Comments on: The Hall of Fame announces its non-player candidates

By: Lawrence From Plattekill

Lawrence From Plattekill — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:10:11 +0000

Hey, how about Steinbrenner for the Hall of Fame? If he wasn’t there–that one guy willing to think in terms of owner vs owner rather than owners vs players–would Miller have been nearly as successful as he was?

By: Detroit Michael

Detroit Michael — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:05:26 +0000

I would have liked to see Buck O’Neil on the executives and pioneers slate of candidates.

By: Amol

Amol — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:24:18 +0000

“The other owners and executives don’t impress me all that much. Great, you were rich enough to buy a team and lived long enough for people to forget that you were a sonofabitch when you were younger.”
I’d suggest taking another look at Bill White, as that’s in no way a fair description. I only know a bit about him, specifically that he was the first African American to be league president, but it seems like enough for him to get more than a cursory dismissal.

By: Simon DelMonte

Simon DelMonte — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:00:52 +0000

It would seem that you have demolished my arguments, or at least damaged them. Which just leaves the same unease about Miller’s induction at a gut level. It just feels to me like his achievements are for some other Hall of Fame. Or at least some other wing of this one.
No matter. Someday, when the Veterans Committee is made up of players who supported him in their careers, he’ll get in. But not till then.

By: Craig Calcaterra

Craig Calcaterra — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:31:02 +0000

Well, for starters there are a lot of guys in the Hall whose accomplishments were “off the field,” so that’s a non-starter. I understand the thinking behind the “good for the players and not the game” argument, but I don’t buy it. The game is radically different now than it was before free agency, I’ll grant that. But I think it’s a tall order to say that the game is worse off. More people watch it now. Everyone makes more money. The quality of play remains high. There is competitive imbalance, but is it any worse than what we saw during the alleged Golden Age? Are Royals fans really worse off than St. Louis Browns fans were? Wait, we can’t answer that because there are no more St. Louis Browns.
As for Flood: if you’re inclined to put him in the Hall of Fame, I can’t see how you can argue against Miller. Miller was behind Flood’s challenge in the first place. If failed in his case. Miller persisted and ultimately won with other players what could not be won with Flood alone. Ultimately they were after the same thing, and one succeeded where the other failed. Why honor the guy who failed instead of the one who succeeded? Put less harshly, why honor the name out in front of the challenge instead of the mastermind?
Ultimately my argument for Miller comes down to this: there were three times in baseball history where everything frickin’ changed: the end of the deadball era, the integration of baseball and the advent of free agency. Marvin Miller was the force behind that third one. How can you not honor that?

By: Simon DelMonte

Simon DelMonte — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:25:46 +0000

I’m as pro-union as they come in this day and age, the son of a proud member of the teachers union. And I usually agree with Marvin Miller when he gives interviews on the state of affairs in baseball. But I still feel uncomfortable about having him in the Hall. His accomplishments were off the field. Period. And just don’t know if they helped the game. Helped the players, yes. The game? I don’t think so.
Can I offer a compromise candidate in Curt Flood? Here is a brave man who changed the game as well, but was also a pretty good player. And someone who, unlike Miller, basically lost his career for his principles.

By: Red Sox Fan in ATL

Red Sox Fan in ATL — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:55:50 +0000

“Great, you were rich enough to buy a team and lived long enough for people to forget that you were a sonofabitch when you were younger.”
Wow, that describes HOFer and former Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey to a T.