FAT-ELVIS baseball collective

it never ceases to amaze me how the baseball writers vote from year to year for the hall of fame.  this year only one player was inducted: andre dawson.

as listed in a previous blog, i thought he was a VERY good player.  but the hall is reserved for greatness and the writers thought he fit that category.  so be it.  i have no control.  i’m not bothered that he got in, but it’s a slight lowering of the standards, in my opinion.

i AM disappointed that blyleven and smith didn’t get more merit.  blyleven missed the bus by 5 votes.  that almost, ALMOST, assures a ticket punch next year.  287 wins?  60 shut outs?  3500+ stike outs?  and somehow he’s not good enough after 13 years. there are only 26 players in the annals of baseball history (nearly 17,000 players) that won more games.  of those, 12 played before the 1920s.  put another way, since 1920, only 14 player have won more games.  as i said in the earlier blog, some of these baseball writers are just retards.

smith was the baseball historical saves leader for thirteen years before being overtaken by trevor hoffman.  so smith sits at number three all time on the saves list behind hoffman and rivera.  sure, he might get bounced down a bit in the forthcoming history of the game, but right now there is NO ONE close.  no one.  absolutely no one.  478 saves and he’s not considered HoF material.

i know the save is easier to get than it used to be.  it’s a highly specialized position and takes a certain kind of individual to be the closer.  it’s a high stress position that many cannot perform.  and even if they do, it’s for a short time of greatness.  in the same breaths as hoffman and rivera should be the name of lee smith because it’s not just excelling at that position, but having longevity while being excellent.  lee smith should have gotten in.

my last gripe … 5 writers sent in blank ballots.  they didn’t think anyone was worthy?  it can happen, i guess.  but more often than not, these writers think there are players that are worthy, but use stupid illogic such as, “well if joe dimaggio, jimmie foxx, and roy campanella didn’t make it on the first ballot, why should these players?  they need to wait “x” amount of time.”  these are the same writers who didn’t vote for players like seaver, mays, aaron in their first year.  these writers must be from south of the mason/dumb-ass line. would SOMEone please yank their card from them?!?

congratulations to andre, but resounding boos to those baseball writers who continue to mystify baseball fans year in and year out.

-chief

there are 26 former players on the list.  how many if any will join Doug Harvey and Whitey Herzog in the next innauguration?  by my count, two for sure, with an outside chance of three.  here’s my take on the voting.

• Roberto Alomar – good player, not great. no
• Kevin Appier - no
• Harold Baines - the lesser version of Edgar Martinez.  no
• Bert Blyleven - why the heck isn’t he already in?? the writers, up to now, have been ‘tards.  YES
• Ellis Burks - would have, could have, but continually broken.  no
• Andre Dawson - i like mr scowl.  but i don’t think he’s greatness, just very goodness.  no
• Andres Galarraga - some nice years, but not great overall.  how much did coors field help him?  no
• Pat Hentgen - no
• Mike Jackson - no
• Eric Karros - no
• Ray Lankford - no
• Barry Larkin - maybe.  not this year, but maybe later.  this year i would vote no
• Edgar Martinez - he was good, but i’m a stickler for being able to use a glove. no
• Don Mattingly - HUGE mattingly fan, but seriously didn’t last long enough to be great or HoF worthy.  no
• Fred McGriff- he tried to linger on for his 500th dinger, but found no takers. sometimes longevity can hurt more than help. no
• Mark McGwire - PED. i’m harsh, i know. no
• Jack Morris - big pitcher when he needed to be.  but HoF greatness? no
• Dale Murphy - fell off too fast and hun on too long.  no
• Dave Parker - no
• Tim Raines - maybe later, but not now. no
• Shane Reynolds - no
• David Segui - no (and he should fall off the list for next year)
• Lee Smith - another slam dunk!!  YES
• Alan Trammell - maybe later, but not this year. no
• Robin Ventura - atomic noogies!!  no
• Todd Zeile- no

so there you have it.  my selections for this year would be: Blyleven and Smith.  both have been treated poorly by the baseball writers.  maybe this year they’ll get what they should have gotten within their first five years.

-chief