Committee Chairman

Paul Konerko Retiring

Sep 27, 2014

Amidst the hoopla (which is warranted by the way) of Derek Jeter’s impending retirement, a pretty good slugger in Chicago is about to call it a career as well.

Chicago White Sox First Baseman, Paul Konerko will end his career this weekend after spending sixteen of his eighteen seasons in the Windy City. Konerko was known primarily for his power, as he belted 439 Home Runs in his career, potent numbers by any standards. He also eclipsed the 2,000 Hit mark, has a more than respectable Career Slash Line of .279/.354/.487 and represent the White Sox in six All Star Games. He also was a big part in the White Sox last World Series win in 2005, where he was named the MVP of the ALCS. This is a good resume but one that has far too many holes in his resume to be a serious Hall of Fame candidate.

The advanced metric of bWAR shows that Konerko only has a career bWAR of 28.3, which is far too low by the modern standard set for Hall of Fame players. The slugger hit into far too many Double Plays (16th All-Time) was a poor in the field and a horrific base runner. Konerko is likely to be “one and done” on the ballot when eligible in 2020, but receiving the ultimate honor in Chicago seems very likely.

Jerry Reinsdorf, has already stated “of course it will be retired” in regards to the retirement of his number 14. Konerko is second all time in White Sox history in Home Runs and RBIs behind Frank Thomas, and as a former Captain of the team, the regard he is held in White Sox land is certainly high.

Should that occur, Konerko will be the tenth player to receive this accolade from the White Sox organization.

We would like to thank Paul Konerko for the long ball memories and the class he showed through out his career.

Derek Jeter: Cooperstown 2020

Sep 27, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

Unless you have been hiding in a cave (and even then you probably know) this is Derek Jeter’s final weekend in the Major Leagues. A thousand articles have been written extolling the virtues of Jeter, who by every account (even in Boston) should be a lock to enter the Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot, which incidentally would be in 2020. So what is it that we could possibly write that hasn’t been written before?

The answer is nothing, so let’s recap a few things that again, you probably already know.

We have read that Cooperstown may expect a record attendance of over 100,000 people, eclipsing the mark set in 2006 when Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken which drew 80,000. With the proximity of Yankees fans in the state of New York, would it really shock anyone?

We have watched Jeter in commercials for years, compete drug free in an era where Performance Enhancing Drugs ran rampant in the sport, and lead the New York Yankees to five World Series Championships. He is as statistically sound as they come; sixth all time in Hits, a career Slash Line of .309/.377/.440, 260 Home Runs, 1,310 RBIs, 358 Stolen Bases, 1,923 Runs Scored and a bWAR of 71.7.

You also know that the man called “Mr. November” or “Mr. Clutch” is rightfully named. What has impressed us the most is that Jeter’s Post Season slash line of .308/.374/.465 over 158 Games is almost identical to his regular season numbers. Think about that Jeter has had a better post season than most players have seasons!

There has never been a player who was a unanimous selection for the Baseball Hall of Fame, and though some have speculated that Jeter could be the first, it won’t happen. There have been too many writers who have been open about submitting empty ballots out of protest over the PED era. Even before the steroids era, surefire Hall of Famers with even higher credentials than Jeter did not “Bat 1.000” with the voters.

Saying all that, it is not a time to nitpick about the procedures of those who decide Cooperstown (we have plenty of articles about that). This is the tie to celebrate number 2, Yankee fan or not.

12 Finalists for the Toy HOF Announced

Sep 26, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

The Toy Hall of Fame may never be one that we will focus on with a Notinhalloffame list, but it is one that we pay attention to whenever they make an announcement. The Hall, which is located in Rochester, New York, announced their twelve Finalists for their Class of 2014, two of which will be selected on November 6th.

The twelve finalists are certainly diverse and will evoke many childhood memories from differing generations. The finalists are:

American Girl Dolls
Bubbles
Fisher-Price Little People
Hess Gas Station Toy Trucks
Little Green Army Men
My Little Pony
Operation
Paper Airplanes
Pots and Pans
Rubik’s Cube
Slip ‘N Slide
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Toys

The Toy Hall of Fame first came into existence in 1998 and currently has 51 Inductees. Is this a Hall that you have an opinion on?

Montreal Alouettes to retire Anthony Calvillo's Number

Sep 25, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

We will be unveiling in the near future a look at each North American sports franchise and they handle retired numbers, franchise Halls of Fame etc. Admittedly, this will not include that of the Canadian Football League, but this was a retired number we could not ignore commenting on.

On October 13, the Montreal Alouettes will retire the number 13 of Anthony Calvillo at their next home game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders. This has been a poorly kept secret, as this had long been suspected, though has only been confirmed today. Calvillo is the holder of every major passing record in Canadian Football League history.

Calvillo played at Utah State, setting school records for the Aggies and took them to winning the Big West Conference and a win over Ball State in the Las Vegas Bowl. The NFL did not show any interest in the pivot, but he was able to latch on to the Las Vegas Posse in the Canadian Football League. The Posse, like all American expansion teams in the CFL, did not succeed, and was picked up by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Dispersal Draft. Calvillo did not receive much playing time as Hamilton had Matt Dunigan, but in 1998 his fortunes would change as he signed on with the Montreal Alouettes as a Free Agent.

Year after year, Calvillo’s numbers increased and he would throw for 5,000 Yards seven times. Not only would he shatter the CFL Passing record, he would become the all time leading passer in Professional Football. He would win the CFL Most Outstanding Player Award three times, helm Montreal to win the Grey Cup three times and makes a claim as the greatest Quarterback all time in the Canadian Football League.

Anthony Calvillo becomes the tenth man to have his number retired by the Montreal Alouettes.