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Committee Chairman

Committee Chairman

Kirk Buchner, "The Committee Chairman", is the owner and operator of the site.  Kirk can be contacted at [email protected] .
Hockey Hall of Fame inductee and five time Stanley Cup Champion, Bert Olmstead, passed away today at the age of 89.

Olmstead officially made the National Hockey League in 1949 as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks but it was a trade to the Montreal Canadians where the left winger would really blossom.  In the 1950’s, Olmstead would help the Habs win four Cups and would lead the NHL in Assists twice.  He would also be named a Second Team All Star two times.

He would be selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Intra-League Draft in 1958 and would win his fifth Cup in blue and white.  Four years later, Olmstead would again be left unprotected in the Intra-League Draft and would retire rather than report to the New York Rangers.

Olmstead would retire with 602 career points over 848 NHL games.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends and family of Bert Olmstead at this time.

Honestly, I am a sucker for a good farewell tour.

The now 40 year old Boston Red Sox, Designated Hitter, David Ortiz has announced that next year will be his final season in Major League Baseball and that has led to one inevitable discussion:

Is David Ortiz a Hall of Famer?

If it seems like we just asked that question, it is because we dd.  Ortiz made a bit of noise when he stated a few months ago that he was a Hall of Famer and maybe he is. 

Let’s break down the pros and the cons each voter will face in six years:

The Pros:

The Power Numbers:

He has already eclipsed the magical 500 HR barrier and will probably add 30 more.  He is 26th all-time in Slugging, 43rd in OPS and 18th in Doubles, all numbers that are very hard to ignore.  Offensively, he has been a beast for twelve years!

The Titles:

Under Ortiz’ tenure in Boston, the curse of the bambino was lifted, and he was a key player with an ALCS and World Series MVP.  To date he has 82 playoff games under his belt with 17 Home Runs and a .295/.409/.553 Slash Line.  Do playoff stats matter?  You are damn right they do!

The Man:

David Ortiz is a likable guy, media friendly and you don’t have to be a fan of the Red Sox to understand his impact and remember what he has done in Baseball.  All of that matters!

The Cons:

Ortis is a Designated Hitter and nobody who has played the percentage of games that he has in that role has come close to the Hall of Fame.  Edgar Martinez won’t get in, and Frank Thomas and Paul Molitor all played less than half at DH.  Ortiz is well over 75%.

PED in 2003:

Ortiz was named one of the 104 men who took PEDs in that year, though he stated that he was just taking what everyone else was taking at the time.  It should be noted that he has taken such a hardline stance against anyone who is caught stating that they should be banned for a year, and seems so genuine about it that it may have wiped out a lot of the potential damage.

WAR:

If voters are basing it at bWAR (and let’s face it, a lot of people are using that as the key metric now), it will be difficult.  His 50.6 is very good, but not what people are looking for Cooperstown.  If you go by his JAWS, it is 41.8 (placing him with First Basemen (and only 33rd overall for that position) and puts him out of the mark for the average HOFer at that position, which is 54.2.  Should that matter?  Believe me, it will to some of the decision makers!



What it appears is that for every argument there is a counter-argument.  The voting for Ortiz will be one of the most hotly debated when he is eligible and no matter what happens to him in regards to the Baseball Hall of Fame, the game is better off for having him in it.

Can I repeat one more time that this isn’t meant to be scientific.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com thought it would be fun to take a look at the major awards in North American team sports and see how it translates into Hall of Fame potential.
It is a sad day in the world of professional wrestling as former AWA World Heavyweight Champion and WWE Hall of Famer, Nick Bockwinkel passed away today at the age of 80.

The former world champion got his start as far back as 1955 and would win regional titles in the Pacific Northwwest, Hawaii, San Francisco and Los Angeles but it was a move to Minnesota to the American Wrestling Association, which was where he would become a star. 

With Bobby “The Brain” Heenan as his manager, Bockwinkel was paired with Ray “The Crippler” Stevens and the duo would win the AWA World Tag Team Championship three times and would be the hottest tag team in the North.  After the team’s breakup, Bockwinkel remained heel and with Heenan still in tow he would win the AWA World Heavyweight Title in 1975 at the age of 40 and would hold that for five years until he was defeated by Verne Gagne, the man he beat for the belt. 

Bockwinkel would remain the company’s main star through the bulk of the 1980’s, even though he would was their champion well into his 50’s.  While Bockwinkel was older, he didn’t look his age and was one of the top promo men in the business where he would use articulate dialogue in a calm voice, very different from his peers. 

Following his departure from the AWA, he would work as a road agent with the then named WWF and would be an occasional color commentator.  Bockwinkel would become known to a new generation when he served as the on screen commissioner of WCW in the mid-90’s.  He would later be the President of the Cauliflower Alley Club, from 2007 until last year when his ailments began to catch up to him.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends and family of Nick Bockwinkel at this time.