Not in Hall of Fame News

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 last night the Boston Bruins retired the #16 of former forward, Rick Middleton. After playing his first two seasons in the NHL for the New York Rangers, “Nifty” was traded to Boston prior to the 1976-77 season and it proved fruitful for…

It was announced that Willie Naulls passed away at the age of 84. He had been battling Churg-Strauss syndrome, a rare immunological condition. Naulls played collegiately at UCLA under Hall of Fame Coach, John Wooden where he was a Second Team All-American in his final season. The St. Louis Hawks in the Second Round of the 1956 Draft would choose the big man but he would only play 19 Games there before being traded to the New York Knicks, which was a much better fit. In New York, Naulls would find himself as the starting Small Forward and he would…

The Pro Football Hall of Fame has announced their 25 Semi-Finalists after being pared down from 103 Preliminary Nominees and there are some familiar faces and new faces who are hopeful to become Finalists when they are announced on January 3. The Pro Football Hall of Fame Semi-Finalists are: Steve Atwater, Safety: 1989-98 Denver Broncos, 1999 New York Jets. This is Atwaters’ eighth straight year as a Semi-Finalist and he is a two time Super Bowl Champion with the Broncos and he is an eight time Pro Bowl Selection. He is ranked #12 on Notinhalloffame.com. Champ Bailey, Cornerback: 1999-03 Washington…

Baseball Hall of Fame season is in full gear as following the announcements of the Today’s Era Finalists last week, Cooperstown has now unveiled the official Hall of Fame ballot. Let’s take a look at the 35 former players who the Baseball Writers can vote on: In alphabetical order: Rick Ankiel: Ankiel is debuting on the ballot and he was the runner-up for the National League Rookie of the Year in 2000 as a Pitcher. Injuries to his pitching arm forced him to abandon that aspect of the game and he would come back as an Outfielder and collect over…

We have a significant retirement to discuss in baseball as Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins has elected to retire from the game after playing 15 seasons in the Majors, all of which were with the Twins. Mauer made his announcement in an open letter to the fans that will run in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Mauer cited a desire to maintain his health and spending time with his family to retire from the game at age 35. His last contract came to an end this year. The first overall pick of the 2001 Amateur…