I agree and disagree with everything you said! One day I think Rose, Bonds, etc. should be in the HOF, the next day I'm the total opposite. Very good read. Thanks
That fact that Bonds and Clemens aren't in the HOF for baseball really sours my opinion of the HOF in any regards. I feel like people try to create the HOF as a big deal and have arguments on it....and I get it...but if you aren't going to have the hits leader, home run leader, and one of the best pitchers in the game not in....what exactly is the HOF? Not that anyone cares but I've always been in a "whatever" mode on the HOF until they fix the voting process. I have fond memories of Bonds chasing 73 and watching....going to the tv to make sure I see his AB;s. McGwire and Sosa created an environment baseball needed at the time and it was great. Steroids or no steroids, hitting a baseball is pretty damn hard and they were the best at it. No real comment here David....just spewing. lol Thanks!
Your comment near the end of the piece about Manny and ARod being out in your mind because they were caught cheating sparked a thought - what about Gaylord Perry? How many times was he caught cheating, yet he's in the Hall. I can't recall anyone examining the issue through that lens.
I think they should all be prominently featured in the Hall, but not as members. Once these guys & their contemporaries from the Steroid Era(tm) are all out of eligibility, I hope the Hall creates a committee to consider the question of 'would be in but for the taint of steroids' to resolve the question once and for all (j/k, that last bit is a joke; this argument will never die).
Yeah, that's a good point about Perry. It's a tough topic to decipher honestly and if you ask me on Monday, I might feel differently than I do today, which is what makes it both so frustrating and interesting.
Todd Helton, Ryan Howard, Jeff Kent, David Ortiz, Scott Rolen, Curt Schilling, Gary Sheffield, Billy Wagner.
Helton and Howard were two of the best offensive first basemen of their time. MLB Now did a great job of arguing why Helton should be in. Jeff Kent and Scott Rolen are in the same line as far as I'm concerned. They were both consistently good for many years.
Man, Helton is a good one. I should have written a bit about him because I go back and forth on him myself, but it's easy to get to the "in" side with him in my head too.
We were at the Negro Leagues Museum talking to Buck one day. My four year old son threw a baseball at his grandmother. Buck reached out and caught it. His reflexes were better at 90+ than mine were in my early thirties.
Bobby Abreu might be the most underappreciated great player of his era. His 60.2 bWAR is higher than Ichiro, Piazza, Berra, Vlad Guerrero, Stargell, Sisler and several other Hall of Famers.
I agree and disagree with everything you said! One day I think Rose, Bonds, etc. should be in the HOF, the next day I'm the total opposite. Very good read. Thanks
That fact that Bonds and Clemens aren't in the HOF for baseball really sours my opinion of the HOF in any regards. I feel like people try to create the HOF as a big deal and have arguments on it....and I get it...but if you aren't going to have the hits leader, home run leader, and one of the best pitchers in the game not in....what exactly is the HOF? Not that anyone cares but I've always been in a "whatever" mode on the HOF until they fix the voting process. I have fond memories of Bonds chasing 73 and watching....going to the tv to make sure I see his AB;s. McGwire and Sosa created an environment baseball needed at the time and it was great. Steroids or no steroids, hitting a baseball is pretty damn hard and they were the best at it. No real comment here David....just spewing. lol Thanks!
Your comment near the end of the piece about Manny and ARod being out in your mind because they were caught cheating sparked a thought - what about Gaylord Perry? How many times was he caught cheating, yet he's in the Hall. I can't recall anyone examining the issue through that lens.
I think they should all be prominently featured in the Hall, but not as members. Once these guys & their contemporaries from the Steroid Era(tm) are all out of eligibility, I hope the Hall creates a committee to consider the question of 'would be in but for the taint of steroids' to resolve the question once and for all (j/k, that last bit is a joke; this argument will never die).
Yeah, that's a good point about Perry. It's a tough topic to decipher honestly and if you ask me on Monday, I might feel differently than I do today, which is what makes it both so frustrating and interesting.
My Ballot
Todd Helton, Ryan Howard, Jeff Kent, David Ortiz, Scott Rolen, Curt Schilling, Gary Sheffield, Billy Wagner.
Helton and Howard were two of the best offensive first basemen of their time. MLB Now did a great job of arguing why Helton should be in. Jeff Kent and Scott Rolen are in the same line as far as I'm concerned. They were both consistently good for many years.
Man, Helton is a good one. I should have written a bit about him because I go back and forth on him myself, but it's easy to get to the "in" side with him in my head too.
Buck story
We were at the Negro Leagues Museum talking to Buck one day. My four year old son threw a baseball at his grandmother. Buck reached out and caught it. His reflexes were better at 90+ than mine were in my early thirties.
That's a great story! And I don't think you're even close to alone in that realization haha.
Abreu
Bonds
Clemens
Jones
Kent
Ortiz
Ramirez
Rodriguez
Rolen
Schilling
Bobby Abreu might be the most underappreciated great player of his era. His 60.2 bWAR is higher than Ichiro, Piazza, Berra, Vlad Guerrero, Stargell, Sisler and several other Hall of Famers.
Abreu is a good one too. I go back and forth on him a lot.
If you can find the episode(it's a few years old), Brian Kenny did a good job of making his case for the HOF.