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.
Andy Pettitte took PEDs and apologized for it. He was forgiven by not just the fans of the New York Yankees but baseball fans in general. That fact (an important one) makes him the most intriguing candidate for this year as his contriteness might make him Hall of Fame worthy. Still, if the PED issue is not a factor, is Andy Pettitte a HOF contender? Let’s take a look!
The man called “Superchief” was one of the great right handed pitchers of the New York Yankees. Allie Reynolds was the first man to toss two no-hitters in a season in the American League though that was just a small sample of what he accomplished.
Will Clark is a justifiable member of the Mississippi Sports and College Baseball Hall of Fame but it looks like the big one in Cooperstown will elude him as he failed to get past his first year of eligibility. A look at his career makes you wonder why he couldn’t get past that elusive first ballot.
Luckily for Sherry Magee there was no YouTube in 1911, otherwise, all that would ever be replayed of him would be time he decked an umpire with one punch following a called third strike. Of course he played in the 1900s and 1910’s so it isn’t like there is any footage on YouTube of him at all.
In the National Hockey League, anyone who has won the MVP is almost a lock to enter the Hall of Fame. In Major League Baseball (Kevin Mitchell, Willie Hernandez, and Jeff Burroughs)…well, not so much. Jeff Kent is a former National League MVP, and has a very good set of career statistics, yet when you say his name, the words Hall of Fame don’t automatically come to mind.
Al Oliver came to the league in 1969 as a line-drive hitter and for eighteen years consistently smacked the ball for hits. He had over 2,700 hits in his career, and despite not being a genuine power hitter, he had a plethora of RBI’s.
A converted third baseman, Bucky Walters took the mound later in his career but once he did he made up for the lost time. Walters would even win the MVP for his pitching prowess and was one of the rare hurlers who could be used often as a pinch hitter.
One of two things could happen when you play with a collection of superstars. Either you get lost in the shuffle or you become incorrectly elevated among them. Neither was the case for the Dave Concepcion who became nationally known playing alongside Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench, and Tony Perez, but deserved the attention that came with it.
With a magical season, a pair of exceptional ones, and a few very good ones, Ron Guidry had an excellent career in Baseball all with the Yankees. Theoretically, “Louisiana Lightning” did everything you want to accomplish in a career as he won the Cy Young Award (and was in the hunt for a few others) and won the World Series, which he did twice. However the knock on Guidry, is that he was only a full-time player for nine seasons, and though he does have one of the most impressive winning percentages in Baseball, his longevity is questioned in regards…
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Regardless of the era, it is an impressive feat to be a key member of Chicago's rotation for a decade. The Chicago White Sox may not have won a World Series in the ’50s, but they were a good team and much of the success they did have, was through a big part of the pitching of Billy Pierce.
Another forgotten star in the pre Babe Ruth era was Larry Doyle who was easily amongst the most likable players of his era. Not only was he a natural favorite, but he was also one of the most consistent players too.
Omar Vizquel was considered one of the best defensive Shortstops of all time, earning eleven Gold Gloves and posting a career Defensive bWAR that is ranked in the top ten time.
In the late 70’s Hall of Fame pitcher, Don Sutton famously noted that Steve Garvey was not the best player on the Dodgers, it was Reggie Smith. Garvey may have been the most popular, but Sutton was not alone in his assessment of Reggie Smith.
If the main criteria for the Hall is perseverance and effort then Rusty Staub should have been a first ballot Hall of Famer. His hard work resulted in over 2,700 hits in a Major League career that many people who saw him early on would never have pegged him for an amount that high.
If you look at the Wikipedia article on Albert Belle you will find that the section on his controversies is longer than his accomplishments. He fought with sportswriters, with fans, with other players and his temper was legendary. So was his prowess with a bat.
Baseball Players are notorious for being superstitious. We really don’t know if Bret Saberhagen consulted the Psychic Friends Network, but it always seemed curious that he performed significantly better in years that ended in odd numbers than he did in even ones.
We admit we made a mistake not ranking Bernie Williams last year. Were we rebelling against a Yankee bias, or was it that we just considered him just not good enough? Regardless, that is the beauty of Baseball is that you can easily reevaluate what you may have missed the first time. Lord knows it happens all the time during the actual balloting process for the Hall of Fame.
For a seven-year period, Johan Santana was regarded was regarded as one of the top Pitchers in Baseball, where he won the American League Cy Young Award Twice, winning the ERA Title three times and leading his league in WHIP four years in a row.
Felix Hernandez played his entire MLB career with the Seattle Mariners, the team where he would become the "King" of the Pacific Northwest and all of Baseball. “King Felix” made his first appearance in the Majors in 2005, and after showing gradual improvement over his first few seasons, Hernandez took the throne in 2009, leading the American League in Wins (19), H/9 (7.5), and finishing second in Cy Young voting. Hernandez was better in 210, winning the Cy Young, with a league-leading 2.27 ERA and 7.0 H/9, while also finishing atop the leaderboard in Innings Pitched (249.2). Hernandez would not win…