-NBA Selection, and would be an All-Defensive First Teamer.  

Also chosen was Eddie Sutton.  With a career record of 806-326, Sutton went to three Final Fours (one with Arkansas and two with Oklahoma State), and he was a two-time AP College Coach of the Year.  Sutton was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.

A five-time NBA All-Star, Rudy Tomjonavich was a Head Coach for the Hosuton Rockets from 1992 to 2003.  He took the Rockets to the NBA Championship in 1994 and 1995, and the United States to Olympic Gold in 2000.

All five male Finalists got in, as did all three female finalists, which were Tamika Catchings, Kim Mulkey and Barbara Stevens:

Tamika Catchings won four Olympic Gold Medals for the United States, and took the Indiana Fever to a WNBA Title in 2012.  Individually in the WNBA, Catchings went to 11 All-Star Games, was a one-time MVP, and a five-time Defensive Player of the Year.

Kim Mulley has led the Baylor Bears to three championships as their Head Coach, and she also won as a player and Assistant Coach.  She was the Coach of the Year in 2012.

Barbara Stevens was a five-time Division II Coach of the Year, and was the fifth female coach to win 1,000 Games.

Patrick Baumann enters as a Contributor.  He Swiss executive was the President of the Global Association of International Sports Federations and the Secretary General of FIBA. He passed away in 2018 at the age of 51 due to a heart attack.

We will begin the reworking of our Notinhalloffame.com Basketball List.  Look for that later this month.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the newest members of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.