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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Baseball Hall of Fame: Who's in, Who's out?

I just returned from Cooperstown, NY where Junior Z had a nice week of baseball in a national tournament. While there for a week, we got a chance to spend a ton of time in downtown Cooperstown and of course the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Before I get to the subject matter, here are a few observations.

1. Nowhere in the HOF do you see references to Major League Baseball or licensed products of MLB. For the longest time, I assumed this place was owned and licensed by MLB.
2. Cooperstown is a happy place where everyone is always in a good mood (refreshing).

3. The HOF had several large displays with tons of great information about the history of the game. One particular display that struck me as odd was the one for Jesse Orosco. Jesse of course holds the MLB record by a pitcher for appearances (1,252).

4. Barry Bonds, who by all counts may or may not hold the HR record with 762. His display for all of his efforts was the size of a shoebox.  Spot lefty and longevity versus 762 HRs (more than the Babe and Hank)....hmmm??

Orosco display (jersey, balls, hats, etc)

Bonds display (helmet, ball with asterisk embossed on it)




















5. I also learned a ton about how ballparks were built, teams were sold, rules were broken and how legends were made.

Okay, enough of the fluff.  Here is my take on a cast of characters who have HOF numbers and may or may not get in.  My take on each player is as if I had a BBWA vote:

1. Pete Rose - Nope (cheated)
2. Barry Bonds - Yep (I doubt he will get in, based on the above display)
3. A Rod - Yep (incredible numbers prior to juice)
4. Roger Clemens - Nope (questionable numbers prior to juice)
5. Sammy Sosa - Nope (questionable numbers prior to juice)
6. Mark McGwire - Yep (incredible numbers prior to juice)
7. Raffy Palmiero - Nope (see lied to the face of Congress, marginal numbers)
8. Andy Petitte - Nope (betrayed baseball and his friend, questionable numbers)
9. Jose Canseco - Haha!!!! Nope.
10. David Wells - Ah, no.

My bet is none of the above make it, leaving a major void in the HOF.  Guys like Maddux, Rivera, and Jeter are going to have lonely induction weekends.

1 comment:

GopherPT said...

I believe you skipped Julio Franco. I'd vote him in...even though he's probably won't make it. Oldest regularly playing non-pitcher in baseball history. 3x All Star, and his career BA was at .300 until he played at age 48-49, ended at .298. Collected more hits in his career than Reggie Jackson, Ernie Banks, Joe Morgan, and if not for the strike in '95 would probably be in top 50 of all-time. Oh, and a class act.