Victor Cruz announced today that he has retired from Pro Football and will be joining ESPN as an analyst.

Cruz was undrafted out of the University of Massachusetts but was able to sign on as a free agent with the New York Giants in 2010 and would see limited action as a rookie, however he was given the opportunity in 2011 and made the most of it accruing 82 Receptions for 1,536 Yards, which noticeably included a 99 Yard Touchdown Reception, the longest in NFL history. More importantly, he would help the Giants win Super Bowl XLVI.

The Wide Receiver would be named to the Pro Bowl in 2012 and again had 1,000 Yards. He would also have a career high 10 Touchdown Receptions. Cruz would be riddled with injuries and regression shortly after and he his numbers would subside. He would miss the 2015 season completely and in his return season of 2016 he only tallied 586 Yards. The Giants would release him in February of 2017 and while he signed shortly after with the Chicago Bears, he was not able to crack their roster.

Cruz is not likely to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame (he will be eligible in 2022) but his end zone Salsa Dance will be missed.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to wish Victor Cruz the best in his new career at ESPN.

The Tennis Hall of Fame has made a slight adjustment to their voting procedures to make it a little more fan interactive. Starting late this month the Hall will have an online poll that will allow fans to vote on who they think should be inducted.

To get inducted a candidate requires 75% of the vote and the members who vote on the Hall of Fame remain the same. What the online vote does do is provide a jump in the percentage. The top vote getter will receive an additional 3%, the second highest will receive 2% and the third place finisher in the online vote will receive a 1% boost. While this may seem like a lot, chances are that one year that it will make the difference on a fringe candidate.

While this is a minor change, it does make this Hall of Fame more fan friendly, which is an easy thing for us to celebrate.

As most of the regular visitors to Notinhalloffame.com are aware we are (very) slowly putting together our top 50 players of every franchise in the “Big 4” of North American sports. After that is completed we will take a look at how each organization honors their past players and executives.

As such, it is important to us that the Cleveland Indians have retired the number 25 yesterday of Jim Thome in a pre-game ceremony.

2018 has been somewhat of a celebration year for Thome who earlier this year was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Last week, the Chicago White Sox honored him for his accomplishments for them and in June the Philadelphia Phillies did the same. The Minnesota Twins will be honoring Thome next Saturday.

Thome played for six teams over his career over half of which was spent with the Indians. He went to three All Star Games as an Indian where he hit 337 Home Runs with a .287/.414/.566 Slash Line. He is the all time franchise leader in Home Runs. His #25 joins Earl Averill (#3), Lou Boudreau (#5), Larry Doby (#14), Mel Harder (#18), Bob Feller (#19), Bob Lemon (#21) and Jackie Robinson (#42).

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Jim Thome for earning this prestigious honor.

As most of the regular visitors to Notinhalloffame.com are aware we are (very) slowly putting together our top 50 players of every franchise in the “Big 4” of North American sports. After that is completed we will take a look at how each organization honors their past players and executives.

As such, it is important to us that yesterday the St. Louis Cardinals officially inducted Ray Lankford, Vince Coleman and Harry Brecheen to their Hall of Fame.

Lankford debuted in the Majors for the Cardinals in 1990 and in his first full season he would finish third in Rookie of the Year voting while leading the NL in Triples. The Centerfielder would have three 30 Stolen Base seasons and was an All Star in 1997 where he would have career highs in the Slash Line (.295/.411/.585) while finishing 16th in MVP voting. Lankford also put up decent power numbers with six 20 Home Run seasons. He would be traded to the Padres in the 2001 season but would return to finish his career in St. Louis for one final campaign in 2004. In his overall career with the Cardinals Ray Lankford had 1,479 Hits with 228 Home Runs and 250 Stolen Bases.

Vince Coleman played his first six seasons in baseball with the St. Louis Cardinals where he proved to he the best base stealer in the National League. In all six of his seasons he would finish first in the NL in Stolen Bases, the first three of which would see him exceed 100 swipes. Named the Rookie of the Year in 1985, he was also an All Star twice in 1988 and 1989. Coleman had 937 Hits and 549 Stolen Bases for St. Louis.

Harry Brecheen will be inducted posthumously. The southpaw played for the Cardinals from 1943 to 1952 and was a six time 15 Game winner. Brecheen was a two time All Star (1947 & 1948) was the National League Leader in ERA, FIP, WHIP, SO/9 and SO/BB in the 1948 season where he finished fifth in MVP voting. His son in the represented him in the ceremony.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the latest members of the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame.