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.
|
|
| 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
Well said. Ol' Murph should have been a little more flamboyant and attracted some attention instead of being such a nice guy. /sarc
You raise a good point and it leads to a point that hasn't been made here: With all the closures, cutbacks, layoffs and buyouts in the newspaper business, perhaps we're looking at a situation that is different than the past. You need 10 years covering baseball to get a vote. But how many 25-40 year veterans are left among the newspaper voters?
What percentage of today's voters saw the beginnings of the careers of many of these eligible players?
The following players are on this Years Veteran's committee ballot which will be announced March 2:
Dick Allen, Bobby Bonds, Ken Boyer, Rocky Colavito, Wes Ferrell, Curt Flood, Joe Gordon, Gil Hodges, Elston Howard, Jim Kaat, Mickey Lolich, Sparky Lyle, Marty Marion, Roger Maris, Carl Mays, Minnie Minoso, Thurman Munson, Don Newcombe, Tony Oliva, Vada Pinson, Ron Santo, Luis Tiant, Joe Torre, Maury Wills, Smoky Joe Wood
HEre are the upcoming HOF classes (those in bold are my picks for those years):
2007: Harold Baines, Derek Bell, Dante Bichette, Bobby Bonilla, Jeff Brantley, Jay Buhner, Ken Caminiti, Jose Canseco, Eric Davis, Tony Fernandez, Tony Gwynn, Darryl Hamilton, Pete Harnisch, Charlie Hayes, Glenallen Hill, Ken Hill, Stan Javier, Wally Joyner, Ramon Martinez, Mark McGwire, Paul O’Neill, Gregg Olson, Cal Ripken Jr., Bret Saberhagen, Jeff Shaw, Kevin Tapani, Devon White, Bobby Witt
2008: Shawon Dunston, Travis Fryman, David Justice, Mike Morgan, Tim Raines, Randy Velarde
2009: Mark Grace, Rickey Henderson, Dean Palmer, Dan Plesac, Matt Williams
2010: Andres Galarraga, Edgar Martinez, Robin Ventura
Thanks for the link mwyounce. So over a 4 year period with the Braves, a good chunk of his career, he had 10 wins and 11 losses and about a 4.5 ERA.
What I meant regarding his holding the Braves back for 5 years was that his huge contract was paid to him for several years AFTER he retired.
I wouldn't have voted him in. Mostly he just threw the ball in the dirt and hitters just waved at it.
But I'm not bitter or anything. :^)
Mattingly had some good stats in the 80s, but over his career he was merely above average, ie not Cooperstown material.
Bruce Sutter does not belong in the Hall of Fame. Who are you people kidding.
I wonder if the Hall cooked the books just to get an inductee this year?
The cutoff is five percent, or 26 of the 520 ballots.
Ron had the homers but he had only two seasons over 100 RBIs. He never hit .300 and his .261 lifetime BA is pretty dismal along with his slugging percentage.
Actually, I was referring to the time Goose smashed his face in with one that was high and tight.
'81 World Series
Do you really think that sportswriters,especially since most were only young kids at the time, hold this against Goose?
I dunno. I was fairly young - a teenager - and it is my most indelible memory of Goose.
you've got to be kidding with the Robin Ventura pick right?
maybe for getting his head beaten in by Nolan Ryan :)
NO, I did not mean to include Ventura. Gallaraga is probably a longshot, but I am a braves fan so the Big Cat gets my vote.
LOL
I think Gallraga will get in at some point but I kinda doubt it will be the first year.....
Plus, Big Cat will benefit from the type of Performance extrapolation others were talking about earlier. Voters will look at his year lost to Cancer and the fact that his performance was outstanding even afterward and consider what his stats would have been had he not had the illness.
If anything you said about Blyleven was true, then why did he make only 2 All-Star teams, and why was he on 5 different teams throughout his career (distinguished from some like Steve Carlton, who was on several teams at the end of his career when he was trying to hang on)? Blyleven was never considered to be one of the top 10 pitchers at any time during his career. Winning 15-16 games a year for 20 years does not make one a dominent pitcher, nor does completing all of those games (which means either he had a lousy bullpen or a dopey manager).
Rick Aguilera received votes based upon his stellar relief pitching for the Twins, which included the 1991 World Series winning team.
I don't know.
Generally when you have to make an argument like that for a player, he won't get in on the first ballot.
Martinez is in because, and correct me if I am wrong, he has 3000 hits. And both were dominant players in their time.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.