Posted on 01/10/2006 11:09:01 AM PST by commish
Edited on 01/10/2006 12:59:51 PM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
NEW YORK -- Bruce Sutter was elected to the Hall of Fame on Tuesday, just the fourth relief pitcher given baseball's highest honor.
Sutter, the first pitcher elected to the Hall with no career starts, was listed on 76.9 percent of the ballots cast by 10-year members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. The split-finger pioneer collected 400 of a record 520 ballots.
"It was the call you always hope for, but you never really expect it to happen," Sutter said, adding that he cried when he received the notification. "I can't tell you what in means to me, in words."
Players needed 390 votes (75 percent) to gain election. Boston Red Sox slugger Jim Rice fell 53 short, finishing second with 337 votes (64.8 percent), one ahead of reliever Goose Gossage.
Sutter was on the ballot for the 13th time, the first player elected so late since Ralph Kiner in 1975. Rice was appearing for the 12th time and has three years remaining on the writers' ballot. Gossage was on the ballot for the seventh time.
It might be difficult for Rice and Gossage to gain votes next year, when Cal Ripken Jr., Tony Gwynn and Mark McGwire appear on the ballot for the first time. Each voter may select up to 10 players.
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| Bruce Sutter during his pre-beard, 1979 days with the Cubs. (AP) |
Andre Dawson was fourth with 317 votes, followed by Bert Blyleven (277), Lee Smith (234), Jack Morris (214), Tommy John (154) and Steve Garvey (135).
Pete Rose, baseball's banned career hits leader, received 10 write-in votes in what would have been his final year of eligibility. Stricken from the ballot after going on the banned list for betting on Cincinnati while managing the team, Rose was written in on 249 of 7,207 ballots (3.5 percent) over 15 years.
Sutter was a six-time All-Star and the 1979 NL Cy Young Award winner, compiling 300 saves during a 12-season major career with the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis and Atlanta. He is 19th on the career saves list.
Sutter said fellow relievers Gossage and Smith also should be in the Hall.
"I just think sometimes the voters try to compare us with the starting pitchers," he said. "Without us, it's tough to win."
When he first appeared on the ballot in 1994, Sutter received 109 votes (23.9 percent). His percentage rose to 66.7 last year, when Wade Boggs and Ryne Sandberg were elected and Sutter fell 43 votes short.
Rice's percentage increased to 64.8 from 59.5 last year, and Gossage's rose to 64.6 from 55.2, which bodes well for the pair. The highest percentage of votes gained by a player who wasn't elected in a later year was 63.4 by Gil Hodges in 1983, his final time of the ballot.
Albert Belle received 40 votes (7.7 percent) and was the only player among the 14 first-time candidates to receive 5 percent, meaning he will remain on the ballot next year. Among those dropped were Will Clark (23 votes), Dwight Gooden (17), Willie McGee (12) and Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen (5).
Sutter will be inducted into the Hall during ceremonies on July 30 in Cooperstown, N.Y. The Veterans Committee doesn't vote this year, but a special Negro leagues and pre-Negro leagues selection committee meets Feb. 27 in Tampa, Fla. AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service
Maybe his mom is a sport writer??
Gads. I feel old because I have a lot of those baseball cards.
Rice over the goose????
People obviously chose the top reliever and hitter in their minds.
Turns out he did get less than 10% of the vote, but why would you say this? Just because the guy was a prick shouldn't keep him excluded, particularly with his numbers. Unless you state that the guy was 'roided up, it's an absolute joke that someone with his numbers isn't in there: his 162 game average for home runs and rbi's is 40 and 130, respectively. He was an All-Star 5 times in 12 years, and finished in the Top 5 for MVP 3 times. And the man had 9 years in a row with 100 or more rbi's, including 2 years where he only played in 106 and 143 games.
Why shouldn't he be in?
You deserved to get in.
If I had a vote, I'd vote for Dave Parker.
He played for eighteen seasons and for about five years while he was in Pittsburgh he was the most complete major league outfielder I've ever watched.
The fans and the media hated him so I doubt he'll ever see Cooperstown.
Awards are a piece of the puzzle; they certainly help. But they definitely don't tell the whole story. And players who play for bad teams shouldn't be punished for not making it to the post season. Teddy Ballgame didn't spend much time in the post season, as I recall.
I think Bert's strikeouts, shutouts, and wins speak for themselves. We'll just have to disagree on it. I don't think Morris's numbers stand up as well.
I was being sarcastic.
So are strike outs, which is one of the primary stats the pro-Bert people are touting. Fine, he had a lot of shut outs and (I believe) won the 3rd most "1-0" games of all time. What other reasons are there to vote this man in? When was Blyleven ever considered to be anything ever than an above-average pitcher? He was never considered dominent; never considered to be anywhere near the elite.
In this day and age of better training regimenes, just because one played long enough to accumulate great stats doesn't mean they're HOF worthy. Bert is a prime example. And I should throw Tony Perez into that mix. Who would you rather have on your team - Tony Perez or Jim Rice, Albert Belle, or Andre Dawson?
Good question. Let's compare the career #s:
Sutter: 12 seasons, 2.83 ERA, 861 SOs, and a World Series ERA of 4.70 in 8 innings pitched.
Gossage: 22 seasons, 3.01 ERA, 1502 SOs, and a World Series ERA of 2.63 in 14 innings.
No, we can't just disagree - I'm right and you're wrong. (/sarcasm)
As I stated in response to another poster, my main problem with Bert is that I just don't think he was anything more than an above-average pitcher, regardless of the teams he played on. It just seems to me that we're allowing in players who were above-average, but played long enough to have career stats that look good (although Bert's shut outs is nothing to spit at, regardless of the length of his career). Nolan Ryan and Steve Carlton both played on teams just as bad, but look at their numbers in comparison.
It was a joke that Sutter had to wait this long to get in, and it's a complete joke that Gossage and Smith are not yet in. Hopefully within the next few years.
He deserves it.
Is Sutter the first Mennonite in the Hall of Fame?
Hopefully this is what the goose needed for next year
Teddy Ballgame's credentials were also impeccable. Heck, he defined 'American' with two stints in the Marine Corps flying combat and being one of the best, arguably The Best, hitters of all time. How could any ink-stained wretch argue with that? Jim Rice on the other hand.....
What about Mattingly???
Dwight Gooden and Rick Aguilera actually received votes? Even this Mets fan is stunned!
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