As most of the regular visitors to Notinhalloffame.com are aware we are (very) slowly putting together our top 50 players of every franchise in the “Big 4” of North American sports.  After that is completed we will take a look at how each organization honors their past players and executives.  

As such, it is important to note that the Minnesota Twins have announced that they will retire the number 7 of Joe Mauer, who retired at the end of the 2018 season after playing all 15 of his seasons with the team.

Joe Mauer first suited up for the Twins in 2004 and in 2006 he would breakthrough with a Batting Title (.347) won his first Silver Slugger and went to his first All Star Game.  Already establishing himself as the best hitting Catcher in the American League, Mauer went on a three year tear (2008-10) where each year he was an All Star, a Silver Slugger, a Gold Glove winner and won two Batting Titles and was named the American League MVP in 2009 and in the other two years he was a top ten finisher in the MVP race.  Mauer would switch to First Base and would go on to two more All Star Games at that position (2012 & 2013).

He retires with 2,123 Hits, a Slash Line of .306/.388/.439 and a bWAR of 55.2.

Mauer joins Harmon Killebrew #3, Tony Oliva #6, Tom Kelly #10, Kent Hrbek #14, Bert Blyleven #28, Rod Carew #29, Kirby Puckett #34 and the league retired #42 of Jackie Robinson.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Joe Mauer Middleton for earning this very prestigious honor.

For all intents and purposes, this is our Christmas morning.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced their Class of 2019 and there was little surprise with who got chosen as Radiohead, Stevie Nicks, Janet Jackson, Roxy Music, Def Leppard, The Cure and The Zombies were chosen.

Radiohead enters on their second year of eligibility. Nominated last year as well, we suspect that when they announced last year they could not attend the ceremony due to commitments on tour in South America that the committee decided to delay the inevitable by a year.

Def Leppard is no surprise as they easily won the fan vote keeping the streak alive as every fan vote winner has been ushered in.  This was their first nomination.

Stevie Nicks makes history as the first woman to be a double inductee.  She was previously inducted with Fleetwood Mac.  

Janet Jackson enters on her third nomination.  It has been speculated that without Les Moonves wielding his influence against her (over Nipplegate) that this should be her year.  It is, and she joins her brothers into the Rock Hall.

The selection of the Cure opens up a glut of future inductions for early 80’s Alternative bands such as New Order and Depeche Mode.

Roxy Music enters on our their first nomination, though they have been eligible for nearly twenty years.

The Zombies, who have been nominated before finally enter after being eligible for more than 25 years. 

The biggest surprise in terms of who did not get in has to be Todd Rundgren, but the fact that he was nominated bodes well for a future induction. Kraftwerk, MC5, Rufus & Chaka Khan, Devo, Rage Against the Machine, LL Cool J and John Prine.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the newest class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and we will begin work on a new and revised list!

The Baseball Hall of Fame will have two new members as the Today’s Game Committee have elected Harold Baines and Lee Smith.

Over a 22 year career, Baines collected 2,866 Hits with 384 Home Runs and 1,628 RBI. Primarily a Designated Hitter, Baines was with the Chicago White Sox for 14 of those years and he was a five time All Star.  He also played for Baltimore, Texas, Oakland and Cleveland.  The selection of Baines bodes well for future Designated Hitters. 

Lee Smith recorded 478 Saves, leading his respective lad in that four times and at the time of his retirement he was first all-time in Saves.  Unlike Baines who was only on the Hall of Fame ballot for six years, Smith lasted the entire fifteen years on his initial eligibility. 

Smith received all 16 votes and Baines got the minimum 12 votes needed for election. Lou Piniella just missed with 11 votes. 

The selection of Baines is turning heads in some circles as he never was never a strong MVP candidate.  He never had a bWAR over 4.2 and if there was a Hall of Very Good, Baines would be the perfect selection.  Jerry Reinsdorf, who was his owner when he was with the White Sox, is on that committee and he allegedly lobbied hard for this induction.  Baines also had other ties with Pat Gillick (former GM), Roberto Alomar (former teammate) and Tony LaRussa (former Manager).  This one will be debated for years to come.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Lee Smith and Harold Baines for this honor.

It is a sad day in the world of music as it was announced today that Pete Shelley passed away at the age of 63 in home in Estonia.  It is expected at this time the cause of death was from a heart attack.

Shelley rose to prominence as the leader of the Punk/New Wave band, the Buzzcocks who had had some hits in the late 70’s (Orgasm Addict, What Do I Get?) and were one of the more influential groups of their time.  Shelley would have a solo career in the 1980’s, which was punctuated by his top ten U.K. hit “Homosapien”.  The Buzzcocks would reunite in 1989 and have toured off and on since.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like extend our condolences to the friends, family and fans of Pete Shelley at this time.