Congratuations to Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice on their selection to the National Baseball Hall of Fame!
If you could build your own Hall of Fame, from scratch, who would be in it? How would you go about choosing the very best baseball players of all-time? I’ve thought about those questions from time to time as kind of a fun game, but I didn’t take it very far. It was just an interesting diversion, especially about 20 years ago when I wasn’t as jaded, to look at the backs of baseball cards and try to figure out where players like Andre Dawson and Bert Blyleven ranked among the legends.
Now that we’re getting some minor bits of traffic here, I’ve decided to have a little bit of fun with the whole Hall of Fame idea, and make it interactive to boot. I’m going to establish an O-fers Hall of Fame so that we, the members of the O-fers community, can discuss, argue and bicker over who deserves enshrinement.
Rule 1: The O-fers Hall of Fame only goes back 25 years. Players who have retired since 1984 are eligible. I don’t want to get into a debate (yet) about which old, dead white dude that you never saw play was the best. The year I’m starting with is the year that Garvey broke the Cubs’ hearts. Beck and I saw that game from the living room of his Pinehurst apartment. I think that’s a good year to choose for a beginning.
Rule 2: No more than 5 percent of all players, plus or minus a body or two, are going to make it through the first round. I don’t want this massive honor to be diluted by including too many marginal players.
Rule 3: I’m going to do this in chronological order. We’ll start with all the players who played their last games in 1984. Of those players, I’ll narrow it down to the top 10-12 position players and the top 10-12 pitchers. I’ll put up relevant stats and whatever simple measure of value I can put together. Then anyone who’s interested can throw in their 2 cents. After an appropriate period of time (or as soon as I can get to it), I’ll announce that year’s inductions and we’ll move to the following year.
I’ll probably do 1984 and 1985 together just so a marginal 1984 retiree doesn’t make the O-fers hall undeservedly.
Rule 4: All players not chosen for one year become eligible for any and all following years. Let’s say that in 1984, three position players are chosen, but Bucky Dent just misses the cut. He then becomes eligible for the 1985 class, and if that class is particularly weak, he can take one of the spots. If not 1985, then 1986, and so on.
Rule 5: Once we get to the end, we’ll look back and decide if the hall needs to be smaller (most likely) or bigger (very unlikely). A basic thing we can do is look at a player who is in the O-fers hall and compare him to some players who aren’t. If there’s a whole bunch of guys who look just like him, then he probably wasn’t that special and shouldn’t be enshrined.
Rule 6: At the end, if we have players who clearly deserve to be in, we can revise our list … but only by bumping someone else out.
Rule 7: Above all, it should be fun. Everyone feel free to bicker and nitpick.
We start with 1984, the year that Joe Morgan and Lou Piniella called it quits (as players anyway). Retiring pitchers included Jim Palmer and Tug McGraw. One of the first questions: Just how the heck do we find a reasonable value for relievers?
Good job
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Since MLB knew full well about the rampant steroid use, then anyone roider with the right stats deserves a nod. Except Roger Clemens. He is just a dic and a traitor.
We need some players in this that were not media giants. Just players who went out day after day and did their jobs. If it was getting a base hit everytime up. Catching the ball consistently or just being willing to do what is asked of him. Any suggestions.
Bonds: Emphasis on the HO, har har har!
Oh yuck………………….Ego city with Bonds……
i say let that era in (lates 80′s-early 00′s with an asteriks). My opinion, you still have to make contact with the ball. roids don’t turn a .230 hitter into a .330 hitter, take Mark McGwire for example..263 liftime avg, 6187 at-bats 1626 hits, 1596 strikeouts, 583 hr, 1414 rbi, not HOF material in my eyes! Barry Bonds on the other hand .298 lifetime avg 9847 at-bats, 2935 hits, 1539 strikeouts, 762 hr, 1996 rbi. Granted, Barry played 6 more seasons but they were rookies in 1986! Barry Bonds to me is a HOFER!
yes, I know, I knew as soon as I clicked to send it but couldn’t figure out how to get it back…..so there, smartass….LOL
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The person who suggested Mark Mcgwire (and we all know who that was) said that if we don’t keep the ones with roids then we can’t keep anyone from 1990 to 2006 in there. Also this person not to mention Anphetimines as they all used them.
I guess this is the question, isn’t it: ‘Roids? Induct ‘em anyway or boot ‘em out? What do y’all think?
Okay, as I don’t have a clue I will say Mark Mcgwire. Dispute that coach.
The problem I’m having with relievers is this (and I’ll use Sutter as part of the example):
Bruce Sutter saved 300 games, but in his entire career he only pitched 1,042 innings. He pitched in 661 games during 12 seasons.
Bert Blyleven *completed*, start to finish, 242 games! If you look at his complete games alone, that’s 2178 innings … twice what Sutter pitched in his entire career. And in a sense, Bert “saved” his own game 242 times.
This is not a Bert vs. Bruce problem. I just don’t see how using a pitcher for 100 innings per season is more valuable than using someone for 200-250 innings per season. (And a lot of modern-day relievers, Mariano Rivera, etc., top out at about 70 innings per season. Rivera just passed the 1,000-inning career mark.)
This has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Sutter sucked for his final three years in a Braves uniform.
I’m having a hard time finding players who have been retired since 84 so i’m just gonna start with a man who should be reinstated! “Somebody’s gotta win and somebody’s gotta lose and I believe in letting the other guy lose.” Pete Rose! That’s right, the man himself Pete Rose “Charlie Hustle”! Forget his little gamling problem, we all have our faults, and remember what he accomplished on the field! 17 All Star apperances (started 8), NL ROY in 1963 and MVP in 1973, 4256 “Frickin” hits, that’s rediculous! He averaged 194 hits per 162 games, career BA. of .303, i don’t need to say any more. But I will, sure he played 24 seasons but that just shows his consistency, reinstate the man, at least in the O-fers Hall of Fame!
I have an answer to your relievers question, well, more of a statement really! We can base our final judgement by comparing them with a fella by the name of Bruce Sutter. A relief-pitcher by the way, who never started a game, saved 300, and is in the HOF! That can be our measuring stick.
Well someone put something on here to start this off. But I guess it is winter and no one is thinking baseball right now. Spring is coming.