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.
From rural Oklahoma, Harry Brecheen took a while to make his mark in the Majors.
Joe Judge played the vast majority of his career with the Washington Senators, where he was one of the best First Baseman of the American League during his era.
From the Dominican Republic, Pedro Guerrero brought his bat to the National League, playing mostly with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
George Mullin played the first eleven years and change of his career with the Detroit Tigers, and while he is not one of the most known hurlers in Major League history, he was a massive cog in the machine that was the Detroit Tigers in the late 1900s.
Tony Phillips never made an All-Star team, and he only had one year where he received votes for an MVP (16th in 1995). Yet, here we have a player worth talking about among some of those worth a Hall of Fame look.
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.
Lave Cross was a very good baseball player for his day, but because he bounced around so much, his 2,651 career Hits, which was fifth all-time at the time of his retirement, is 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…
Babe Herman made his first appearance in the Majors with the Brooklyn Robins, and it was there where he established himself as one of the better power hitters in the National League.
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.
Mort Cooper must have felt like he had arm trouble his entire career, and if that was the case, it was because it was true.
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 good player for a long time but his career bWAR of 38.5, while decent, is not really indicative of a Hall of Fame inductee by today’s standards.
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 when they were the Colts. Oh, and also when they were the Orphans. He also was 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.
YANKEE STADIUM PREGAME TOUR
Jan 01, 1970
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PREGAME GLIMPSE OF GREATNESS
Jan 01, 1970
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CLASSIC TOUR AT YANKEE STADIUM
Jan 01, 1970
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TOURS: TRUIST PARK
Jan 01, 1970
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Chet Lemon split his career with the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers, and over his career, the Centerfielder's main calling card was a dependable defense with underrated offensive skill.
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.
Herman Long had 1,096 Errors over his career, which is more than anyone else. It is an unbreakable record, but he did that in a time where errors were more easily given, and he was a player who was fearless in doing what was needed to stop the ball from getting past the infield. This means that Long had incredible range, and his Defensive bWAR was very good, so despite the Errors, we have one of the best defensive players of his day.
Dick Groat was one of the greatest college athletes ever at Duke University, where he was so good at both basketball and baseball that he is in both of those sports colligate Halls of Fame. Professionally, Groat opted to play baseball…well at first anyway.
Davey Lopes made his first appearance in the Majors with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1972, where the Second Baseman would quietly showcase himself as one of the better infielders of the decade.
Toby Harrah can make a claim as the greatest baseball player whose last name is a palindrome.