Fair or not, I think some players make it in with very good numbers, but also because they seem to take on the team identity. Ripken was the Orioles, Gwynn was the Padres. And Kirby Puckett was easily the most popular Twin for a long, long time. Numbers are certainly important, but does anyone think that Ozzie Smith should have been a first ballot, Hall of Famer with his numbers? But since he was the Cardinal icon for so many years, he was a shoo-in.
I think one of the problems Ron Santo has is that he was in the shadow of Billy Williams and Ernie Banks, and to a lesser extent, Fergie Jenkins. Dave Parker was in Stargell's shadow, Dawson was in Gary Carter's shadow, then Ryne Sandberg's. As for Murphy, I would have thought that he owned Atlanta, and would have been an early inductee. I guess I'm missing something there.