2 replies to this topic

[Oswego Chris]

After Ron Santo's long delayed entry into the Hall I began this series(some say it is quite riveting) looking at some of the inequities, stupidity and outright buffoonery of the Hall of Fame.

Cooperstown and its current members like the idea of keeping the Hall of Fame a very exclusive club.( yes Joe Morgan, I am talking about you, you egomaniac arrogant elbow spastic ass) In theory, this makes sense; it is the Hall of Fame afterall. The problem is that throughout its history, there have been periods when they doors to the Hall were open like floodgates letting any rift-raff in, and there have been times when it has been as impregnable as the Berlin Wall in 1961. It just doesn't make sense.

Currently players need 75% of the votes that are cast by the BWAA for enshrinement. Fine. However throughout its history baseball has had numerous different committees and procedures to allow other players into the Hall.

From 1939-1946 the Old-Timers committee gave out passes like they were giving out candy. This is how Cub greats, Tinkers to Evers to Chance, all got in. Actually they were all just very average, but they did have a nice poem written about them. There have also been numerous inclinations of "veterans committees", ripe with cronyism and nepotism. So in my ongoing tribute to Ron Santo, here are some comparsions of "Hall of Famers" and recent guys who either aren't in or took awhile to get in.

ANDRE DAWSON VS. LlOYD(LITTLE POISON) WANER

The "Hawk" was elected on his 9th year of eligibility. Sure his .279 lifetime average isn't all that impressive, and his 438 homers fell shy of the magic 500 mark, but he did also steal 314 bases, had an absolute cannon for an arm, won 8 gold gloves, all while battling horrendous knee injuries. Okay, so you made him wait for 8 years. However, while Andre was waiting, Lloyd Waner's plaque was hanging in Cooperstown. He of the ONE All-Star appearance over 18 seasons(Andre appeared in 8), 27 Career Home-Runs(22 less than Andre had in 1987) and a whopping 598 career RBI's. Did I mention that Lloyd's brother and many of his friends were on the veterans committee when he was enshrined? WINNER BY KNOCKOUT-DAWSON

FRED MCGRIFF VS. "HIGH POCKETS" KELLY

What? You never heard of High Pockets before?(look it up, that's the name on his plague) You mean you've never heard those arguments about who was better between The Babe, Gehrig and High Pockets? H.P.( as his friends called him, I assume) did lead the league in RBI's twice and homers once. He ended up with 148 career dingers. Fred McGriif in his second year on the ballot recieved 17.9 percent of the vote. He probably has no chance of being enshrined, even though he is widely believed to be one of the "clean" players of his era. 493 HR's and a 50.5 WAR at a power position, not too bad. High Pocket's WAR was 24.3. Those must have been some pretty high pockets.
WINNER BY TKO-MCGRIFF

TRIPLE THREAT MATCH-BARRY LARKIN VS. ALAN TRAMMELL VS. PHIL RUZZUTO

Hall of Fame shortstop Phil Ruzzuto: 13 seasons, a .273 lifetime batting average, 38 career homeruns, 5 time All-Star, and 1950 MVP. Hmmmm. Okay? Ahh, but he was a winner, a Yankee! WAR would be a better stat to measure a winner like Rizzuto, and he did have a fairly impressive 41.8. Unfortunately in our triple threat match(which just became a cage match!), Trammell has a 66.9 WAR and Larkin a 68.7. Ouch. Trammell, in his 10th year on the ballot, recieved 24 percent. Translated=he ain't ever f#$ing getting voted in. He had a .285 career avg, 185 HR's...maybe he truly is a borderline candidate. But if he is borderline, than what is Rizzuto? In his second year on the ballot Larkin recieved 60% of the vote, so his prospects look good. .295 career avg, 198 homers....he just will have to wait a bit. If I was either of these guys, it would be hard for me not to give Rizzuto's plague the finger at any chance I could.
WINNER BY 1ST ROUND BEAT DOWN- TRAMMELL AND LARKIN

These were but 3 examples, and perhaps in my next entry I will continue this theme(depends on what my fan mail suggests), but hopefully the reader has gotten my point. Hall of Fame Voters are F#%ING stupid! Seriously though, how can some of this be justified? Time past should not qualify one for the Hall of Fame, nor should friends on the veterans committee. You should be in or out based on your career.

Now I gotta get on EBay and try to find me a High Pockets Kelly rookie card.

[Dougy D]

Oswego Chris, I like your enthusiasm toward giving the middle finger to the hall of fame. While unlike you, I have not researched any hall of fame numbers or anything like that, but I feel the same way. It's really nice how Santo had to die before he found out that he made it. It truly is a broken system. Just wait, in 25 years, there will be a ballot that sends Bonds and McGwuire to the hall. They'll say, "they have waited long enough." F the hall and the whole premise. It should be the Cooperstown History of Major League Baseball Museum. Then they can put in whomever they want and include more of the history of the game rather than just the players that were chosen to get in. I've not been and will probably never go, so I don't really know what the building is like. However, I do love baseball and enjoy learning the history of the game. I think that baseball should be honored in a way that celebrates the intricacies of the game, not just the popular players.

[FratRat]

Well done, Chris. The closet Blue Demon in me would rank Larkin even higher if not for his kid having de-comitted from DePaul................