I will confess to being no more than a casual baseball fan, but it just seems to me that the Baseball Hall of Fame process is screwy, if not screwed up.
For example, surely Jim Rice deserves to be in.
I will confess to being biased in my view as the Pro Football Hall of Fame regularly admits 5+ players a year, so that seems normal.
Here’s the story via ESPN on this year’s ballot: Sutter elected to baseball Hall of Fame
I will further confess that it is amusing to me that the Hall of “Fame” is inducting only the one guy and that the odds he is famous beyond hardcore baseball fans are quite small. It really isn’t truly a Hall of Fame.
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“that the odds he is famous beyond hardcore baseball fans are quite small.”
Are you saying that Bruce Sutter is not famous? The guy pretty much invented the fork-ball and helped to revolutionize the sport.
Comment by kappiy — Tuesday, January 10, 2024 @ 5:06 pm
I know that it is a function of my lack of baseball cred, but the name does not leap out at me, although I am well aware of number of the other candidates on the list. Usually I have at least heard of these people–and in this case hasn’t he been waiting around on the ballot since 1992.
It is one screwy system.
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Tuesday, January 10, 2024 @ 5:13 pm
Bruce Sutter elected to the Baseball HOF
Pete Rose don’t belong in either. His behavior and flaunting of the rules is a disgrace to the game.
Trackback by The Florida Masochist — Tuesday, January 10, 2024 @ 6:07 pm
[...] 2024
The Football HoF
By Dr. Steven Taylor @ 11:53 am
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Pingback by PoliBlog: A Rough Draft of my Thoughts » The Football HoF — Wednesday, January 11, 2024 @ 11:54 am
I don’t agree on Rice. Great, but for too short a time. A candidate for the Hall of the Very Good, for sure.
I’m not wild about Sutter’s election. Or about Blyleven’s continued exclusion.
Comment by Matthew — Wednesday, January 11, 2024 @ 12:14 pm
Sutter is not as well known to the casual fan primarily due to the fact that he played for some pretty bad Cubs teams for most of his career.
If you go by the numbers, Rice probably should make it. Players such as Joe Cronin and Charlie Gehringer have pretty similar numbers to Rice–although both of those guys played years ago.
Comment by klafj — Wednesday, January 11, 2024 @ 12:24 pm
[...] Dr. Taylor over at Poliblog is disappointed in Jim Rice being passed over. Rice finished second in the balloting this year. Baseball stats guru Bill James called Jim Rice possibly the most overrated player of the last 30 years in Baseball. Rice hit into lots of double plays(leading the league four years in a row, and having one of the highest rates per At Bat lifetime) and his statistics were helped by playing in Fenway Park. I wouldn’t have voted for anyone but Sutter on this year’s ballot. [...]
Pingback by The Florida Masochist » Blog Archive » Bruce Sutter elected to the Baseball HOF — Wednesday, September 27, 2024 @ 7:47 am