Baseball
Established in 1936, and currently based in Cooperstown, New York, the Baseball Hall of Fame may be the most prestigious of any Sports Hall of Fame. Although Baseball may have taken a backseat to Football in recent years, there is no doubt that Baseball’s version of the Hall of Fame is by far the most relevant and the most difficult to get enshrined in. At present, a player has to receive seventy five percent of the votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America, which has proven to be no easy task. Failing that, a player could be inducted by the Veterans committee, though few have been inducted this way. Our list will focus on the players only, and although we could easily do a tally focusing on mangers, broadcasters or other vital personnel, as always it is far more enjoyable to discuss the merits of those on the field as oppose to those off of it.Until Then, Let’s get some peanuts and cracker jacks and cast some votes of our own!
Sincerely,
The Not in Hall of Committee.
Cy Williams entered Notre Dame, having only played in a handful of baseball games. He left them as an accomplished player whom the Chicago Cubs signed after he finished school. Williams joined the Cubs right away (1912), and a few years later, he was a regular in the Outfield. Williams won the Home Run Title in 1916 (12), but he was a defensive liability and was viewed as expendable. He was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1918, and it turned out to be a lopsided transaction in the Phillies' favor. The Baker Bowl, where the Phillies played, fit the strength of Williams,…
Ellis Burks compiled a much better career than you might initially realize. Beginning with the Boston Red Sox in 1987, Burks became their starting Centerfielder and, as a rookie, was a 20-20 player. As a member of the Red Sox, Burks had his best year in 1990, when he went to his first All-Star Game and was a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger recipient. Burks hit 21 Home Runs that year and finished 13th in MVP voting. After an injury-plagued 1992 season, he signed with the Chicago White Sox for one season and joined the Colorado Rockies the year after. In the mountains,…
George Mullin spent the first 11 years and change of his career with the Detroit Tigers, and while he is not one of the most well-known hurlers in Major League history, he was a major cog in the machine that was the Detroit Tigers in the late 1900s. From 1905 to 1910, Mullin went five for six in terms of 20-Win seasons, leading the American League in Wins in 1909 with 29. The Tigers won the American League three years in a row (1907-09), and while he and Detroit could not win the Fall Classic, Mullin had a 1.86 ERA in…
Roger Peckinpaugh was, without question, one of the greatest defensive players of his day, and you could go a step further and state that he was one of the best with the glove ever. The Shortstop played for the Cleveland Naps when he debuted in the Majors, but he was not a starter for the team on Lake Erie. Peckinpaugh was traded to the New York Yankees in 1913, and by the next season, his glove put him on the baseball map. In eleven seasons, Peckinpaugh was in the top seven in Defensive bWAR, and he would lead the AL in that…
Brett Gardner spent his entire 14-year career in the Majors playing with the New York Yankees. He displayed impressive advanced metrics, exceptional plate discipline, and deceptive speed on the field. Gardner's role as a "glue" guy on the team made him an unsung hero to knowledgeable fans. He earned numerous accolades throughout his career, including an All-Star appearance in 2015, a Gold Glove in 2016, and a Wilson Defensive Player Award. However, his most prized achievement is his 2009 World Series Ring. Fans of the Yankees were well aware of Gardner's talents and he amassed 1,470 Hits, 139 Home Runs,…
“Happy” Jack Stivetts made his big league debut back in 1889 for the American Association's St. Louis Browns. It was an exciting rookie year: he finished with a 12-7 record but led the league in ERA (2.25), ERA+ (186), FIP (2.93), WHIP (1.153), and SO/BB (2.10). In theory, that was his best year, but Stivetts had a lot more statistical accomplishments. Stivetts was with the Browns for two more years, posting records of 27-21 and 33-22, which were more than decent in an era when pitchers were few and far between in the starting rotation. Stivetts would join the Boston Beaneaters in…
Mark Belanger wasn't a great hitter, but his fans never claimed that he was. What Belanger did well, and perhaps better than anyone other than Ozzie Smith, was play defense, and when you play at Shortstop, you can't ask for much more. Belanger first cracked the Orioles’ roster in 1965, but it was not until 1968 that he was Baltimore's starting Shortstop. The O's knew they had a really good defensive player, but his hitting could be a liability, though it was not until the 80s that good-hitting Shortstops became a viable possibility for many teams. Still, in the 1970 ALCS, Belanger batted…
Del Pratt had a great rookie campaign in 1912, where the then St. Louis Brown had 172 Hits and a .302 Batting Average. The Second Baseman continued to do well, recording at least 159 Hits with 26 Stolen Bases and finishing first in Runs Batted In (103) in 1916. That was a good initial run, but all was not well in the city of St. Louis. The Second Baseman had a poor 1917, and the Browns’ owner, Phil Ball, suggested that Pratt and other Browns players were deliberately playing badly with the hope of being traded. Ball suggested pay cuts for those players. Incensed…
Lave Cross was a very good baseball player for his day, but because he bounced around so much, his 2,651 career Hits, then fifth-most all time, are largely forgotten. Cross played for nine different teams in four different leagues (American Association, Players League, National League & American League), with Philadelphia being represented in all four! Also playing for St. Louis, Washington, Louisville, Cleveland, and Brooklyn, and had thirteen 130 Hit years, batting .292 overall. Defensively, Cross usually played at Third Base, though he was exceptionally versatile, and he easily played at Catcher and the Outfield. He finished in the top ten in…
The claim can be made (and we will be among those who make it) that Steve Rogers was the greatest Pitcher in franchise history when the Washington Nationals were in Montreal as the Expos. Rogers played his entire career with the Expos (1973-85), and he got off to a great start as the runner-up for the Rookie of the Year. The Expos were not a good team in the 70s, and he twice led the National League in Losses, but most of that could not be put on his shoulders. Rogers, who was an All-Star in 1974, was again one in 1978…
Cecil Cooper is mostly known for his work with the Milwaukee Brewers, but the First Baseman had a very healthy career in the Majors beyond what he accomplished in the state of Wisconsin. Cooper began his Major League run with the Boston Red Sox, where the First Baseman was a star on the rise who helped the Red Sox win the American League Pennant in 1976. The Red Sox traded him for George Scott, and with all due respect to Scott, it was Milwaukee who won the trade. With the Brewers, Cooper played 11 seasons and was an All-Star in five…
Bob Friend played most of his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1951-63), where he quietly had one of the better decades of the National League's Pitchers. Friend cracked the Majors in 1951, but it was not until 1955 that he proved himself as a bona fide Starting Pitcher. While his record was only 14-9, he led the NL in ERA (2.83) and bWAR for Pitchers (6.0). Over the next three seasons, Friend was a workhorse leasing the league in Games Started in the first three years and Innings Pitched in the first two. The three-time All-Star had his most decorated season in 1958,…
One of the early stars of Chicago baseball was Outfielder Jimmy Ryan, who played for the Cubs back when they were called the White Stockings and the Colts. Oh, and also when they were the Orphans. He was also with the Chicago Pirates of the Players’ League. Simply put, if you went to a professional baseball game in Chicago from 1885 to 1900, you saw Jimmy Ryan play. Ryan was a consistent hitter throughout his career, and in this dead-ball era, he had quite a bit of power. The Outfielder led the National League in Home Runs in 1888 (16), and he was also…
Babe Herman made his first appearance in the Majors with the Brooklyn Robins, and it was there that he established himself as one of the better power hitters in the National League. Herman played for the Robins for six seasons, and he batted over .300 in five of them, including a .393 season in 1931, which remains a franchise record. That season, he had career-highs in Home Runs (35), Runs Batted In (130), and Slugging Percentage (.678). Herman would later lead the NL in Triples (19) in a season with the Cincinnati Reds, and he also played for the Chicago Cubs and…
You could argue that Al Orth took a workmanlike approach to the craft of Pitching as he made the most of his control and ability to change speeds effortlessly.
When you look through the pages of New York Yankee lore, you don’t see enough on Gil McDougald, who played in the infield for the Bronx Bombers throughout the 1950s. It should, as the five-time All-Star, be a large part of their success of the decade. McDougald played all ten of his seasons for the Yankees, first debuting in 1951, winning the American League Rookie of the Year award, and helping the Bronx Bombers win the World Series. The Yanks and McDougald won the next two titles, and McDougald was a consistent player on the squad. The infielder helped the Yankees win…
Baseball fans know what Harvey Haddix is mostly known for. In 1959, in a game against the Milwaukee Braves, Haddix pitched 12 perfect innings before losing in the 13th after an error, an intentional walk, and a home run. Despite the loss, nobody had ever pitched 12 perfect innings before, and nobody has ever done it since. It is perhaps one of the most incredible performances ever by a hurler. Haddix was a lot more than that game. The lefthander broke into the Majors with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1952 for nine Games, and in the year after, he began…
Tony Phillips never made an All-Star team, and he only had one year in which he received MVP votes (16th in 1995). Yet, here we have a player worth talking about among some of those worth a Hall of Fame look. What Phillips did well was get on base. He twice led the league in Walks (1993 & 1996), and he was a key contributor in Oakland's 1989 World Series win. Phillips accumulated 2,023 career Hits with 160 Home Runs and was also a league-leader in Runs Scored in 1992. Defensively, he was versatile, able to play in the Outfield, Second, or Third, and do…
Magglio Ordonez proved to be a very good hitter over his fifteen-year career, with 2,156 Hits, a .308 career Batting Average, a Batting Title in 2007, and had good power numbers with three Silver Slugger Awards and a career Slugging Average over .500. In 2007, Ordonez was the runner-up for the American League MVP Award, and he went to six All-Star games. He was a good player for a long time, but his career bWAR of 38.5, while decent, is not indicative of Hall of Fame candidacy by today’s standards.