Some people take a while to learn their musical skills, but it comes a bit easier when you are the son of a guitar playing father and a singing mother. Claiming to be able to sing harmony at three years old, Joe tried his hand at a music career beginning in the late 1970’s. After a number of setbacks, he finally got the ball rolling in the mid-1980’s when he moved to Nashville and got his foot in the door with song writing. Getting artists like Holly Dunn, Ricky Van Shelton and Alabama to record his songs then helped him to getting his own recording contract in 1990. His first song going to number 1 set off a string of classic songs for over a decade. By the time his radio career faded in the early 2000’s, he had become an ACM nominee and Grammy winner. Unfortunately passing away from covid in 2020, his legacy still lives on in newer artists like Jason Aldean and Chris Young praising him as an inspiration. That legacy may someday lead to a Hall Of Fame plaque.

The “Hall of Fame Season” has come to an end with the announcement of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class, and it is the largest class in recent memory.

The Cleveland based institution elected Missy Elliott, Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Rage Against the Machine, Kate Bush, George Michael and The Spinners. Chaka Khan, Al Kooper and Bernie Taupin enter via the Musical Excellence Award. Link Wray and DJ Kool Herc will receive the Musical Influence Award and Don Cornelius will get the Ahmet Ertegun Award.

Four of the elected members, Elliott, Nelson, Crow and Michael enter on their first appearance on the ballot. Missy Elliott becomes the first female rapper inducted, and Nelson capped off an incredible week, first by turning 90 and now with this induction, though unlike Elliott, who only became eligible, has been eligible for decades. George Michael won the fan vote, continuing the trend of fan vote winners entering the Hall.

RATM enters on their fourth attempt, and their induction should help other Alternative acts from the 1990s. The Spinners also enter on their fourth try, and have been eligible since 1986. Kate Bush, who has been enjoying a renaissance was also nominated twice before.

Failing to gain entry were A Tribe Called Quest, Cyndi Lauper, New Order/Joy Division, Iron Maiden, White Stripes, Soundgarden and Warren Zevon.

We will begin work on revising our Notinhalloffame Rock List for next year.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the impending members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

It is with great pleasure that we announce the third annual Notinhalloffame MLB Regular Season Cup, and let us explain how this works:

With every single regular season game, we anointed the best five players in the game with descending points, 5-4-3-2-1.

We knew the following:

-       The top players for the MLB NIHOF Cup are not always the best in the league, as injuries keep players out of games, and a premium on staying healthy can help pile up points. It also does not hurt to be a top player on an average or mediocre team, as they can amass Cup points easier that elite players on loaded squads.

-       In Baseball, it is more common than in Basketball and Hockey for a player to accrue points with a single Home Run in a game, and overall favors position players. Starting Pitchers have a hard time with approximately 30-35 Stats and throwing less innings than in previous generations. This also is true for closers, which is not made for this process.

-       Please remember, that this is NOT necessarily who we think were the best players this year, and does not reflect overall consistency. Treat this the way did, as a fun process and more of a compilation of temporary statistical domination.

At present 619 Players have generated at least one Cup Point.

So, MLB players! Get your agents to work winning this into your contracts!

This is the first update, with standings as of May 1.

1. Rafael Devers: Boston Red Sox, Third Base:

39 Cup Points, 29 Games, 1.35 Cup Points per Game, 10 Home Runs, 27 Runs Batted In, 0 SB, .232/.285./.563, 1.1 bWAR.

Devers is a mild surprise at number one, as although the two-time All-Star is leading the American League in Home Runs (10), he is not currently in the top ten in OPS. Saying that, power is huge in Cup Points, and he is also at present third in RBIs (27). This will trump Batting Average every time here.

2. Shohei Ohtani: Los Angeles Angels, Designated Hitter & Pitcher:

38 Cup Points, 29 Games, 1.35 Cup Points per Game, 7 Home Runs, 18 Runs Batted In, 5 SB, .294/.355./.541, 2.1 bWAR & 4-0, 1.85 ERA, 46 SO, 0.824 WHIP.

The Notinhalloffame Cup is built for Ohtani, who can compile points in two different avenues; the only one who can do so. The Japanese superstar led his nation to a World Cup, and right now his Angels have a winning record. Ohtani is off to his best pitching start, and he is his usual self with the bat. We can’t imagine Ohtani not leading this by June.

3 (TIE). Patrick Wisdom: Chicago Cubs, Third Base:

34 Cup Points, 25 Games, 1.36 Cup Points per Game, 10 Home Runs, 20 Runs Batted In, 0 SB, .250/.324/.541, 1.0 bWAR.

Wisdom is the current National League leader in Total Bases (59) and Extra Base Hits (15) and his second in Home Runs (10). This is best start of Wisdom’s career.

3 (TIE). Mike Trout: Los Angeles Angels, Outfield:

34 Cup Points, 27 Games, 1.26 Cup Points per Game, 7 Home Runs, 18 Runs Batted In, 0 SB, .308/.395/.589, 1.2 bWAR.

Trout remains the baseball player we all know and love and the Angels are the first team to rank two players. The Centerfielder is currently fourth in Home Runs in the AL (7).

3 (TIE). Max Muncy: Los Angeles Dodgers, First Base:

34 Cup Points, 25 Games, 1.36 Cup Points per Game, 11 Home Runs, 22 Runs Batted In, 1 SB, .238/.408/.563, 1.4 bWAR.

Muncy is only batting .238, but his OPS is 1.070 which is leading the NL. He is also at the top of the leaderboard in Home Runs (11) and Slugging (.863).

6 (TIE). Ronald Acuna: Atlanta Braves, Outfield:

33 Cup Points, 27 Games, 1.22 Cup Points per Game, 4 Home Runs, 14 Runs Batted In, 13 SB, .352/.440/.545, 1.7 bWAR.

Acuna leads all NL batters in Runs Scored (23), Stolen Bases (13) and Total Bases (59), and is currently second in Batting Average (.352) and On Base Percentage (.440).

6 (TIE). Yordan Alvarez: Houston Astros, Designated Hitter & Outfield:

33 Cup Points, 27 Games, 1.22 Cup Points per Game, 6 Home Runs, 27 Runs Batted In, 0 SB, .272/.388/.543, 0.8 bWAR.

Alvarez has cooled off a bit after a blistering start, but is still third in RBIs (27), and is leading the NL in both Win Probability Added (2.3) and Championship Win Probability Added (1.3).

6 (TIE). Matt Chapman: Toronto Blue Jays, Third Base:

33 Cup Points, 27 Games, 1.22 Cup Points per Game, 5 Home Runs, 21 Runs Batted In, 1 SB, .384/.465/.567, 2.0 bWAR.

Chapman is having the best start to his career, and is currently first in Hits (38), Doubles (15), Batting Average (.384), OBP (.445), OPS+ (219), bWAR for Position Players (2.0) and Total Bases (68) and is second in OPS.

9 (TIE). Cody Bellinger: Chicago Cubs, Outfield:

31 Cup Points, 24 Games, 1.29 Cup Points per Game, 7 Home Runs, 18 Runs Batted In, 4 SB, .297/.371/.604, 1.5 bWAR.

Is Cody back? The 2019 MVP faltered in his last three seasons as a Dodger, but he playing excellent baseball at the moment and emerging from the grave that many pundits dug for him. He is fourth in bWAR for NL Position Players (1.5), fifth in Slugging (.604) and sixth in OPS (.976).

9 (TIE). Pete Alonso: New York Mets, First Base:

31 Cup Points, 27 Games, 1.22 Cup Points per Game, 10 Home Runs, 25 Runs Batted In, 0 SB, .257/.328/.562, 0.7 bWAR.

Alonso is the NL leader in RBIs (25), a stat he led last year with 121. With 10 Home Runs already this year, he is on pace to have to his second straight 40-plus tater year.

9 (TIE). Randy Arozarena: Tampa Bay Rays, Outfield:

31 Cup Points, 27 Games, 1.22 Cup Points per Game, 7 Home Runs, 28 Runs Batted In, 3 SB, .327/.392/.573, 1.2 bWAR.

It is still very early, but Arozarena is on pace to have the best year of his life. At present, he is fourth in Batting Average (.327) and second in Total Bases (63).

9 (TIE). Marcus Semien: Texas Rangers, Shortstop:

31 Cup Points, 28 Games, 1.11 Cup Points per Game, 5 Home Runs, 23 Runs Batted In, 1 SB, .268/.346/.455, 1.3 bWAR.

Semien is currently first in Runs Scored (25) in the AL, and is tenth in Hits (30).

Our next update will be the morning of May 7.

One of our pet projects, the Fictitious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is pleased to announce the six new members of the Class of 2023, which will be the 8^th full class.

The inductees were decided by all of you, after being pared down from other 500 Preliminary Nominees.

The new members will join previous inductees:

The Fictitious Rock and Roll inductees are: Spinal Tap, The Monkees, The Blues Brothers, Gorillaz, Tenacious D, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, Wyld Stallyns, Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Wonders, Bleeding Gums Murphy, Otis Day and the Nights, Stillwater, Josie and the Pussycats, Marvin Berry and the Starlighters, The Rutles, Eddie and the Cruisers, Schroeder and The Archies.

Similarly, to our Fictitious Athlete Hall of Fame, we have created a contributor’s section, which saw Dr. Johnny Fever and Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar enter last year.

This year’s members of the Fictitious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are:

Dewey Cox (Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Portrayed by John C. Reilly): Cox’s career feels a lot like what would have happened if Johnny Cash’s career went ten steps sideways. Reilly enters our Fictional Halls for the first time.

The Be Sharps (The Simpsons, Voiced by Dan Castellaneta, Hank Azaria & Harry Shearer): Former Grammy winners, the Be-Sharps were on top of the world for a brief period of time. Comprised of Homer (who has the potential of entering twice this year, Barney, Apu and Principal Skinner, finally enter after being Finalists six times.

The School of Rock (The School of Rock, Portrayed by Jack Black, Joey Gaydos Jr., Kevin Clark, Rebecca Brown, Robert Tsai. Maryam Hassan, Caitlin Hale & Aleisha Allen): Dewey Finn pretended to be a substitute teacher and used his class as a band to perform at the Battle of the Bands. How did he not get in more trouble? They enter on their fourth try as a Finalist.

This year’s Fictitious Rock and Roll Semi-Finalists Contributors are:

Bruce Dickinson (Saturday Night Live, Portrayed by Christopher Walken): Dickinson needed more cowbell. He had a fever for it. He got it, and the Blue Oyster Cult were forever grateful. Dickinson was a Finalist last year, and enters after one sketch.

Colonel Homer Simpson (The Simpsons, Voiced by Dan Castallenta): Homer Simpson is (again) nominated in both categories, here for his discovery and early management of country singer, Lurleen Lumpkin. Simpson is the first character to be inducted twice in the same year, and is also a member of the Fictitious Athlete Hall of Fame.

Curtis (The Blues Brothers, Portrayed by Cab Calloway): Had it not been for the mentorship of Curtis, the Blues Brothers would not have become the iconic band that they were.

This means we are ready to ask you to vote for the Semi-Finalists for the Fictitious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2023.

The Fictitious Rock and Roll Vote can be found here.

The Fictitious Rock and Roll Contributor Vote can be found here.

As always, we here at Notinhalloffame.com thank you for your support, and ask you to cast your votes.