I’ll start this off by thanking my good friend (and unbelievably loyal Tiger fan) MTB for the plug lately. Mike sent out an email to his baseball crony list mentioning this blog. So if you’re a first time reader, welcome. Feel free to post a comment if a posting gets your attention and you feel so moved. I’m assuming that I’m dealing with an audience who watches a fair amount of sports, so I expect that I won’t need to censor any stupid/pointless comments. Feel free to disagree with me. But any comments about Dmitri Young being the best DH in baseball history or arguments that Dan Petry should be in the HOF will be deleted faster than Willie McGee went from first to third in his prime.
Speaking of my man Willie, we are currently awaiting the announcement on January 10th for the 2006 HOF inductees. I did this last year, so I might as well share my thoughts on this year’s candidates.
Rick Aguilera: I was surprised to discover he did finish his career with 318 saves. His problem is that he’s the 4th or 5th best closer on the ballot this year. Won’t make it, and may not stay eligible for next year. If he does, it won’t be my much.
Albert (Joey) Belle: He did hit 381 home runs, but for a guy who wasn’t loved like Puckett, his career was too short (10 full seasons). Would be fun to elect, just to hear what his acceptance speech would be, but that’s not enough of a reason.
Bert Blyleven: The longer I go, the more I think he should be in. Ranks fifth all-time in strikeouts, eighth in starts, ninth in shutouts, 24th in wins, and seventh in innings pitched. How do you not put him in? OK, he didn’t have 300 wins (finished with 287), but I dare you to spend your career with the Twins, Rangers, Pirates (though they were good during his 3 years), Indians, and Angels and even get to 200, let alone finish over .500. I remember something I read after the ’85 season. The discussion was on Mike Krukow, who pitched for the Giants that year. Someone wrote, “Krukow won 9 games for the Giants. I doubt The Almighty himself could win 9 games for the Giants.” Now picture spending the vast majority of your career with teams almost that bad, and you’ve got Bert’s career. Plus, he’s made himself into a pretty good color analyst for the Twins (who no doubt felt like they owed him the job). I’d vote him in.
Will Clark: If there was a Hall of Fame—Level 2, that’s where he should be. Very good player, both offensively and defensively, but to me, just shouldn’t be in the full-blown version. To an extent, he had a longer version of Mattingly’s career: Great for the first half, less effective and powerful during the second half. This is particularly noticeable given the fact that he hit 20+ home runs only twice between ’92 and 2000, the era that saw nearly everyone capable of hitting at least 10 in a year. Did have the brains to get out of San Fran after Barry Bighead Bonds got there, so that gets him a few bonus points.
Dave Concepcion: Yes, he was there for the ascension and dismantling of the Big Red Machine. But I don’t think the Reds would have been any worse off with Bucky Dent playing short, and I don’t hear anyone saying Dent should be in the Hall. I realize that he wasn’t there for his offense, but I was stunned that he never scored 100 runs in a season. Bench, Morgan, Perez, are already in. Rose would be if not for the whole banishment thing. They’re pretty well represented. I’m sure one of those guys will spring for the admission ticket if Davey wants to check the place out. But he doesn’t get voted in.
Andre Dawson: I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Dawson should be in the Hall. Over 400 home runs, 300 stolen bases, 1500 RBI, and a great right fielder on top of that. In his prime, he had one of the top arms in the game along with Winfield, Barfield, and Dwight Evans. For those of you too young to remember these guys, about the only guys who have comparable arms now are Vlad Guerrero and Ichiro Suzuki. I’m hoping Hawk makes it this year, and I think he will.
Gary DiSarcina: This has to be one of the most embarrassing inclusions on a HOF ballot in the last 30 years. He played 150 or more games in a season a whopping 4 times. Never scored 80 runs, knocked in 60, stole 15 bases, or walked even 25 times in a season. He did hit .300 once. Nice job on that, Gary. Anyone who marks him on their ballot should immediately have ALL voting privileges revoked: Hall of Fame, political, and even some of those goofy on-line polls people put up. The only way to avoid this fate would be to make a public announcement that you clearly marked his box by accident, and that no right-thinking human being could be dumb enough to vote for Gary DiSarcina without being a blood relative or being paid an exorbitant amount of money. OK, enough on that.
Alex Fernandez: Just barely eligible. Had a promising career cut short by injuries. He’s not going to make it, and given the space I just wasted on Gary DiSarcina. I need to move on.
Gary Gaetti: He did have a longer career than I thought. While he was a pretty good third baseman, at no point do I remember him being a “feared” player. He threw in a fluke season with the Royals in 1995 when he hit 35 home runs and knocked in 96. I didn’t realize this, but the Royals finished 2nd in the AL Central that year. I couldn’t figure out why I don’t remember more about that team, so after digging a little, I realized why. Yes, they finished second, but they were 70-74, and finished
30 games behind the Albert Belle-led Indians. He worked hard, played hard, but he’s not a Hall of Fame guy.
Steve Garvey: Thank heaven his candidacy is almost over. This is his 14th year being considered. Steve kind of reminds me of Wally Joyner. Good player, pretty consistent, but certainly not considered dominating. Garvey was at the top of his game from 1977-1980. He is the all-time leader in fielding percentage among first basemen, which works in his favor, and at one point did play in 1300+ consecutive games. Playing in L.A., you could also argue that he was famous. I’m guessing he saw that he might have problems getting into the Hall, so he started having kids with just about anyone that walked by, which thankfully excluded Tommy Lasorda, probably in hopes that the kids would be eligible to vote before the end of his 15 years. No this year, no again next year, and that will be the end of that.
Dwight “Doc” Gooden: Kids, let this be a lesson to you about the dangers of drug abuse. I wish Gooden would have put together the kind of career that he looked like he would have after his first five years (91-35, 2.62 ERA, 1067 K’s, 52 CG, 19 ShO). But when you look at where he ended up, he didn’t get to even 200 wins, his last all-star team was 12 years before his final season, and was effectively a borderline pitcher after 1993. Just not happenin’.
Rich “Goose” Gossage: I think this is the year. Between 1975 and 1985, he was one of the most feared closers in the game. He, Fingers, Quisenberry, Sutter, and Tekulve were the guys who created the role of the modern closer. The difference was that these guys would regularly enter games in the 7th or 8th inning with the game on the line. They’d enter with runners on base. The man pitched in 1000 games, for crying out loud. He’s due to get in, and hopefully, the voters get their heads on straight this year and put him in. Yes, being a Yankees fan, I’m a bit biased here, but that doesn’t change the fact that he was a great player, and he was famous. There’s no good reason he shouldn’t be in.
Ozzie Guillen: Congrats to Ozzie for leading the White Sox to a World Series win. If he can pick up another 1700 wins as a manager, I’d consider putting him in. In the meantime, he doesn’t go. He only won one gold glove (1990). In the early part of his career, Tony Fernandez was considered a better defensive shortstop. After that, it was Omar Vizquel. I’m not saying either of those is wrong. I’m saying if you only hit .264 for your career, with no power, you had better be generally considered the king of your position defensively (a la
Ozzie Smith). Guillen wasn’t.
Orel Hershiser: This is a tough one. For most of his career, Orel was a very good pitcher, even dominant in stretches. Yet somehow, he only won 204 games. I like Hershiser, and I wish the Yankees had someone like him on their staff now. Oh, wait. They do.
Mussina is pretty close, and probably even better, and I’m not sure Moose should go.
Gregg Jefferies: No way, no how, not ever. Did have a nice year in 1993 with 46 steals, 16 home runs, and hit .342. Not one of the all time greats. Period.
Tommy John: The longer I go, the more I think Tommy John should be in. The surgery performed on his elbow prior to the 1975 season (which he missed entirely) was the first time a guy who’d blown out an elbow ever came back to pitch effectively. He got 164 of his 288 career wins AFTER coming back. Career ERA at 3.34. Pitched over 4700 innings. Plus, I heard he lives next to a guy I used to work with here in Charlotte. C’mon guys, put Tommy in.
Doug Jones: Too many teams, no good stories. I have no idea how he got to 303 saves in his career. He is, however, probably a better closer than
Todd Jones.
Don Mattingly: I would absolutely love it if Don would make it. My first baseball hero was Graig Nettles. My second was Mattingly, as anyone who went to high school with me probably remembers. Yep, I had pictures of Mattingly up in my room all over the place, and outside of him winning a World Series as a member of the coaching staff, I couldn’t think of anything better to wish for him. But like Gooden, the second half of his career wasn’t really impressive. Granted, Don’s problems stemmed from a back injury, but he just didn’t put up the numbers to get in. No doubt he was famous, and seems to be universally considered a great teammate. But if being a great teammate was all that it took, we’d have put Tito Landrum in, and that’s not going to happen.
Willie McGee: I mentioned when I wrote about Willie McGee last year, but it’s worth mentioning again. Willie in his prime is still how Dad & I measure someone’s speed. True, there may be a few guys who are/were actually faster, but nobody, and I mean nobody, was more fun to watch run. He was great at tracking down balls in the gap, and each time he was up, we’d both be praying for a ball hit in the gap, and that Willie would leg out a triple. Plus, the Yankees could have avoided years of problems in center field if they would have never traded him for Bob Sykes. That has to be one of the worst trade George ever made.
Hal Morris: Yet another former Yankee on the ballot this year. People forget how good of a hitter Hal was, hitting .304 over his career. And thanks to my friend Brad, who gave me two tickets to the Yankees-Tigers last game of the season in 1988 as a birthday gift, Dad & I (along with Brad & his Dad) got to see him early in his career at Tiger Stadium. I was sorry to see him go, but I’m glad to see things went pretty well for him in Cincy. He won’t get in, but he was still a pretty good player.
Jack Morris: It’s clear I’m not a Tiger fan, but now that Jack’s been retired for 11 years, I have to admit I respect what he did. I think Blyleven and Tommy John should go in ahead of Morris, but I’m not opposed to Jack going in. I think there’s enough arguments for him. He played for 4 World Series winners. He pitched the memorable Game 7 for the Twins in their win over Atlanta, throwing 10 innings of shutout ball for the win. He epitomized the competitiveness that you love to see in a player. I don’t think he missed a start in the 1980’s until 1989 when an elbow injury cost him almost 2 months. I hate to say it, but I think he’d make a pretty good addition. Heck, I think he’d make a great pitching coach for the Tigers, but I don’t think he’s got any desire to do it.
Dale Murphy: This is another guy who people have forgotten about, but really should be in. He was a great center fielder, just missed 400 home runs (which by the way, didn’t hurt Kaline), suffered through some absolutely HORRIBLE Braves teams between ‘78-’90 (which probably deserves some kind of award just for that), and really only had protection during the sporadic periods when Bob Horner was healthy. Yet he still drove in 100 runs or more 4 straight years, and 5 out of 6 between ’82 and ’87. We need a few more Dale Murphy’s in baseball.
Dave Parker: In two different stretches, Parker was one of the most feared hitters in baseball. The problem is that there was a 5-year gap between those stretches. Yet another career screwed up because of drugs. Dave hit 60 home runs between ’80 and ’84, and then hit 65 in ’85 & ’86. My guess is that if Parker had kept himself clean, he’d have hit 425-450 home runs, and we probably wouldn’t be trying to figure out whether he should go in because he’d be in already. Remember the words of Mr. Mackey: “Drugs are bad. Mm-kay. Don’t do drugs.”
Jim Rice: Mark this down. Despite the fact that Rice played for the Red Sox (and this may be the last time I spell their team name correctly), Jim Rice should be, without a doubt, in the Hall of Fame. Between ’77 and ’85, this was THE guy you didn’t want to face. He had over 100 RBI eight times, hit 20 home runs or more 11 times, and over 30 homers four times. He hit over .300 seven times. Career slugging over .500 achieved at a time before guys started hitting 50 homers a year regularly. Voters, time to put your brains back in and put this guy in. And I still hate the Red Sux.
Lee Smith: This is another one where I can’t believe Lee Smith is not in. Maybe if he hadn’t been with so many different teams, this would have happened sooner. With 478 saves and a career ERA of 3.03, this should be a no brainer, particularly since he averaged just under a strikeout per inning pitched.
Bruce Sutter: I didn’t realize his career was as short as it was (13 years). He did go downhill pretty fast after 1984, which I’m sure doesn’t help his case. He was also the guy that popularized the splitter. I’d kind of like to see him in, but he’s running out of time. I could see it go either way, but in looking at this, I still think Gossage and Smith should go in ahead of him.
Alan Trammell: People don’t realize this, but Alan had one of the most inconsistent careers of anyone on the list. Yep, it was long, and he was a very good defensive shortstop, but the guy would hit .311 one year (’88), and .243 the next (’89). In ’84 he hit .314, which was followed by a .258 year in ’85. Or how about .304 in ’90 and .248 in ’91. I kind of hope he gets a chance to manage another team at some point in the future, but I’d recommend that he take a minor league job to help build up the resume. In the meantime, I don’t think he should be in the Hall of Fame. If any former Tiger should be in, it’s Morris.
Walt Weiss: See Jeffries, Gregg. No way, no how, not ever. Good but not great shortstop who benefited from playing on some very good teams. End of story. This will be his first and last year on the ballot.
John Wetteland: Finally, the last on the list. If you’ve made it this far, congratulations. Anyway, despite the fact that Wetteland helped my boys win the Series in ’96, I don’t think he should go in, and certainly not ahead of Smith, Gossage, and Sutter. He and Aguilera are close to the same level.
So there’s my thoughts. Feel free to leave your comments. In the meantime, I’m going to get some dinner. Happy New Year to everyone.
