Comments on: The Veteran’s Committee Hall of Fame nominees are out

By: kountryking

kountryking — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 23:25:04 +0000

He’s always a few votes shy. No justice. I refuse to die until he’s enshrined alongside Jackie, Pee Wee, and the Duke.

By: kountryking

kountryking — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 23:23:45 +0000

He’s had the most votes of anyone not selected. I just can’t understand why he’s not been a winner. There aren’t many of us left who saw him play or remember his legacy.

By: izzy2112

izzy2112 — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 04:43:02 +0000

Wes Ferrell would be a fine choice for the HOF. You forget his value as a pitcher. His career WAR is borderline, but his top 7 seasons put him in a class with the top tier HOFers.

By: simon94022

simon94022 — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 01:44:56 +0000

O’Day is also famous for calling Fred Merkle out in1908, leading to the greatest late season collapse in Giants history. And setting up the Cubs’ second and last World Championship.

By: simon94022

simon94022 — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 01:41:19 +0000

Hank O’Day was revered for his integrity and definitely belongs in the Hall.

By: natstowngreg

natstowngreg — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 20:27:27 +0000

Agree in general, but I agree with Craig about Ruppert. He took over a team that was an afterthought in New York, and helped make it the most successful organization in its sport, ever. Also, he left an organization that continued the success for another quarter-century.

By: albertmn

albertmn — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 20:14:02 +0000

Just because Player/Manager/Owner A was better than some other player/manager/owner that you don’t think deserves to be in does not mean that Player/Manager/Owner A should be in. By that logic, one bad inductee would allow in 30-40% of players that ever played to get in.

By: mrfloydpink

mrfloydpink — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 20:13:14 +0000

Dahlen seems pretty worthy. BR has him 75th all time in WAR, ahead of Derek Jeter, Reggie Jackson, Tony Gwynn, Manny Ramirez, and Willie McCovey, among others. The only people ahead of him on the list who are NOT in the HOF are either (a) not eligible, (b) being kept out because of steroids, or (c) Lou Whitaker. Fangraphs has it about the same, though it’s harder to tell because they separate pitchers from hitters on their all-time charts.

By: Dan McCloskey

Dan McCloskey — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 19:58:05 +0000

Hodges was on last year’s Vets Committee ballot, which covered the era he played in. He received 9 of 16 votes, 3 short of induction.

By: larryfitzgerald4mvp

larryfitzgerald4mvp — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 19:54:31 +0000

While i don’t think he should be a HOFer, i think you misrepresented Marion’s career. Marty Marion was an 8x All Star and an MVP who also won 3 WS with the Cardinals in the 40′s. His offensive numbers are bad, but his defensive numbers are pretty fantastic. Probably not a HOFer, but certainly well-regarded in his day.

By: paperlions

paperlions — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 19:45:30 +0000

Yes, really. Within the context of the era, he wasn’t anything special.

By: natsattack

natsattack — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 19:25:55 +0000

Wes Ferrell had the most HRs as a pitcher, ever, with 38.

By: tmohr

tmohr — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 19:14:48 +0000

Ferrell, according to his SABR bio, had elbow surgery after the 1938 season, which pretty much ended his pitching career.

It didn’t stop him from hitting .332 in 1941 and .361 in 1942 as an outfielder in the minors, though.

By: tmohr

tmohr — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 19:11:58 +0000

Mullane’s good looks earned him the nickname “The Apollo Of The Box,” so his stamina may have been of a different kind.

By: pmcenroe

pmcenroe — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 19:05:06 +0000

that’s because Hodges’ first full season was 1948…

By: kountryking

kountryking — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 18:59:34 +0000

After all these years, not even a mention of Gil Hodges. Damned shame! He should have been in the Hall decades ago.

By: deepstblu

deepstblu — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 18:35:34 +0000

Actually Marion retired after the 1950 season to become the Cardinals’ manager. He was fired after one year, was lured out of retirement by the Browns (Bill Veeck was stocking up on ex-Cardinals, hoping that they would boost attendance) and wound up as their player-manager when Rogers Hornsby wore out his welcome almost instantly.

By: pjmitch

pjmitch — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 18:02:52 +0000

Really?

•Tony Mullane: Won 284 games in 13 major league seasons from 1881-1894. 468 of his 504 games were complete games. Old Hoss Radbourn used to mock his stamina.

By: raysfan1

raysfan1 — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 18:00:02 +0000

I’d like to see 3-4 of these guys in, particularly Rupert and Dahlen. It’s the Vet Committee, though, so I’m not holding my breath.

By: theonlynolan

theonlynolan — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 17:49:48 +0000

Comments like this show a complete lack of understanding of what the Hall of Fame is. Wes Ferrell’s brother is in the hall and Wes was the better player. Tom Yawkey was a racist who never won a championship and he made it to Cooperstown. Rupert is surely more deserving than Yawkey. Dahlen was a contemporary of possibly the worst Hall of Famer of all time, a guy named Tommy McCarthy who nobody even knows why was inducted. The Hall of Fame is full of players who probably didn’t deserve induction. Those who romanticize Cooperstown are foolish. Mistakes have been made and worthy players have been left out. I see three of them on this list.

By: Carl Hancock

Carl Hancock — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 17:16:53 +0000

It’s nominees like this that contribute to watering down the HOF into the Hall of Okay and not even the Hall of Very Good.

By: royalsfaninfargo

royalsfaninfargo — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 17:11:37 +0000

Marty Marion, “took a break for the Korean war”? Really? Im sure anyone who fought in Korea would not describe it as taking a break from anything.

By: contraryguy

contraryguy — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 17:07:22 +0000

Bucky! Bucky! Bucky!

He spent a long time playing the infield w/ Philly before the Reds moved him to full-time pitching after which he had 3 seasons of 300+ IP (was Dusty Baker managing back then?). That has to be taken into account. We’re talking Vets Committee picks here, there will be no ‘pretty’ stat lines in the bunch.

By: theonlynolan

theonlynolan — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 16:01:54 +0000

Wes Ferrell deserves some extra credit for being the best hitting pitcher to ever live. His ERA looks high but it was 16% better than league average over the course of his career. Fun fact about Ferrell is that his brother Rick is one of the worst players ever inducted and Wes was actually the better player. I’d vote for Wes.

By: hushbrother

hushbrother — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 15:29:38 +0000

Colonel Jake Ruppert should definitely be in. Hard to get worked up arguing for any of those other guys.

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 15:28:48 +0000

Agreed, Paper — and not just because I’m a bitter descendant of a minor league player.

By: Paul White

Paul White — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 15:26:38 +0000

I think Dahlen should be in, and has been overlooked for way too long. And if Ruppert isn’t in, I really don’t see why any other owners are in, other than maybe Connie Mack since he managed too.

I think the rest don’t have much of a case.

By: paperlions

paperlions — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 15:11:58 +0000

No offense to Breadon, but the idea and drive to create minor league teams was 100% Rickey’s idea. The fact that the owner went along with the idea isn’t really a reason to put him in the HOF.

There are already too many old owners in the HOF, who did nothing more than treat players like shit, collude to keep salaries low, and collude to exclude minorities from all levels of baseball (on and off the field). Baseball is a great game and MLB history is great largely in spite of the owners, not because of them.

By: largebill

largebill — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 14:55:34 +0000

I’m kind of inclined to vote for none of the above.

By: pmcenroe

pmcenroe — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 14:46:37 +0000

I wonder if Bad Bill Dahlen will get in. I’m sure his mediocre BA is what kept him out originally but BBref has him at a 70 WAR which would warrant inclusion. Interesting case..