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
Mattingly deserves to be in the Hall as much as Darryl Strawberry. It aint going to happen.
The Gooose played longer and has the stats to match. Usually, a vote like this means he will get in next year. Sutter was a shooting-star through the baseball world, Gossage more of a workhorse.
What's the cutoff for being included on next year's ballot? Ten percent? Twenty?
I would tend to agree most times, but next year includes Mark McGwire, Tony Gwynn, and Cal Ripken Jr. -- all basically shoo-in first year selectees. That leaves very little room for Gossage.
Cutoff for this years ballot was around 8% (40 Votes). Albert Belle just made it on to next years ballot, all below him are off the ballot next year.
Jim Rice and to a slightly lesser extent, Andre Dawson, are two of the biggest victims of the steroid induced homer era. These two were real sluggers whose numbers are more impressive than the 400 or 500 homer guys of recent years. Unfortuneately, it only takes a little more than a quarter of the sportswriters to be complete idiots to keep these two out of the HOF
Don't forget Jeffries!
Perhaps the voters recall Jim Rice and Tony Armas setting hit-into-double-play records in back-to-back seasons, or the dramatic falloff in production by Rice after his first 10 seasons. Maybe it was all the two-on, two-out foul pops.
It's amazing how many players belong in the Hall of Fame that don't get in. Makes you wonder if all the voters saw these players. Of course, they're newspaper reporters who sucked up to editors to get good jobs.
But the following absolutely belong: Bert Blyleven, Gossage, Lee Smith (nasty guy hated by writers and teammates), Jack Morris, Tommy John, Steve Garvey, Alan Trammell, Jose Concepcion, Dave Parker, Orel Hersheiser and Willie McGee.
Several may be kept out due to behaviors: Rice, Belle, Parker, Smith and Garvey.
The situation with Garvey is ridiculous. Best big-moment clutch hitter in the game but he got three women pregnant at once. So, OK, he's in the Guys Hall of Fame.
Parker -- most feared National League hitter for a decade.
Concepcion -- greatest range of any shortstop other than Ozzie. Key to the great Cincy teams.
Trammell -- Hall of Fame player for two decades.
Oops, forgot Willie Randolph. Win with Willie. Flawless player key to championship teams.
Hersheiser -- high winning percentage, major-league record for scoreless innings, World Series MVP.
Didn't Morris lead the majors in wins in the 1980s?
Blyleven -- absolutely would have made it had he not been managed by Mauch, who never knew when to take out a pitcher. Almost managed to keep Nolan Ryan out. Bert had best curve of anyone.
McGee -- two batting titles, an MVP, hits leader, huge factor in 82 series win, helped Oakland win Series, etc. Most important, he made teams and teammates better. The kind of guy you trade away a higher average or more RBIs to get because of the intangibles.
What does that mean? Switch gears and look at another sport: Goal-scoring champion Ilya Kovalchuk has 32 goals and is minus-3. That means the other team scores when he's on the ice.
Yankee fans will understand this point as they watch runners tag up from second and third on Johnny Damon, while he hits .300 and they finish second in the division.
He'll be lucky to reach the cutoff man if he's deep in CF at Yankee Stdium.
lol. seriously, i wish i had more time...i'd wear my fingers out digging into stats!
You wrote:
"Blyleven ... was never considered dominant."
Uh, 242 complete games says he was dominant at least 242 times. Blyleven was never considered an average pitcher by anyone in baseball. He was considered an extremely dangerous rival and, at times, unhittable.
Enough with the revisionist history. Try to remember how you felt about going against Blyleven with a series on the line or a chance to make the playoffs.
Henke's stats:
Henke had 311 Saves, 41-42 won-lost in 642 games, 790 innings, 2.67 era, 861 Ks, 255 walks and 64 homers allowed over 14 years.
Sutter & Gossage Stats:
Sutter had 300 saves, 68-71 won-lost in 661 games, 1042 innings, 2.83 era, 861 K`s, 309 walks and 77 homers allowed over 12 years.
Gossage had 310 saves, 124-107 won-lost in 1002 games, 1809 innings, 3.01 era, 1502 K`s, 732 walks and 119 homers allowed over 22 years.
If you include post-season play, Henke is in a class by himself. Unlike any other major closer, he never lost a post-season game and never blew a SV that caused his team to lose a game in either the ALCS or World Series, as Eck did a number of times. He also 'captained' a bullpen that had the longest consecutive number of scoreless innings in postseason play in 1992.
As I say, I'm not saying Henke should have been chosen over individuals like Blyleven, but that he doesn't even make the 'long list' seems odd to me. Can you tell me if Henke just wasn't eligible because of a 'time lapse' requirement for consideration. Henke finished his career (with the Cards) in 1995 when he won the Rolaids Award with a 1.82 era?
Ron Cey?
Didn't Rice have Massachusetts license plate 6 - 4 - 3?
That guy crippled the Braves for at least 5 years as I recall. Did he EVER get a save with them?
are you kidding me? you're comparing apples and strawberries (sorry, I know, bad pun, but...) Darryl was a coke-head with no regard for the game. Mattingly exemplified everything that a ballplayer should be: classy, hard-working, and dedicated to the game and his teammates. True, the last few years of his career were hampered by a bad back, but even with a bad back, he was a feared hitter at the plate. He could put the ball in play anywhere he wanted, not necessarily with the power of his younger years, but enough to move his team along and help them to win games. On top of that, he didn't use steroids unlike some players we all know and, for some reason, have grown to love.
He may be just short of HOF credentials (most similar players being Joe Carter, Duke Snider(*in), Don Baylor, Ron Santo and Gil Hodges), but he deserves a little more respect than this.
Hey there commish. But wasn't the last 2 years of Sutter's "playing days" sitting in the bullpen, hoping his shoulder would heal up?
And Murphy deserves to get in based on 2 NL MVPs, imo.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/suttebr01.shtml
1985 - 7-7 with 23 saves
1986 - 2-0 with 3 saves
1988 - 1-4 with 14 saves
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