44. Denny Walling

Known for being one of the more prolific Pinch Hitters of all-time, Denny Walling was a Houston Astro for 13 of his 18 seasons and was predominantly used against right handed pitchers.  Walling was especially effective with his bat in the cavernous Astrodome and the fact that he was capable of playing multiple defensive positions made him an asset for Houston.  He would have 726 Hits for the club.
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RIP: Lonnie Mack

It is another sad day in the music world as influential guitarist, Lonnie Mack, passed away at the age of 74 of natural causes.

While Mack may not be a household name in the world of music, he is amongst the guitarists in the know.  The product of Southern Indiana, Mack dropped out of school at 13 and before long had his own band playing rockabilly with a slight R&B twinge. 

Developing a fast style with a distinctive use of the whammy bar, in 1963 Lonnie had pioneered the guitar solo on a track based on a Chuck Berry song called “Memphis”.  The song would become a hit, but more importantly influenced a wide array of upcoming guitarists, which was felt throughout the hard driving blues rock of the 1960’s. 

While bands which owed him a great deal of debt (Cream, Jimi Hendrix etc.) would become megastars, Mack never did, though was always respected and certainly wasn’t longing for work.  Mack would remain one of the men who guitarists would site as an influence and he would put out a myriad of albums covering multiple genres including rock, country and blues. 

We here at Notinhalloffame.com extend our condolens to the friends and family of Lonnie Mack.

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RIP: Chyna

At the age of 45, groundbreaking professional wrestler Joanie Laurer, who performed professionally as “Chyna”, was found dead in her home in California.  It has been speculated that she died from a drug overdose and was already dead for nearly two days when her body was found.

When she entered the WWF in the late 90’s as the bodyguard of Hunter Hearst Helmsley, the wrestling world had never seen anything like her.  Chyna did not look like any other woman who had previously been associated with the industry and she was a physical match for many of the men, so much so, that she began to wrestle against them.

In the process of becoming the first female (and only) Intercontinental Champion, Chyna embarked on facial reconstruction and breast augmentation surgery and became a sex symbol.  Arguably, at one point she was amongst the top five in popularity in the WWE.  She was not able to come up with a contract agreeable with the WWE in 2001 and she would part ways with the organization, though the story had been put out that she felt forced out following her former boyfriend’s (Triple H) tryst and eventual marriage with the owner’s daughter, Stephanie McMahon.

Chyna’s career would spiral downward including a stint in pornographic films, which as per a podcast with Steve Austin, indicated that this is what would keep her out of the WWE Hall of Fame, though he did refer to her as a Hall of Famer following her death.  Chyna has been lobbying hard in the past year to get into the Hall.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com offer our condolences to the friends and family of Joanie Lauer at this time.



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RIP: Prince

To call it a sad day in the world of music is an understatement.

It was announced that at the age of 57, Minneapolis based musician, Prince died at his palatial estate, Paisley Park.  At the moment, no cause of death has been announced, however it was reported that he had a sever flu which caused him to miss multiple concerts.

Born Prince Rogers Nelson in 1958, Prince was a legitimate musical genius.  Capable of playing multiple instruments at the level of a virtuoso, Prince would write music that crossed the genre of funk, pop, rock and R&B.  He would initially become famous in the late 1970’s, but it was in the 1980’s with the smash album, Purple Rain, which would paint him as a mega star in the musical field.

Hits would keep coming for Prince and he would create a career, which had few equals in terms of musical legacy, influence and ability.  He would enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 2004.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends and family of Prince at this time and we are going to spend the rest of the evening listening to Prince.

May we suggest that you do the same. 



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24. Dallas Keuchel

In 2015, Dallas Keuchel won the Cy Young Award, cementing himself as a certified ace in Major League Baseball who shot up this list astronomically from that 2015 campaign.  Keuchel did not repeat that season’s accomplishments with the Astros, but he was an All-Star for the second time in 2017, where he had a 14-5 record and a 2.90 ERA.  His run with the Astros ended when he signed with the Atlants Braves as a Free Agent.  With Houston, Keuchel would have a 76-63 record with 945 Strikeouts.
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37. Rusty Staub

Improving offensively with each passing year, Rusty Staub debuted with the then named Houston Colt .45’s and before he left for the Montreal Expos, he would make two All Star with the Astros.  Staub’s final three seasons in Houston saw him go over 150 Hits and in 1967 would lead the NL in Doubles while batting .333.  Had Staub just been an average defensive player his ranking would have been much higher.

With Houston, Staub would accrue 792 Hits and a .273 Batting Average.
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