Posted on 01/12/2009 11:24:22 AM PST by GreatOne
LOL. Good point. I would not be suprised to find out that Pete can’t read. He was not the brightest bat in the rack.
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Amen to that. in fact, Raines is the second-gretest lead-off man of all time after Rickey. His career OBP was, what, 40 points higher than Lou Brock's? And Brock got in on the first ballot, while Raines is stuck under 25% for the second straight year. Ridiculous.
And I make this comparison with all due respect to Lynn, who was one of my favorite players from the 1970’s.
Look at this comment and then get back to me:
If this isn’t a perfect illustration of the frustration that Blyleven had to endure pitching for bad teams, I don’t know what is!
Maybe he was accounting for the glove play and the baserunning? I don’t know, it may not have been the most accurate of opinions, but it sure was a fascinating answer to me.
Ditto for Ron Santo. He has a higher career batting average than Mike Schmidt, most of it during the pitcher's era from 1962-69, whereas Schmidt played most of his career afterward. Santo could field almost as well as Brooks Robinson, the gold standard for third basemen, and completely outshined him in producing runs. Nobody but an idiot will argure Schmidt or Robinson don't belong. With Santo being so close to both, I don't see how he can keep getting passed over either.
Jim Rice and Rickey Henderson, two former Boston Red Sox players, make it into the Baseball HOF! Way to go! :)
McGuire?
Only if they open a wing for steriod/HGH freaks. They could bronze his ass, and put a big brass syringe sticking out of one of the cheeks. His would be on display next to Bonds, Clemens, the cheating slugger from the Cubs who’s name escapes me right now, Canseco, the MVP from the Yankees.
Indeed, this wing would have a full bronze sculpture of Bud Selig. He’d be seated at a table with microphones on it testifying to Congress.
“It’s hard to imagine that anyone viewing Williams in 1941 or in 1957 would think he wasn’t as good as Lynn in 1975 or 1979.”
Agree, but consider these added intangibles: Lynn was a ROOKIE!!, and he was perhaps the greatest center fielder that I’d ever seen. He wasn’t the hitter that Williams was, but he was the best hitter on the team, and carried them on his back to game 7 of the World Series. He was A/L. MVP, Rookie of the Year, and Golden Glove winner, ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!
If that’s a true story, it’s a classic. A guy with an ego like that, with as much enthusiasm for the game, that valued the check itself more than the money it was worth; to me that just makes me like him more.
I don’t think anyone in Cincinnati ever thought Petey was a nice guy, but betting or no betting, he downright played himself into my hall of fame.
Rickey had tons of classics. Here’s another one... In the late 1980s, the Yankees sent Henderson a six-figure bonus check. After a few months passed, an internal audit revealed the check had not been cashed. Current Yankees GM Brian Cashman – then a low-level nobody with the organization – called Rickey and asked if there was a problem with the check. Henderson said, “I’m just waiting for the money market rates to go up.”
Why he isn’t on TV with his own show is beyond me.
I think Bert will get in, eventually. I think this year was closer than previous years. I’ll be pulling for him.
I was also wondering how HOF eligibility works for anybody who continues playing in their sport of expertise after their major league professional playing days are over. Most people would probably be surprised with how many former professional athletes continue to play competitively in their sport of expertise after their major league playing days are officially over. Bill Lee, Bruce Hurst, Mark Fidrych, Pete Maravich, among many other athletes, continued playing after retiring from the highest level of their sport. Ironically, Pete Maravich died from a heart attack at the age of forty, while playing basketball in a church league pickup game.
Henderson is easily one of my favorite players of all time next to Tony Gwynn
Several things wrong with your observation. Foremost, Pete Rose is NOT the greatest player ever. Not even close.
It's not a problem so long as you're not playing professionally (MLB or minor league affiliate). In fact, I believe Henderson spent some time with an unaffiliated semi-pro team trying to work his way back to the bigs.
Accumulation of career stats means that one has consistently produced, at the major league level, for a LONG time.
It might not be flashy, but there's something to be said for endurance.
Although I *do* agree about the baseball card factor: except for Ricky Henderson, whose card I would gleefully burn with a magnifying glass...
Cheers!
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