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.
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…
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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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?
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.
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.
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.
If you look at the career of Harry Stovey, accumulatively, the offensive statistics seem very good but not Hall of Fame good. 1,775 Hits, 122 Home Runs, and a .288 Batting Average don't stand out, but another look shows that is not the case at all.
A master of the changeup, Cole Hamels was in the hunt for an extended period of time as one of the top southpaws in Baseball. Hamels was taken in the First Round of the 2002 Draft (17th Overall) by Philadelphia, and he worked his way to the rotation in 2006 with a decent rookie year (9-8, 4.08 ERA). The southpaw went to his first All-Star Game as a sophomore (15-5. 3.39 ERA) while also securing his first of four top-ten Cy Young finishes. There was no All-Star for Hamels in 2008, but that was likely his most fulfilling season in Baseball. Hamels had another…
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.
Dustin Pedroia debuted in 2006 with the Red Sox two seasons after being drafted in the second round, and it did not take him long to prove that he belonged in the upper tier of American League players. Playing at Second Base, Pedroia was still considered a rookie in 2007, and he would win the Rookie of the Year award with a .317 Batting Average and 165 Hits. That season, he helped the BoSox win the World Series, and Pedroia was cemented as a nationally known baseball star. Pedroia had an even better 2008, winning the AL MVP, leasing the…
As much as we keep studying Baseball, we can’t help but be amazed by the staggering amount of innings pitched by the pre-1900 hurlers. Would they look at us with a puzzled look if we went back in time and suggested a “pitch count”?
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.
The start of Vada Pinson’s career showed promise of a Hall of Fame career as he was a five-tool baseball player. So just how does a player who had this much promise, still compile over 2,700 hits and yet have what was considered a journeyman career?