Have you ever read something that left you wondering what the writer was thinking? I’m not talking about a book where something amazing happened, but something the writer actually did. I do occasionally; normally it’s nothing to get worked up about. I saw this yesterday in the Forum (thanks Michelangelo for the link).
For those who don’t want to read it, a Chicago-based Baseball Writer left his Hall of Fame ballot empty. His reasoning: He didn’t have enough information about the new candidates. He feels that he needs to know more about the players from the “Steroid Era” before he could vote one into the Hall.
Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn deserve better than this. One is the “Iron Man” and the other was one of the best hitters in the last 30 years. Both had flaws to their games, but they were top-notch players; not only that, they were Hall of Fame Players.
We may never know who did and who didn’t use steroids.
This argument is about as asinine as the argument that writers weren’t going to vote for Mark McGwire on the first ballot to teach him a lesson. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen a plaque at the Hall that says “So and so was selected on the 2nd year of their eligibility.”
He also said that he thought neither of these 2 should be unanimously voted in. While I agree about that, he wasn’t going to be the vote that kept that from happening (which we have seen). Even if that were to happen, there are a lot worse players in the Hall that it could have happened to.
Now, on to the elected: Ripken and Gwynn.
First off, if I had been able to vote, I would have selected Ripken, Gwynn, Mark McGwire, Goose Gossage, and Lee Smith. I’m still torn on Jim Rice, Andre Dawson, and Bert Blyleven.
I don’t want to come off as if I’m blasting Ripken, but the reason he got in was the streak. He had a marginal bat, which was acceptable as a shortstop for the time. His career mark of .276/.340/.447 are adequate for the position, but most players that got the recognition Ripken received had more than 5 .300 season (out of 21 played). He only had 1 season with more than 30 home runs and only averaged 23 per 162 games. He was also known for his Iron Glove. While he wasn’t a Tigers pitcher in the field, he certainly shouldn’t have won gold gloves. He had 294 errors in his career (or 1 every 10 games). The reason his did get in the Hall was the Streak: 2632 consecutive games. It’s a feat that won’t be duplicated in today’s game, and a very valid reason for his induction. Another little fact that helped him into the Hall was his trophy cabinet: AL Rookie of the Year (82), 2 AL MVPs (83, 91), 2 All Star MVPs (83, 01), 2 Gold Gloves (91, 92), and 8 Silver Sluggers (83-86, 89, 91, 93, 94). He’s also given a lot back to the game, from little league activities to owning a minor league team. It’s only a matter of time before he’s back at the Major League level.
Gwynn was the opposite end of the spectrum: he could hit, but he never had a season where he appeared in every game. Gwynn hit over .300 in every season of his career except his rookie season. He won 7 batting titles and missed 1 more because he was short at bats. He didn’t have the power of most corner outfielders, but he was a pretty good runner (until he started to gain some weight). While he wasn’t known for his glove, he won only committed 62 errors in 4500+ chances. He didn’t quite get the hardware Ripken got: 5 gold gloves (86, 87, 89-91) and 7 silver sluggers (84, 86, 87, 89, 94, 95, 97) and only was in the top 3 of MVP voting once in his 20 year career. Gwynn is also giving back to baseball: he is the head coach at San Diego State University and his son is playing in the Milwaukee Brewer organization (he was up in the majors at the end of the year).
Ripken received 537 votes (98.53%), 3rd highest percentage all time, and Gwynn received 532 (97.6%). Both will officially be inducted July 29.
McGwire only received 128 votes (23.5%) and had 9th most. He exceed the 5% required to remain on the ballot, as did Gossage, Rice, Dawson, Blyleven, Smith, Jack Morris, Tommy John, and Harold Baines (Steve Garvey did as well, but was in his final year of eligibility). Sadly, Jose Canseco did not (5 votes). Bret Saberhagen (7) and Ken Caminiti (2) both received votes as well.
In other news, Tailgate Crashers Year End Baseball Nominations have been announced, and, unfortunately, most nominations have been lost to an e-mail gnome. If you haven’t voted, vote now. If you have (and haven’t gotten a response), vote again. Send them to wolverine0712@gmail.com.
