Posted on 01/04/2005 11:42:36 AM PST by IndyTiger
Wade Boggs was overwhelmingly elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility Tuesday, and Ryne Sandberg made it with just six votes to spare on his third try.
Boggs, a five-time American League batting champion for the Boston Red Sox (news), was selected by 474 of the record 516 voters who are 10-year members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
The 91.86 percent of ballots he received was the 19th-highest percentage in Hall history, and he became the 41st player elected on his first chance.
Sandberg, the 1984 National League MVP for the Chicago Cubs (news), was picked by 393 voters. He appeared on 76.2 percent of ballots, just above the 75 percent cutoff (387). Sandberg received 49.2 percent of votes in 2003 and got 61.1 percent last year, falling 71 votes short.
Results of voting by the Veterans Committee will be released March 2. Gil Hodges, Tony Oliva and Ron Santo were among the 25 candidates on that ballot.
(Excerpt) Read more at story.news.yahoo.com ...
The only chance we have at a unanimous vote is Ripken and you are right, he won't get it. Baseball writers are a funny bunch and there are always a handful that will be stupid.
Both of these guys will get over 90% on the first ballot. You can't really rank players above that threshold because of the strength of ballots from year to year.
And they won't vote Munson.
Best "HITTER", not best player, IMHO. In the end it is all just a MOO, right
The point is that a baseball player fields, throws, and hits. (With the pitchers getting an excception). If a guy is a great fielder, and nothing else, he won't get in. If a guy is a great hitter and a poor fielder, he can get in. But, if a guy is so bad in the field that he can't even play in the field, then that ought to count for something.
Buckner is probably the best player that will never get into the HOF. He will only be remembered for one thing. No justice for Bill.
Jack Morris should definitely go in. Guidry as well. If there are enough voters in American League cities Martinez might make it.
No one mentioned him, but what about Fred McGriff? Consistenly good numbers, but not great.
Smith was in a class by himself as a shortstop -- as shown by his well-earned Hall of Fame induction despite a very marginal career from an offensive standpoint. They recently had a historical special edition of "This Week In Baseball," and I couldn't believe how many times Smith made the weekly highlights with defensive plays that were eye-popping by any standards.
Sports radio legend Art Rust Jr. describes one play in particular as the greatest he had ever seen. Smith goes to his left on a hard grounder up the middle that looks like a sure single into center field. Just as he leaves his feet and extends himself to dive for the grounder, the ball hits the second base bag and changes direction. It bounces up in the air and slightly toward left-center field from its original trajectory, and Smith (while still airborne) reaches up and back with his bare right hand and snatches the ball out of mid-air. He starts a double play by flipping the ball to the second baseman even before his body hits the ground.
Holy sh!t, that man could play baseball.
You guys are probably right. They were both dominant during the time I was most interested in baseball which colored my thoughts. Both will get in. Orel's consecutive scoreless innings streak makes him a sure thing.
HOF pitching will be revalued in the next few years, IMHO. It may be 20 years before another pitcher hits 300 wins -- if ever. It takes 15 seasons of 20 wins to reach that milestone. Even great pitchers will be lucky to break 200 wins.
The real shock will be when the first guy with 500 home runs is snubbed.
Great story about Ryno.
Did you happen to ask him why Joe Morgan is so jealous of him and/or hates him? GUARANTEE that Morgan skips this year's ceremony because he will not want to shake Ryno's hand.
Ripken didnt need the range, he was simply smart enough to play the situation...
ever read Men at Work by George Will? its enlightening if you never watched Ripken day to day like I did when I lived in Pennsylvania....
Guidry was awesome and was nearly unhittable for a few years. Where is he today?
Do you take the same limiting view with respect to relief pitchers making the Hall of Fame? Like the DH, the closer is a specialized role that has developed in baseball's modern era. If it's an integral part of the game that these positions exist today, then shouldn't the best of them be acknowledged?
Apparently there are 393 people that sat in the dugout or the press box that disagree with you.
Sandberg was one of the best second basemen to EVER play the game.
I think they are different. The DH exists solely to give old-fart home run hitters more years to hit home runs.
I guess the problem is that, traditionally, closer wasn't really something you made a career out of - it's where you go when you've got some good stuff but can't hack it as a starter any more. Dennis Eckersley spent 11 years as a starter before heading for the bullpen. Hell, look at Jon Smoltz, for that matter. And DH is pretty much the same way - DH is where you stick the guy who can still swing the bat, but he's got a gimpy knee or he's too fat or too old or just too slow to play the field. Now, with relievers, that's changing some, and you see more and more guys like Rivera who really do make careers out of being a closer, but DH is going to carry the feel of "dumping ground for broken fielders" for some time, I think, which is going to continue to be a hindrance to players who have their eyes on the Hall.
Fair point, and one that should be considered on a player-by-player basis. But I'd say that a player who plays a substantial portion of his career as a DH shouldn't be penalized because he didn't play another position. I'm not necessarily saying they should be in the HOF, but I'd give guys like Edgar Martinez (69% of career games at DH), Harold Baines (58%) and Paul Molitor (44%) as full consideration as any player.
Before the advent of the DH, that position was often referred to as first base. Many a prolific hitter was shifted over to 1B at the tail-end of their careers, where they persisted as a below average fielder that hurt the team defensively. I agree with your assessment that this perception of the DH position will be a hindrance to making the HOF. I'm just not convinced it's a fair one.
What does that have to do with his batting ability? Is there something magic about the area between first and second base that sucks your hitting powers away? Rogers Hornsby played 2B, and he had 500 more RBIs than Ryno, with 200 fewer at-bats.
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