The Toy Hall of Fame has announced their Class of 2017, which comprises Clue, the Wiffle Ball and the paper airplane. These three beat out the other finalists of Risk, Magic 8 Ball, Matchbox cars, My Little Pony, PEZ candy dispenser, play food, sand, Transformers and Uno.

The board game of Clue was first adopted in the United Kingdom after World War II. In addition to selling millions of games worldwide the game was adapted into a film.

The Wiffle Ball was created nearly sixty years ago by an American looking to slow down the speed of a regular baseball. Millions of balls each year are manufactured.

The origin of the paper airplane is unclear though it is believed to be dating back to the 15th Century. It is likely to still be built by young minds in the next five hundred years.

The Toy Hall of Fame is part of the Strong Museum in Rochester, New York. The Hall has been in existence since 1998.

The “Hall of Fame” season is really amping up. The Baseball Hall of Fame Modern Era Committee has announced the ten finalists for consideration. This new Committee covers those who participated from 1970 to 1987.

The nominees are:

Steve Garvey: Ranked #31 on Notinhalloffame.com. Garvey was a ten time All Star and was named the 1974 National League MVP. He accumulated 2,599 Hits with a .294 Batting Average with 272 Home Runs. He was on the ballot for the fifteen full years finishing as high as 42.6 %.

Tommy John: Ranked #16 on Notinhalloffame.com. John won 283 Games and is a four time All Star. A two-time Cy Young runner-up, John had 2,245 Strikeouts over his career. He was on the ballot for fifteen years peaking at 31.7% on his final year of eligibility.

Don Mattingly: Ranked #54 on Notinhalloffame.com. Playing his entire career with the New York Yankees, Mattingly was the American League MVP in 1985. Mattingly went to six All Star Games and had a career Batting Average of .307 with 222 Home Runs. He would also win the 1984 Batting Title. He was on the ballot for fifteen years with a high of 28.2% in his first year of eligibility.

Marvin Miller: The head of the Players Association from 1966 to 1982, salaries skyrocketed under his tenure.

Jack Morris: Ranked #11 on Notinhalloffame.com. Morris would win 254 Games and is a four time World Series Champion. He was on the ballot for fifteen years and came very close with a 67.7% finish in his fourteenth year.

Dale Murphy: Ranked #42 on Notinhalloffame.com. In a career spent mostly with Atlanta, Murphy was a back-to-back MVP winner (1982 & 1983) and blasted 398 Home Runs. He was a five time All Star. On the ballot for fifteen years, Murphy peaked at 23.2% in 2000.

Dave Parker: Ranked #28 on Notinhalloffame.com. “The Cobra” was the 1978 National League MVP and hit 339 Home Runs over his career. He was also a two time World Series Champion. He was on the ballot for fifteen years and finished as high as 24.5% in his second year of eligibility.

Ted Simmons: Ranked #14 on Notinhalloffame.com. Simmons was an eight time All Star and one of the top Catchers of his day. He was only on the ballot for one year where he finished with 3.7% of the ballot.

Luis Tiant: Ranked #44 on Notinhalloffame.com. Tiant was known mostly for his time in Boston and he was a three time All Star with 229 career Wins. He was on the ballot for fifteen years and finished as high as 30.9, which occurred in his first year of eligibility.

Alan Trammell: Ranked #12 on Notinhalloffame.com. Trammell played his entire career with the Detroit Tigers and was a six time All Star. Trammell had 2,365 Hits and was the 1984 World Series MVP. He was on the ballot for fifteen years and finished with 40.9% on the ballot in his last year of eligibility.

It will be very interesting to see if any of these names will get in. To be chosen, a candidate must receive 75% of the 16 member vote.

While we do not rank those who are not in the Songwriters Hall of Fame, we have always felt that it is an institution worth covering. As such it is significant news to us that Finalists have been announced.

Let’s get right to the nominees shall we?

Mariah Carey: Carey co-wrote 17 of her 18 number one hits. Nobody has more charttoppers than Carey.

Tracy Chapman: Chapman is a very acclaimed singer/songwriter mostly known for hit, “Fast Car”.

Jimmy Cliff: An induction for Cliff would help represent the sparse reggae genre.

Alice Cooper: Cooper was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a few years ago.

Tom T. Hall: Hall wrote 11 number one Country songs, though he did not perform all of them.

Chrissie Hynde: The lead singer of the Pretenders is also in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Isley Brothers: The Isley Brothers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

Alan Jackson: Jackson entered the Country Music Hall of Fame last year and has sold 80 million albums world wide. He had 35 number one hits on the Country Charts.

Kool & The Gang: The group had two number one hits in R&B and eleven top ten hits on that chart.

John Mellencamp: Mellencamp is also in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

N.W.A.: Following Jay-Z’s induction as the first rapper to the Hall, N.W.A. could be the second. They have already been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Tom Waits: Waits entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.

The non-performing nominees are:

Bill Anderson: Anderson wrote thirty-six songs that went to the top ten on the Country Charts including seven number ones.

1. Russell Brown and Irwin Levine: The songwrtiers wrote many hits for Tony Orlando & Dawn and the Four Seasons.

Mike Chapman: Chapman wrote hit songs for The Sweet, Suzi Quatro and Tina Turner.

Steve Dorff: A Country music songwriter.

Jermaine Dupri: Dupri co-wrote may hits for Mariah Carey and Usher.

Kye Fleming and Dennis Morgan: The duo would be successful in the Country Music genre throughout the 1970’s and 80’s.

Randy Goodrum: Goodrum was a successful songwriter in both the Pop and Country genre.

Tony Macaulay: Macaulay songwriting took place predominantly in the 1970’s in England.

Denny Randell and Sandy Linzer: The pair have been very successful in songwriting in pop and R&B.

Maurice Starr: Starr is best known for producing and writing songs for New Edition and New Kids on the Block.

 

William “Mickey” Stevenson: Stevenson worked for Motown in the early days and wrote or co-wrote many songs such as “Dancing in the Street” (Martha & The Vandellas), “Devil With the Blue Dress” and Uptight (Stevie Wonder).

Allee Willis: Willis wrote many pop songs including “Neutron Dance” (The Pointer Hits), “September” and “Boogie Wonderland” (Earth, Wind & Fire) and “I’ll Be There for You” (The Rembrandts).

To be eligible for the Songwriters Hall of Fame you must have written hit songs at least twenty years ago.

Six songwriters or groups will be chosen.

It is a very sad day for many baseball fans.

Hours ago, former Pitcher Roy Halladay passed away in a plane crash. Halladay was flying his single-engine plane over the Gulf of Mexico and was the only one in the aircraft. He was only 40 years old.

A two-time Cy Young Award winner, Halladay would win that coveted award in both leagues. Splitting his career between the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies, Halladay retired in 2013 with a record of 203 and 105 with 2,117 Strikeouts. An eight time All Star, he pitched a perfect game in 2010 and followed up with a no-hitter in the post season.

Halladay is eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends and family of Roy Halladay.