Guys who should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame

As others have said, my problem with the HOF isn’t who’s out, it’s who’s in. It’s not selective enough IMO.

Strawberry has to be a no because his stats weren't good enough. 335 HRs and 1000 RBIs with a .259 batting average. Just not Hall worthy numbers.

I'd have never advocated for Halladay, who died in an amphetamine addled plane crash.

He was just another drug addict.

Bear wrote:

As others have said, my problem with the HOF isn’t who’s out, it’s who’s in. It’s not selective enough IMO.

I agree it should be more selective. I start with keeping Schilling out...and again, this is not based on his political views. He simply wasn't good enough.

Stoppit Smith wrote:

I'd have never advocated for Halladay, who died in an amphetamine addled plane crash.

He was just another drug addict.

Fair enough.

Flagpole wrote:

Just Another Hobby Jogger wrote:

So what's the minimum wins for a starter?

Sandy Koufax .165-87.

Lefty Gomez. 189-102.

Dennis Eckersley. 197-171. (390 sv.)

Roy Hallady. 203-105.

Don Drysdale. 209-166.

John Smoltz 213-155. (154 sv.)

Fair point...when the number of wins is your best stat, 216 isn't enough.

Koufax - 2.76 ERA and THREE Cy Young Awards

Gomez - Star from the past, but if you look at his career, it wasn't actually THAT great.

Eckersley - He's in because he was a shut down reliever Deservedly so.

Roy Halladay - 2 Cy Youngs, finished 2nd two other times, better ERA and better win percentage than Schilling.

Don Drysdale - A Cy Young and much better ERA and winning percentage, but I wouldn't have put him in.

John Smoltz - Deserved to get in based on being a starter and a closer.

Cumulative stats aren't everything. If Mike Trout retired today, he would have 1380 hits and would be nine for nine in top 5 MVP votes. He gets 100% the first time he is on the ballot.

Babe Ruth

Ty Cobb

Mickey Mantle

Willie Mays

Ted Williams

I'll start with those.

I always like Kenny Lofton and Lou Whitaker, but they are both borderline. McGriff should definitely be in.

Raffy Palmeiro had a nice career, albeit tainted

iliveunderabridge247 wrote:

How about Omar Vizquel?

-11 Gold Gloves

-2877 hits

You man want to ask his (soon-to-be ex) wife. (j/k)

Flagpole wrote:

Fair point...when the number of wins is your best stat, 216 isn't enough.

Schilling is 86th in career wins and 15th in career SO.

He is also 57th in WHIP, 52nd in Adj. ERA+, and 8th in K/BB.

Whether those are good enough for HOF or not , the number of wins is not his best stats.

Tom Browning.

Suck on that, incompetent democrat.

C'mon, Flagpole! Thurman Munson! He was probably your neighbor!

For me, the Hall of Fame (in any sport) should have the people that were the best at competing in that sport, relative to their peers.

That final part is the important one...relative to their peers. There is no other way to determine whether Curt Schilling was "better or more deserving" than Cy Young.

I mean, sure, Cy Young has 500+ wins, but does anyone think he'd even make a roster as a pitcher in the 2000s? (And I mean in his prime obviously). Blindingly obvious that he would not. But, for his era, Cy Young was "the cat's meow."

Schilling, well it has been discussed, and I'm of the mind he should, but mostly for his post season efforts. The goal of the game is to be champions, and he did that several times and under bigtime pressure.

The talk of "drugs" is nonsense too, because throughout time, in every sport, people have cheated. End of story. Some just happen to get caught, and they get caught because they are more noticeable when you are THE BEST.

So yea, Rose, Clemens, Bonds, McGwire, A-Rod, Manny Ramierez should all be in.

Also, subjective awards like MVP and Cy Young should be a minor consideration because they are SUBJECTIVE (although stats do influence this).

Finally, Lance Armstrong is a 7 time Tour champion. Doesn't matter what UCI or ASO have to say about it.

butler county sheriff supporter wrote:

Tom Browning.

Suck on that, incompetent democrat.

Little known fact, Tom Browning was childhood friends with Bob Mould. No serious music connoisseur would disagree that Bob Mould should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Just Another Hobby Jogger wrote:

Flagpole wrote:

Fair point...when the number of wins is your best stat, 216 isn't enough.

Schilling is 86th in career wins and 15th in career SO.

He is also 57th in WHIP, 52nd in Adj. ERA+, and 8th in K/BB.

Whether those are good enough for HOF or not , the number of wins is not his best stats.

Schilling's best stats are "analytics" type stats

(JAWS/WAR) and his postseason domination. Before his 34th birthday, he had been a starting pitcher on only one team with a winning record.

I saw Jim Abbott doing an off day run along the Toronto waterfront back in the day . His intensity on his face was intimidating , even for an off day .

No, Rose shouldn't. Here is the rule:

Section D of Major League Baseball Rule 21 states:

1) Any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has no duty to perform, shall be declared ineligible for one year.

2) Any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform, shall be declared permanently ineligible.

I often see Steve Sax at the local Starbucks and he said that the rule is on the wall in every clubhouse and is the first thing you see when entering one.

This rule doesn't apply.

That rule says you are ineligible to play --not ineligible to be inducted into the HOF.

Ackley wrote:

Just Another Hobby Jogger wrote:

Schilling is 86th in career wins and 15th in career SO.

He is also 57th in WHIP, 52nd in Adj. ERA+, and 8th in K/BB.

Whether those are good enough for HOF or not , the number of wins is not his best stats.

Schilling's best stats are "analytics" type stats

(JAWS/WAR) and his postseason domination. Before his 34th birthday, he had been a starting pitcher on only one team with a winning record.

Surprisingly Flagpole does not appear capable of the analysis necessary to recognize Schilling‘s value as a pitcher. Flagpole has epically failed here in his own thread.

Oh Please wrote:

Schilling, well it has been discussed, and I'm of the mind he should, but mostly for his post season efforts. The goal of the game is to be champions, and he did that several times and under bigtime pressure.

.

In a sport like baseball being a champion has little to do with your skills alone and has a huge luck element. You can be a great pitcher on a horrible team and never sniff the post season. You can be a decent pitcher and got hot for 3 weeks and be a postseason legend. Schilling was a better pitcher with the phillies than Boston for example.

Schilling is one of those border line players like Orel Hershiser, David Cone or Kevin Brown who are right on the edge and depending on how you value things you can make arguments either way.