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.
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.
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.
Marty Marion won the NL 1944 MVP based primarily on his leadership and fielding skills as opposed to anything he did with his lumber. His victory is certainly a reminder that there is a lot more to baseball than sexy offensive stats.
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.
If you win the Triple Crown in Baseball should be considered somewhat immortal right? Well, if you do in the age before film and before Home Runs meant anything, that accomplishment becomes a hidden accolade.
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.
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.
It is often the case for various Halls of Fame to discriminate based on the likeability of the candidate. Carl Mays was not necessarily the most liked player in his day, and his brushes with controversy probably pushed Mays on the opposite side of the bubble.
It seemed like Bobby Bonds was always in someone’s shadow. As a kid breaking into the Giants he shared an outfield with Willie Mays. In his final years, he remained a talented pro but was regulated to journeyman status bouncing around the league. Currently, he is Barry’s father. We prefer to think of him as one of the early prototypes to the modern baseball athlete.
Hoyt Wilhelm generally receives credit for being the game’s first great reliever. History may eventually show that Wilhelm was not the only prototype for relievers as Roy Face deserves to be considered in that discussion too.
Maury Wills did not make the Major Leagues until he was 26 years old yet still managed to rack up over 2,000 hits in his career. What numbers would he have put up if he cracked a big league roster earlier and would it have been enough to make him a member of the Hall of Fame?
What more would Thurman Munson have accomplished had he not been killed in a plane crash on August 2, 1979? We will never know but prior to his untimely death, Munson’s accomplishments on the diamond were already sizable.
Considered by baseball historians to be the best Third Baseman of the Deadball Era, Heinie Groh quietly won two World Series Rings; one controversially with the Reds in 1919 and another with the Giants in 1922. It was in Cincinnati that Groh had his best seasons, where he twice led the National League in On Base Percentage and was a hit and run machine. He was also considered amongst the best defensive player at his position in his era. This has garnered Heinie Groh a second look from a lot of modern baseball pundits as though his traditional accumulative stats…
One of the main staples of this website is to discuss the overlooked. We certainly are not the only ones to do this, as other websites and blogs discuss those who they feel are Hall of Fame worthy, but no matter how you slice it, it is hard to find anyone with more HOF credentials that has been completely abandoned than George Van Haltren.
What a year 1988 was for Orel Hershiser. He didn’t just win the Cy Young that year, getting better to the point of being unstoppable as the season wound down. He broke Don Drysdale’s consecutive scoreless innings record to end the regular season than went on to win three games in the post season (including one save) and propelled the Dodgers to a World Series win and won the World Series MVP in the process. What a year!
While Bobby Abreu is not considered by many to be a Hall of Fame baseball player, the fact remains that he is a very patient hitter with a high On Base Percentage who was a master of working the pitcher’s count. He would finish his career a shade under 60 bWAR and 2,500 Hits and had a much better career than the average baseball fan realized.
For over a decade, Mark Buehrle was either considered an ace or a player close to the top of the rotation. Five times, Buehrle was named an All-Star and is a member of the 200 Win club, a number that is becoming more elusive all of the time. A finesse pitcher with a wide arsenal to use, Buehrle’s best season was in 2005 where he finished 5th in Cy Young voting and helped the Chicago White Sox win the World Series.
Talk about being forgotten. Darrell Evans is one of the few eligible players to hit more than 400 Home Runs and not get elected to the Hall of Fame. He actually never made it past the first ballot. He only made the All-Star Team twice. He was a great fielder but Mike Schmidt won all the Gold Gloves at third. He won a World Series with Detroit but was overshadowed by Whitaker, Trammell, Morris, and Hernandez. A lot of this may have happened because he had a lifetime Batting Average of .248.