Letters to the Editor
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Poor Nellie Fox
When White Sox 2d baseman Nellie Fox was, at long last, in his last year of eligibility, voted into the Hall of Fame, (the late) Mike Royko responded with a column, "Poor Nellie Fox." He figured that Fox got more recognition and respect by the annual arguments over whether he should be in the Hall than he ever will by actually being there. He was right; who's thought about Nellie Fox since?
So, fans of neglected, underappreciated ballplayers; you're fighting the good fight. Just pray you don't win.
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Ollie Brown!
Ah, yes, Downtown Ollie Brown. And enshrining him's not so preposterous. After all, Bill Mazeroski got in despite mediocre offense because he was the greatest defensive second baseman of all time. So should the Hall honor someone who was the best at something? The best ever? So Ollie Brown should be in, because he had the best outfield throwing arm ever.
Not really, of course. But why not Bob Boone, best defensive catcher? Why not Ron Hunt, best lousy infielder at getting hit by pitches? Why not Downtown Ollie Brown?
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Who said irony is dead?
Some sports writers will write about Hall of Fame debates to fill up space, while King Kauffman will fill up his space with commentary about how silly it is that sports writers feel the need to fill up space with such nonsense. King, I think I'll settle for the empty space over the snark.
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Downtown Ollie Brown
Its about time someone in the MSM, let alone Cooperstown, recoginzes Downtown's contributions to the game.
Seriously, great to see the reference. I'm not one for nostalgia usually, but I'll make an exception for Brown. He always seemed to be hitting pinch-hit walk-off home runs for the Phillies. In my mind, I can still hear Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn going nuts over another one of Downtown Ollie Brown's feats.
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"enshrinement shoudn't be a popularity contest"????
What is it then?
Oh, you meant it should be a popularity contest judged by popularity with writers, not regualar fans.
That makes more sense.
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The most glaring Hall omission
Besides Buck O'Neil? Unquestionably Bert Blyleven. I've yet to hear any reasonable explanation (not that there is one) for why this man's career is not enshrined.
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Dale Murphy
should be there. I think a lot of the 80's guys get snubbed by stat comparisons with the mutuant 'roid-heads of the '90's. 2 MVPs, 7 time all star, humanitarian, class act. Yeah his numbers when down fast after his great '87 season, but I think, compared to his peers in his time, he's a HOFer. Nobody even thinks about him anymore, though. I do, because when I was a kid I saw him, for real, hit a grand slam in the 9th, down 3, to win the game. So yeah, I'm unreliable.
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A Case for Vizquel
Yes I'm an Indians fan and biased. Our hearts were broken four times in the last ten years: loss to marlins (the nefarious Jose Mesa, who still throws at Vizquel); Manny Ramirez left; Jim Thome left; they dumped Omar.
Vizquel suffers because the second half of his career coincided with the era of the power-hitting SS. But you can compare Vizqel with the others in the class of '89. Only one--Ken Griffey, Jr.--has had a better career.
10 gold gloves.
His hitting numbers are: .274 (AVE) .341 (OBP) .358 (SLUGGING)
Why do great hitters with poor to average defense get in, while great defensive players with ave to poor hitting and great defensive numbers not get in?
By the way, maybe I'm starting a war, but I'd take Vizquel in his prime over Jeter right now. I agree with the MLB players that he is the most overrated. His team won and he was a great leader, but it's still unconscionable to me that Alex Rodriguez is not playing short. Jeter is like Mantle, he can do no wrong.
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Hallworthy?
I as well have spent numerous hours over numerous pints debating the merits of various players and whether they are indeed "hallworthy". In the end I've come to the realization that you know a truly Hallworthy player in your gut. It's just a feeling. Poring over statistics is pointless, you can make any very nearly hallworthy player seem like Babe Ruth by highlighting the right statistics.
off the top of my head I know in my bones that Murphy, Dawson, Gossage, Rice and Blyleven belong in the hall...and that's enough, to know it in your bones. Joe Carter gave me my greatest sports memory, being at Game six with my old man...I never saw the ball go over, I was too busy jumping around like a maniac - just like Joe was. But he is not Hallworty, he's just not.
I guess what I'm getting at is that debating a player's merits may be nothing more than a time/space filler...but it's a damn fun one.
also, I can't tell you the number of hours I've spent debating the merits of Andy Pettite - long the only thing that made The Yankees not completely evil. I say he should be in the hall one day. Since he left they are inescapbably an Evil Empire.
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Hallworthy pt ii
How on earth did I forget about Jack Morris? That he is not in there is a travesty of the highest order. He was THE pitcher of the 80s, he dashed my hopes and dreams over and over again when he played for the Tigers, then pitched in the best game seven in baseball history in 1991 to crush those high-falutin' Braves, only to lead my beloved Blue Jays to the World Series the next year.
But he should be in solely for that Game Seven, if Mazeroski gets in for that homerun, then Morris gets in for 10 innings of shut out ball.
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Speaking of HOF travesties...
Ron Santo
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Ollie Brown, who?!
Is Kaufman insane?! No way does Brown deserve the HOF. He's an awful batter. I don't care how good he is in the field, until the HOF opens up categorical wings, he doesn't belong. Just like so many already in the HOF do not belong. That's my annual mid-summer reactionary beef to all the "This Guy Should Be In the HOF" articles. There are too many undeserving HOFers already. Let's re-set it and remove some of them. And let's establish some hard numbers for what makes a HOFer. And go ahead use the era comparison figures while you're at it. It's just a shame how some get in and some don't. So, let's lean toward the objective and let the veteran's committee vote handle the subjective.