Congratulations to Andre Dawson on his deserved election to the Hall of Fame. The rest of the results had a few surprises, chiefly the inexplicable snub of Roberto Alomar. Apparently enough voters held the spitting incident against him to a degree that deprived him of joining the elite group of players elected in their first year of eligibility. It’s hard to justify that view, since by any estimation Alomar is one of the greatest 2nd basemen of the past 100 years. And while I haven’t touted Bert Blyleven’s candidacy, I’m surprised he fell short as well.
Farther down the ballot, one of the most interesting results is the one for first-timer Edgar Martinez. The Mariners DH did a more-than-respectable 36 percent on his first ballot, nearly half of the way to election. Once he settled in as a full-time DH, Martinez had many excellent seasons in his 30s. But Martinez got six times the votes of Harold Baines, another DH with some vastly superior career numbers, and nearly twice as many votes as Fred McGriff, a home run champ in each league with nearly 500 in his career. We’ll try to do more analysis of this vote in the coming week.
Keeping track of the game's past -- and the Hall of Fame's future
3 comments:
It is a travesty that Andre Dawson is in the Hall of Fame and Dave Parker received fifteen percent of the vote. Andre Dawson could not carry Dave Parker's spikes. It shows what a joke this system is.
Okay, so Parker had the cocaine problem. He was baseball's first million dollar player. There is no question that, from 1976 to 1979 he was THE BEST player in baseball. He was 1977 MVP. He was batting champion in 1977 and 1978. MVP runner up in 1985. All Star Game MVP in 1979 (made two of the greatest throws ever in that game, the play at the plate may be the greatest throw ever, certainly in All Star History).
Not to mention, he played 1978 with a broken jaw.
Had he played in New York or Los Angeles, he would be in the HOF. He played in Pittsburgh and Cincinnatti.
Andre Dawson in the hall with Dave Parker getting fifteen percent of the vote is a complete and total joke.
Is Blyleven a Hall of Famer?? Please show me the Hall of Feme-caliber seasons in his career. Good pitcher who played a long time. Only 2 all-star selections, tells me he didn't stand out among his peers. And the strikeouts? An out is an out-if anything, pitchers who get the same results without the Ks are the better pitchers. On the other hand, if the bar has already been set by the inductions of Ted Lyons and Eppa Rixey, then Blyleven should be a lock...as should Kaat and John also. And Jack Morris? Should be in already!! Dominant pitcher of his era, dominant in post season. Should be easy pick.
Fred McGriff-borderline, but should get in. Consistently all-star quality seasons, if not for time lost to strike, would be over 500 hr...at least as deserving as Eddie Mathews, Cepeda, Perez.
Barry Larkin-if you're gonna vote for him, don't you have to vote for Trammell too? Almost identical players-2 world series, 1 championship each...same era, almost identical career stats...Larkin won 1 MVP, Trammell 2nd.
And...if Ozzie Smith got in (and rightfully so), should Omar Vizquel join him when the time comes? Me thinks so.
I found your blog via baseball-reference.com (the Sparky Lyle page you sponsor) and like what I see. I too felt Alomar was snubbed and believe Blyleven to be a legit Hall of Fame pitcher: he overpowered batters with high strikeout totals and rarely pitched for a good team. I have a blog that focuses on profiling Hall of Fame candidates (of which Sparky Lyle is the most recent profile) titled BRETTKISER.WORDPRESS.COM. My site focuses more on profiling than debate but there might be something of interest for you there.
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