Tuesday, Jan. 04, 2005
Hall of Fame results, posted at 5:12 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com Well, the Baseball Hall of Fame has shown once again how clueless they are. I don't have a problem with Wade Boggs getting in. Yeah, I'd like a little more power from my third baseman, but the man was an on base machine. He had a career .415 On-Base percentage, the second most important offensive stat (after OPS, which most people have no clue about).I also like Sandberg, although his selection makes it totally apparent that the selections are biased towards big market teams. Sandberg was a great hitter and defender, and led all second basemen in home runs by a second baseman. Still, his career numbers are almost identical to those of Lou Whitaker. Sandberg had a few more home runs, Whitaker had a few more RBI, Sandberg's OBA was slightly higher, Whitaker's SLG and OPS were slightly higher. Both won multiple Gold Gloves. The difference is that Sandberg played in a major market city with a TV contract around the country, where a drunk announcer sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" every 7th inng. Plus, he looks the part of the Golden Boy, like the Natural. Lou Whitaker was a black, media-shy Jehova's Witness who played in the Motor City. No contest, I guess.
Lou Whitaker was taken off the ballot after the first year because he didn't meet the 5% eligibility requirement. Sandberg, an almost identical player, just got voted in with 75% of the vote. It's an outrage, I tell you.
Let's also consider Alan Trammell. First of all, let's throw out comparisons to modern day shortstops - ARod, Jeter, Garciaparra, Tejada, Guillen. The era has changed, and you simply cannot compare players of different offensive eras. Trammell - along with Cal Ripken and Robin Yount (neither of whom played SS their entire career) - ushered in a new era of shortstops. These shortstops could hit as well as field. And Trammell did. One could argue that Ripken was better offensively, but Trammell was a defensive genius and a great hitter. Only five of the 20 shortstops in Hall of Fame collected more than 1,000 RBI and more than 1,000 runs scored -- something you'll find on Trammell's resume. He'd be third all-time in home runs for shortstops, as well.
While Trammell got 17% of the fucking vote this year from these idiots, Ozzie Smith easily gained induction on the first ballot two years ago. Trammell's number far, far outshadow Smith's offensively in average (.282-.262), home runs (185-28), RBI (1007-793), SLG (.415-.328), and On-Base Percentage (.352-.337). Yeah, Smith made it in because of defense, but Trammell's was also exceptional. He won four Gold Gloves.
Smith made it in because he does back flips. Plain and simple.
Next we have Jack Morris, the winningest pitcher of the 1980s and holder of three World Series rings. Is he in the Hall of Fame? Nope. In fact, no starting pitcher between Nolan Ryan (born in 1948) and Roger Clemens (he's not in yet, but he will be, and he was born in 1962) is in, meaning we're missing a whole generation of starting pitchers. Yeah, Morris's ERA is high (3.90). But the man knew how to win in one of the greatest offensive eras, and certainly was one of the best three starting pitchers of his era. But, of course, he pitched most of his career with the Tigers, so he's not in.
Another great pitcher from that era who should be in is Bert Blyleven. The man is third all-time in strikeouts and was a dominant pitcher for much of the eighties, but he pitched for crummy teams so he's overlooked. He shouldn't be.
And what's up with neglecting relief pitchers? Goose Gossage was dominant for a decade, and so was Lee Smith. Both should be in.
These baseball writers are idiots.