Just days after the passing of Hall of Fame Pitcher, Tom Seaver, another Cooperstown legend has passed away.

Former St. Louis Cardinals Outfielder, Lou Brock passed away at the age of 81.  There was no specific cause of death, but it was reported that he was fighting numerous ailments.

Brock broke in with the Chicago Cubs in 1961 but was traded to the Cardinals during the 1964 season in a transaction that the Cubs would instantly regret.

The Outfielder went on fire for the rest of the season, and he would be the spark plug of the St. Louis machine that won the 1964 World Series.  Winning another World Series in 1967, Brock led the National League in Runs Scored twice, and Stolen Bases on eight occasions.  The speedster went to six All-Star Games, and was the runner-up for the 1974 NL MVP, in the year he stole a then record 118 Stolen Bases.

Brock retired as the all-time leader in Stolen Bases (938), which would later be broken by Rickey Henderson.  He also accumulated 3,023 career Hits and 149 Home Runs.  He was indicted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985, which was his first year of eligibility.  

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends, fans and family of Lou Brock.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  We have a new one to unveil today, that of the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

The Jaguars have only been in existence since 1995 and while they have not appeared in a Super Bowl, there have been many talented players who have worn their jersey.  

As for all of our top 50 players in football we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in the NFL.

3. Playoff accomplishments.

4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Remember, this is ONLY based on what a player does on that particular team and not what he accomplished elsewhere and also note that we have placed an increased importance on the first two categories.

This list is updated up until the end of the 2019 Season.

The complete list can be found here, but as always we announce our top five in this article.  They are:

1. Jimmy Smith

2. Fred Taylor

3. Tony Boselli

4. Mark Brunell

5. Maurice Jones-Drew

We will continue our adjustments on our existing lists and will continue developing our new lists.  Up next, will be the Dallas Cowboys.

Look for our more material coming soon!

As always we thank you for your support.

Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB.  Once that is done, we intend to look at how each team honor their past players, coaches and executives. Eventually, we are going to get to that of the Division I schools, and conferences.  As such, it is news the University of West Virginia has announced their Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2020.

This group comprises of eleven new members.  Due to COVID-19, there will be no 2020 ceremony, and they will be officially inducted alongside the Class of 2021.

The eleven new members are:

Janae (Cox) Asbury, Women’s Gymnastics 2004-07:  Cox was a three-time First Team All-American and three-time individual qualifier at the NCAA Championship.  Nobody in Mountaineer history has more career Points (2,070.65), and also holds program records in meets (50).

Da’Sean Butler, Men’s Basketball 2007-10:  Butler is third all-time in WVU in Points (2,095), and was a Second Team All-American in 2010.  Averaging 14.3 Points per Game, Butler took the Mountaineers to an NIT Championship in 2007, and a Final Four in 2010.

J.D. Drummonds, Women’s Basketball 1980-81:  Drummonds scored 1,160 Points and averaged 21.0 Points per Game in the 1981 Season, which is second all-time for WVU.  

Jedd Gyorko, Baseball 2008-10:  Playing at Second Base and Shortstop, Gyorko has the school record for Home Runs (35) and Batting Average (.404).  Gyorko was a First Team All-American as a Senior, and he went on to play eight seasons in the Majors.

Dick Leftridge, Football 1963-65:  Leftridge played at Fullback and rushed for 1,701 Yards and 21 Touchdowns.  He helped lead the team to Sothern Conference Championships in 1964 and 1965, and he later played one year as a Pittsburgh Steeler.

John McGrath, Men’s Soccer Coach 1969-95:  McGrath took the Mountaineers to five NCAA Tournaments and had a career record of 202-181-45.

Tony Robertson, Men’s Basketball 1976-77:  Robertson scored 1,026 Points over two years with an 18.0 Points per Game Average.  He would later play two seasons in the NBA.

John Rost, Men’s Rifle 1979-82:  Rost won the NCAA Air Rifle event in 1981 and 1982 and he would later represent the United States at the 1984 Olympics.

Clara (Grandt) Santucci, Women’s Track & Field 2005-10:  Grandt won All-American honors in three different disciplines.  Her specialty was the 10,000 Meter.

Tom Shafer, Baseball 1960-62:  Shafer had a 1.69 ERA over 125 Innings, and he was a First Team All-Southern Conference Selection twice.

Ron Wolfley, Football 1981-84:  Wolfley helped the Mountaineers win three Bowls (1981 Peach, 1983 Hall of Fame and 1984 Bluebonnet) and he rushed for 1,296 Yards and 10 Touchdowns.  He would later earn four Pro Bowls in the NFL.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the eight new members of the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame.

Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB.  Once that is done, we intend to look at how each team honor their past players, coaches and executives. Eventually, we are going to get to that of the Division I schools, and conferences.  As such, it is news to us that the Missouri Valley Conference has announced their Hall of Fame Class of 2021.

This is the 24^thHall of Fame Class for the Conference, and due to COVID-19, there will be no physical ceremony, nor any modern candidate, as all of these inductees are classified as “Veteran Candidates”.

The eight new members are:

Maurice Cheeks, West Texas State, Men’s Basketball, 1974-78: Cheeks started all four years at West Texas State, and was an All-MVC player three times.  He tallied 1,127 Points, and averaged 16.8 Points per Game as a Senior.  Cheeks later had a successful career in the NBA where he was a four-time All-Star, four-time First Team All-Defensive player and was a champion with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1983.  His number was retired by the Sixers and he was named to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.

Joe Greene, North Texas, Football, 1966-68:  Greene was a three-time All-MVC Selection and his squad went a combined 23-5-1 with him on the field.  An All-American in 1968, Greene went on to play professionally for the Pittsburgh Steelers where he was a Rookie of the Year, two-time Defensive Player of the Year, 10-time All-Pro and four-time Super Bowl winner.  Greene is also a member of both the College and Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Clark W. Hetherington, Missouri, Administrator:  Hetherington was the Missouri’s Athletic Director from 1900 to 1910, and helped broker what is now the MVC.

James Naismith, Kansas, Administrator:   Yes, that James Naismith.  Naismith is the man who invented basketball, and was the first coach of the Jayhawks program (1898-1907), and he would later be a Professor at Kansas.  Following his tenure as a Professor, Naismith became their Athletic Director from 1919 to 1937.

Tara Oltman, Creighton, Softball, 2007-10:  Oltman was an All-MVC in all four of her years, and was a three-time MVC Pitcher of the Year.  She holds the conference records for Wins (118), Strikeouts (1,086) and Innings (1,064), and she led the Blue Jays to three NCAA Tournament Appearances.

F. Morgan Taylor, Grinnell, Track & Field, 1926:  Taylor was also an Olympian who won the Gold Medal in the 400-meter hurdles at the 1924 Games in Paris.  Taylor still holds the school record in the long jump.

Tom Thacker, Cincinnati, Men’s Basketball, 1960-63:  Thacker was a starter on Cincinnati’s 1961 and 1962 NCAA Championship Teams, and he was a three-time All-Conference Selection and a Second Team All-American. He would later have a seven-year pro career, winning an NBA Title with Boston and an ABA Title with Indiana. Those titles made Thacker the only player to win a title in the NCAA, NBA and ABA.

Connie Yori, Creighton, Women’s Basketball, 1982-86 & Coach (1992-02):  Yori scored 2,010 career Points and would later be the MVC Coach of the Year in 2002. She would later have her number retired.

The MVC is currently comprised of Bradley, Drake, Evansville, Illinois State, Indiana State, Loyola, Missouri State, Northern Illinois, Southern Illinois and Valparaiso.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the eight new members of the Missouri Valley Conference Hall o Fame.