Tag: Hall of Fame

08 class missing Marvin Miller

“I congratulate the Hall of Fame for electing five new members. I am particularly pleased that former Commissioner Bowie Kuhn is among those who have received this great honor. Bowie was a close friend and a respected leader who served as Commissioner during an important period in history, amid a time of change.”

– MLB Commissioner Bud Selig

I wish I could share Bud’s enthusiam for Bowie Kuhn’s induction but I can’t. Especially when they didn’t have the foresight to elect Marvin Miller.

Shawn from Squawking Baseball puts it best in his article, The Hall of Fame has Issues when he says that “Kuhn, on the other hand, simply did his best to avoid failure.”

I’m quite disappointed that Miller didn’t make it in and that’s compounded by the fact that Kuhn did.

Danny Murtaugh: Where’s the love?

I’m a little surprised that so far in my super scientific poll which asks “Which manager would you vote to induct into the Hall of Fame?”, that Danny Murtaugh has received nary a vote.  He certainly has some credentials in his vitae.  Daniel Edward Murtaugh was born in 1917 in Chester, PA and even at full … Continue reading “Danny Murtaugh: Where’s the love?”

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I’m a little surprised that so far in my super scientific poll which asks “Which manager would you vote to induct into the Hall of Fame?”, that Danny Murtaugh has received nary a vote.  He certainly has some credentials in his vitae. 

Daniel Edward Murtaugh was born in 1917 in Chester, PA and even at full stature was a small man at 5’9″ and 165 lbs.  He of course, is best known as the manager who led the Pittsburgh Pirates to five first place finishes and two World Series championships.  However, he had a playing career as a secondbaseman for the Phillies, Braves, and Pirates. 

Murtaugh’s prowess with the bat was nothing to write home about.  In his nine years in the majors, he accumulated only 8 homeruns and 219 rbis.  His runs scored (263) and on-base percentage (.331) weren’t much better even if you neutralize them for the time period he played in. 

He did however, placed ninth in the MVP voting in 1948, his first year with the Pirates.  That year, he hit .290 with 71 rbis.  He was also a good fielding secondbaseman leading the league in putouts, assists and double plays that same year. 

But that’s not why he’s on the ballot. 

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He’s up for election to the Hall of Fame in 2008 for his managerial ability.  For 15 years, he managed the Pirates to a 1115-950 record.  Of those 15 years, they finished first one-third of the time.  He brought the town of Pittsburgh a World Championship two times separated by 10 years (1960, 1971). 

Thanks in part to the Pirates’ defeat of the Yankees in the World Series of 1960, Murtaugh was named Sport Magazine’s “Man of the Year”. 

Danny Murtaugh died December 2, 1976 in Chester, PA, the same town he was born.

 

O’Neil award a step in a right direction…

…but it’s still not enough. Negro League player, coach and ambassador for the game Buck O’Neil will be honored at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum with a Lifetime Achievement award. A statue of O’Neil will be erected near the entrance of the museum. (MLB Commisioner Bud) Selig noted that a special committee spent … Continue reading “O’Neil award a step in a right direction…”

…but it’s still not enough.

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Negro League player, coach and ambassador for the game Buck O’Neil will be honored at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum with a Lifetime Achievement award. A statue of O’Neil will be erected near the entrance of the museum.

(MLB Commisioner Bud) Selig noted that a special committee spent 18 months seeking a proper way to pay homage to O’Neil after he was not in the Negro League inductees.

Eighteen months? It took them 18 months to come up with this? Hall of Famer Joe Morgan, who was on the committee, came up with this double speak:

“In some ways it’s going to be bigger than getting a plaque in the Hall of Fame,” Morgan said, denying the move was made to right what many saw as a wrongful exclusion of O’Neil.

Sure, Joe. Easy for you to say. You have your plaque up in the hallowed halls. Morgan continues:

“I don’t think it’s really righting a wrong. I think it’s doing something for someone who was a great amabassador for the game. That’s why you see this.”

Ironically, this isn’t the only time Joe has weighed in on Buck O’Neil.and the Hall of Fame. After Buck was denied induction a year ago, Morgan addressed the situation the most tactful way he could, ” “If you’re asking me, ‘Do we lower our standards to get more people in?’ My answer would be no.”

Forget Joe. Let’s get Buck O’Neil in the Hall of Fame not just the museum.

HOF Speech Audio Links

If you’re interested in listening to Tony Gwynn’s or Cal Ripken’s acceptance speeches at the Hall of Fame ceremonies, MLB.com has it available for download. The text of the speeches (Denny Matthews’ and Rick Hummel’s too)  is available from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum website.

If you’re interested in listening to Tony Gwynn’s or Cal Ripken’s acceptance speeches at the Hall of Fame ceremonies, MLB.com has it available for download.

The text of the speeches (Denny Matthews’ and Rick Hummel’s too)  is available from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum website.

Hall of Fame voting

Let’s hear it for Jay Buhner. He got one vote. Buhner never expected to be on the ballot let alone get any votes. He certainly had the right perspective on the whole matter:

“I didn’t even know I was on the ballot until someone sent it to me on an e-mail two weeks ago,” he said. “Truthfully, it’s flattering to be even mentioned with the names on there, for God’s sakes.”

The HOF voting can be found here.

Ripken’s 98.53% was the third highest in history and highest by position player. A lot has been made of this but I think the voting percentage issue has been overblown by the media.

Tony Gwynn wasn’t far behind with 97.6%. I’ve always felt Tony belonged but never saw him on the same level as Ripken. Then Teddy Ballgame pointed out to me that among those with 3000 hits, Gwynn has the 4th highest batting average. I have to admire the combination of longevity and statistical excellence.

Of course, Mark McGwire didn’t make it. I didn’t think he would. There are still those detractors out there who insist that despite the fact he was 17 homeruns shy of 600 and played on 12 All-Star teams, they voted purely on his stats. I call shenanigans. If you let the cloud of steroids affect your vote, just admit it.

Mac’s 23.5% will keep him on the ballot. The only other first-timer who will stay on will be Harold Baines who snuck by with 5.3.% of the vote.

Goose Gossage didn’t make it but I believe his 71.2% showing will bode well for a 2008 performance. It was a crowded field this year and his good showing now may pave the way for the Hall for the Goose in 08.

One more thing. All this talk about McGwire and alleged (let’s not forget nothing has been proved… yet) steroid use hurting his chances… who were the two jokers who voted for Ken Caminiti, a known, admitted user of steroids which more than likely contributed to his death?

Baseball Zealot Radio- Hot Stove and HOF

Baseball Zealot Radio just posted another show. We recorded on the eve of the MLB Winter Meetings so we spent some time stoking the fires of the Hot Stove. We also took some time to peruse the 2007 Hall of Fame ballot. Take a listen to some good baseball talk.

Baseball Zealot Radio just posted another show. We recorded on the eve of the MLB Winter Meetings so we spent some time stoking the fires of the Hot Stove.

We also took some time to peruse the 2007 Hall of Fame ballot.

Take a listen to some good baseball talk.

Sutter inducted into Hall today

Bruce Sutter’s plaque will now hang in the hall of immortals.

Today is not the time to discuss, deliberate, or debate. Today is his day

My memories of Sutter were when he was a Cub. F’instance, his phenomenal year in 1977 when he had a 1.34 ERA and 31 saves. Of course back then 31 saves meant something; good enough for second in the league. Also, he had 129 strikeouts in 107 1/3 innings.


Sutter in 1979

Then there was 1979. With his league-leading 37 saves and 110 Ks in 101 innings, and a 2.22 ERA, he was not only awarded the Rolaids Relief Award (one of four he would receive) but the Cy Young as well.

A bit of trivia about Sutter; he allowed 2 homeruns to Mike Schmidt in the memorable 23-22 Phillies-Cubs game in 1979. The second one was the game-winner. Fortunately, he usually had better days than this.

The image of Sutter on the plaque is wearing a Cardinals cap. I knew that was coming but I still feel a bit disappointed when I see it. If you see Sutter’s stats, you can see that he had the bulk of his dominating years with the Cubs not to mention it was the team he broke in the majors with. But I’m willing to let it go.