We have another significant retirement in the world of the National Football League, although many people outside of the New England fan base might understand why this is the case.

James Develin, the New England Patriots’ Fullback has announced his retirement through a post on his Instagram.  He had this to say:

“Due to unforeseen complications with the injury that ended my season last year, I have decided it is both in my and my family's best interest to retire from the game of football.  I've always maintained a belief that in the sport, the team is MUCH more important than myself as an individual ... and that belief still rings true, as I have to prioritize my team at home before anything else."

The injury that Develin was referring to was in his neck, and it held him to only two games in 2019.

Develin was undrafted in Brown in 2010 and after two years on the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad, he was signed by the New England Patriots in 2012.  He was not used as an offensive weapon, but as a blocker for them.  Develin would help the Patriots win three Super Bowls, and was named to the Pro Bowl in 2017.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to wish James Develin the best in his post-playing career.

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 Oakland Athletics. 

The Athletics were a charter member of the American League in 1901 when they were located in Philadelphia. While they played on the East Coast, they were owned and ran by Connie Mack, who had his share of success and failures.  When they were good, they boasted Hall of Fame players like Lefty Grove, Chief Bender and Jimmie Foxx, and they won five World Series Championships (1910, 1911, 1913, 1929 & 1930) in their first half of existence.

While they had five more World Series Titles then their National League rivals, the Phillies, they struggled financially, and they relocated to Kansas City.  They were there for 13 unremarkable years, and they then went all the way to West, to Oakland.  

With players like Reggie Jackson, Rollie Fingers and Catfish Hunter, they rattled off three consecutive World Series wins (1972-74).  Ownership let their stars go, but by the late 80s, they were back with Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, Dennis Eckersley and Dave Stewart, and they won three American League Pennants (1988-90), winning the one in the middle.  

At present, Oakland follows a Moneyball strategy, and though that tenth World Series has been elusive, they have shown competitiveness despite a low payroll.

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 American 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. Lefty Grove

2. Rickey Henderson

3. Jimmie Foxx

4. Eddie Plank

5. Al Simmons

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

Look for our All-Time Top 50 Seattle Mariners coming next!

As always we thank you for your support.

The World Golf Hall of Fame announced what appears to be the final inductee for the Class of 2021 in Susie Maxwell Berning.  She joins Tiger Woods, Tim Finchem and Marion Hollins.

Berning went pro in 1964 where she won the LPGA Rookie of the Year, and a year later, she won her first tournament.  Berning won 11 LPGA events in total, including three U.S. Women’s Opens (1968, 1972 & 1973). 

This brings the total of inductees to 164.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate all four of the impending members of the 2021 World Golf Hall of Fame.

Hall of Fame related lists are at the forefront of what we do. Hell, it is in the name of our site; Notinhalloffame.com!

The problem (or actually our perpetual joy) is that we have to continuously revise lists, most of them annually.  With the ones in reference to the main Halls of Fame, we try to tackle the revisions immediately.  With that in mind, we are pleased to have our new Notinhalloffame.com Basketball list of those to consider for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Before we get into it, please note that this list only covers the male candidates.  We may look at doing a separate list for coaches, international, and women, but for now we will remain with this core list.

As always, the first thing we do is remove those who were chosen for the incoming class.  This involved the removal of our top three, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett, all of which were in their first year of eligibility.  We should note that while Rudy Tomjanavich was also chosen for Springfield, he did so as a Coach, and in the Basketball Hall, you can enter multiple times as a Coach and as a Player.

The second thing we do is input the new entries who are now eligible and are worthy of being ranked.  

The third is look at your comments and votes and alter accordingly.

The complete list can be found here, but below are the former players who now comprise our new top ten.

Paul Pierce debuts at #1, and is our highest ranked new entry.  Pierce was a ten-time All-Star, and was chosen for four All-NBA Teams (one Second Team and three Third Team).  Pierce was a teammate of this year’s inductee, Kevin Garnett, in Boston, and he was the Finals MVP in their Championship win in 2008. 

Chris Bosh moved from #4 to #2.  Bosh was openly upset when he was not included in this list of Finalists for the 2020 Hall of Fame Class, but we suspect this was to hold him back for a class with Pierce. The former Raptor and Heat player, was an 11-time All-Star and won two NBA Championships with Miami.

Chris Webber climbs back to #3 from #5.  Webber was the leader of the Michigan’s “Fab Five”, and was the NBA Rookie of the Year. C-Webb was a five-time All-Star, and was once a First Team All-NBA Selection, as well as a three-time Second Team All-NBA Selection.  Webber was at one time ranked number one on this list.

Ben Wallace moves up two spots to #4.  Wallace was a part of the Detroit Pistons 2004 NBA Championship, and he was a four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year.  The four-time All-Star was a three-time Second Team All-NBA and a two-time Third Team All-NBA Selection.

Shawn Kemp rose three to #5.  The former Seattle SuperSonic went to six All-Star Games, and was chosen for three-time Second Team squads.

Max Zaslofsky also went up three spots from #9 to #6.  Zaslofsky was a four-time First Team All-NBA player in the 1940s and 1950s.

Mark Aguirre climbed to #7 from #10.  The former Naismith College Player of the Year, won two NBA Championships as a Detroit Piston, and he was also a three-time All-Star.

Tim Hardaway returns to the top ten, moving up to #8.  The former five-time All-Star was a star at Golden State, and he was also a First Team All-NBA player in 1997.

Lou Hudson shot up from #16 to #9.  Hudson was a six-time All-Star.

Bob Dandridge closes the top ten, and he rose from #13.  He was a four-time All-Star, and he won two NBA Titles, one with Milwaukee and one with Washington.

There are two new entries.

Deron Williams enters at #57 and Metta World Peace (the former Ron Artest) makes his list debut at #83.

At present, the list goes to 115.  In the future, the intent is to bring it to 150, where it will be capped at that number.

You know what we want you to do!

Take a look at the new list, and cast your votes and offer your opinions.  

As always, we here at Notinhalloffame.com thank you for your support.