Hall of Fame

[Nacho]

McGwire
Lee Smith

[fathedX]

I think Bonds will get in no matter what, although it wouldn't surprise me if he is not voted in on the first ballot (that kinda sounds like a baseball writer's tactic, no?).  You can argue Bonds was HOF material before he got juicy.  McGwire and Sosa?  Maybe not.

[ultimate7]

They didn't let Rose in, Bonds is going to serve time very likely, he'll probably be band

[Metal King]

Bonds will get in someday, gotta wait until at least 2013 for that I believe. Sosa with his 609 homers may easily get him in, and overall he was a better player than McGwire. I dunno, maybe we'll see all 3 of 'em in there someday.

Santo definitely deserves to be in, should have for years already.

[Attezz]

The plaques are dumb as shit anyway.

All of these players are already in the hall of fame, just not the stupid part.

[BeefMaster]

The Hall of Fame has created a "Modern Era Committee" to consider players primarily from the 70s and 80s.  As one would expect, it's got lots of RBIers:

    Don Mattingly
    Jack Morris
    Dale Murphy
    Alan Trammell
    Steve Garvey (arcade)
    Luis Tiant (arcade)
    Ted Simmons (arcade)

Most obvious omission would appear to be Lou Whitaker (Joe Posnanski makes the case that he might have been better than Trammell), but there are also folks complaining about the lack of Bobby Grich, Dwight Evans, and Willie Randolph.

[fightonusc]

there are also folks complaining about the lack of Bobby Grich, Dwight Evans, and Willie Randolph.

Sig lined.

[ultimate7]

Trammell deserves to get it, I would love to see Tiant make it.  Wouldn't mind the others except for Garvey.

[Shooty]

If I remember correctly, Whitaker has one of the highest WARs for a position player* that literally got no consideration for the Hall.  Trammell is only slightly behind.  I get that they were never top 10 players (except for Trammell in 87), but there's something to be said for consistency.  Its also really odd since they were "one team" players which Hall of Fame voters usually love.  It would be great to see them both go in the Hall together as they were pretty much mirror images of each other in terms of skill set and stats. 

*I think Bill Dahlen is first in terms of snubs.  The guy played for 21 (1891-1911) years and had a 75+ WAR.  The Hall put so many mediocre players with half his stats in during the early years, not sure why Dahlen hasn't gotten in even to this day.  Seriously, they just elected Deacon White a few years back (and he retired in 1890).  He had 30 less WAR.  If you are going to go back and fix past snubs, start with Dahlen for god's sake.

[nomaaa]

its funny that his fielding would be contemplated to see if it lives up to the hall of fame standards, where most of the guys included wore gloves to field baseballs

[BeefMaster]

its funny that his fielding would be contemplated to see if it lives up to the hall of fame standards, where most of the guys included wore gloves to field baseballs

I think most of these discussions have to be considered in the context of their play relative to the league at the time.  The guys from the 1890s would be laughed off a Legion ball field with their tiny gloves with no webbing and terrible range, but they also played in a league where that applied to everyone, and fielding percentages that would get you booed off a modern field were the norm.

If we compared early 1900s Hall of Famers to modern players directly, then we'd have to induct literally everyone in Major League Baseball.

[Gantry]

Even the Philly Phanatic? 

[Shooty]

Just learned this:

Trammell had a higher WAR in the 1980s than first ballot HOFers Cal Ripken and Ozzie Smith.

[Gantry]

Is WAR a cumulative stat?  If so then Ripken not being full time until the 1982 season likely explains that. 

[Shooty]

Is WAR a cumulative stat?  If so then Ripken not being full time until the 1982 season likely explains that.

Yes, but still pretty impressive considering Ripken had some of the highest WAR seasons of all time in the 80s.

[Gantry]

As impressive as my face?

[fathedX]

Let's not get crazy

[Gantry]

[BeefMaster]

Just learned this:

Trammell had a higher WAR in the 1980s than first ballot HOFers Cal Ripken and Ozzie Smith.

This is no surprise at all to Reds.

[Gantry]

I'm pretty sure I had a higher WAR in the 80s than Ozzie Smith