Lando 
Posted on 01/04/2005 11:42:36 AM PST by IndyTiger
Lando
Interesting comment about Edgar Martinez. I wonder how good a DH will have to be in order to get elected to the Hall of Fame. I would make the case that if Martinez belongs in the HOF, then so does Harold Baines.
I don't think a DH should make the HOF unless he does something tremendous such as break the single season or all time home run record. If you can't throw or field a ball, you're not much of a baseball player.
Who's that, the guy who won't vote for Cal?
You're right that Cal will pull a massive number. I suspect that Gwynn will get around 92%. Mark McGwire will also get in. I suspect that baseball's steroid problems as of late will hurt his vote total, but there's no way he doesn't get in.
Of course, "pretty good" describes most of the inductees for the last decade or so, so what the heck - might as well let 'em all in at this point ;)
shafted again!! JUSTICE FOR BILL!!!
I can understand that. In addition, I think DHs will always have a hard time getting into the Hall simply because only one of the two leagues uses them.
Yeah I think McGwire gets in because no one really got into him about the steroids thing one he publicly stopped using Andro.
McGwire was a 500 HR guy with or without roids anyway....
I cant remember the idiots name....its the sports editor for the USA Today....some long haired idiot....
1. His pursuit of Gehrig's record drove him to play every single game for years -- which I believe hurt his overall numbers.
2. Ripken only "revolutionized" the shortstop position in that he proved that a big man could play there. He wasn't a great fielder by any stretch . . . in fact, I've always said he would have been remembered as a better player if he had been a third baseman from the beginning.
Edgar Martinez was actually a pretty good defensive third basemen before his injury proneness forced him out of the field. I don't think that necessarily says anything about how much of a baseball player one is. Does it somehow make you a better ballplayer if you do play in the field, but are a below average fielder? Does that help the team more than a good DH?
Unless you're Sandy Koufax....
Maybe old Murph should have slept around on his wife for a few years like Boggs did, then maybe he'd have had a chance.
Dale Murphy was a two-time MVP in the NL and is my all time favorite player.
he would have been a better 3rd baseman for sure....
and yes the number of games really wore him down, but only at the end of his career, in the middle he was a model of consistency, this is back when a .250 hitter would now hit .310 with the diluted pitching in this league...
But as a SS, he showed that he was just as good as Omar Vizquel and Ozzie and at stretches better. Cal had a stronger arm than both and was just as good turning two....
I remember watching him and Robbie Alomar or him and his brother turn a DP just a smoothly as you would ever want it.
AND he hit 400 homers and 3,000 hits....overall he was a much better player....
Ernie's fielding pct included a large number played at first base. Can't compare to 2b.
You can't do that, Ernie never played 2nd base. Look at 2nd baseman stats and you will see Sandberg was one of the best.
If you want to see an interesting comparison, look at Sandy Koufax's career numbers and Ron Guidry's. They are remarkably similar, and yet nobody considers Guidry a serious HOF candidate -- mainly because his career started late (I think he was a rookie at the age of 27) while Koufax's ended prematurely.
He was, but the HOF pretty much put a stop to it and told him that he couldn't go in as a D-Ray. I am not sure if it got resolved that they would decide what uniform he wears or if he'd get to choose between the Yankees and the Red Sox.
If I were Boggs, that would be a tough choice. The balance of his career was with the Red Sox, but they abandoned him and he moved over to the Yankees, where he won his only World Series.
In any event, congrats to the of them. Goose and Sutter should both get their day in Cooperstown in the next few years. They both deserve it.
As a Red Sox fan who watches Manny Ramirez all year, I can testify to that. He's an amazing hitter, but a running joke in the outfield. A decent arm, but no sense of what to do out there. He once dove to cut off a throw from Johnny Damon that after for no apparant reason, he dropped a ball that would've been the final out of the game, allowing the tying run to score, he had the infamous tumble in the World Series. I could go on forever.
I understand what you're saying, but Banks isn't the best comparison for Sandberg, IMO. That's because Banks played only 45% of his games at SS. The other 55% were at more traditional offensive positions (mostly 1B).
Charles Finley should be exhumed and tortured for even thinking it up.
No DH should ever be elected to the Hall of Fame.
Aside from that, I have no real opinion on the matter.
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.