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.

The NFL regular season has not started yet but as far as the Pro Football Hall of Fame goes, the “regular season” has begun as they have announced their first official candidate for 2019. Former Kansas City Chief Safety, Johnny Robinson has been announced as this year’s lone Senior Nominee for Canton.

From LSU, Robinson was a first round draft pick in both the NFL and AFL, and he eschewed the Detroit Lions who drafted him for the upstart league and a place on the Dallas Texans roster. In his first two seasons, Robinson was used as a Flanker and did reasonably well accruing 1,870 Yards from Scrimmage with 15 Touchdowns however it was when he changed positions to Safety where his star really began to rise.

Robinson became the team’s starting Right Safety and in 1962 they would win the AFL Championship though the celebration in Dallas was short lived as the franchise relocated to Kansas City and became the Chiefs. Robinson really became a star in the AFL at this time as he would be named a Pro Bowler seven of the eight next seasons and was all named to the First Team five times. He would lead his league twice in Interceptions and would pick 57 passes in total.

Helping the Chiefs to two more AFL Championships, Robinson’s highwater mark was his performance in Super Bowl IV where he recovered a fumble and an interception that was huge in the Chiefs’ first ever Super Bowl win.

Robinson is a member of the All-AFL team and is ranked #7 on our Football list on Notinhalloffame.com

Based on the track record of the past Senior Nominees the odds are excellent that Robinson will get inducted.

The University of Colorado has announced who will be in their 2018 Athletic Hall of Fame. This group will be the 14th in Hall of Fame history.

The class consists of:

Pete Brock 1972-75 Football: Brock played Center for Colorado and The Sporting News would name him a First Team All-American in his Senior Year. He would be a first round draft pick (by the New England Patriots) where he played twelve seasons.

Hatfield Chilton 1923-26 Football, Baseball & Basketball: Chilton was a three sports star for the Buffaloes and is credited for creating the “jump pass”.

Charlie Gardner 1963-66 Basketball: Gardner played Center for Colorado where he was a two time First Team All Big Eight Selection. Over 70 Games, he averaged 12.1 Points and 6.9 Rebounds per Game.

Daniel Graham 1998-2001 Football: Graham played Tight End at the University where as a Senior he was a Consensus All-American and the winner of the John Mackey Award as the Nation’s top Tight End. Graham would be a first round draft pick and would go onto win two Super Bowls with the New England Patriots.

Jay Howell 1974-76 Baseball: Howell would become the only former Colorado Buffalo to win a World Series Ring.

Ron Scott 1963-67 Football & 2010-18 Administrator: Scott started for three years at Middle Guard and helped the Buffaloes win the Bluebonnet Bowl in 1967. He would return officially in 2010 as the Director of Development for Athletics and also the Executive Director of the Alumni C Club.

Steve Sidwell 1963-73 Football: Sidwell played football for the Buffaloes and than would go on to be an Assistant Coach for seven years after.

Kordell Stewart 1991-94 Football: Stewart was a dynamic Quarterback for the Buffaloes and he was ranked a second team All-American in 1994. He would also take them to a 1993 Aloha Bowl and 1995 Fiesta Bowl and over his collegiate career he threw for 6,481 Yards and 33 Touchdowns and rushed for 1,725 Yards with 15 going into end zone. He would play 11 seasons in the NFL most notably with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Donna Waller 1984-87 Track and Field: Waller was a two-time All-American and former Big Eight Champion in the 60 Yard Hurdles and 100 Meter Angels.

Chuck Williams 1965-68 Basketball: Williams would score 18.0 Points per Game as a Senior and he would later be a two-time All Star in the ABA.

Lucie Zikova 2005-08 Women’s Skiing: Zikova was a three time All-American in the Slalom and two time All-American in the Giant Slalom. She was also the 2006 NCAA Slalom Champion.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the latest members of the University of Colorado Athletic Hall of Fame.