Spring Break
Hall of fame misses
Adam Loghides
Issue date: 1/14/09 Section: Sports
I know that every eligible candidate can't be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. However, in the wake of the news that Jim Rice and Rickey "Being Rickey" Henderson were elected to the Hall of Fame earlier this week, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the players that should be there but won't be.
Let's start with a couple of former Cubbies (as I always do); Mark Grace and Andre Dawson. Aside from Grace's outstanding 1989 NLCS when he hit .647 in a losing effort, not many people realize one stat that is eye-popping regarding the best Cubs first basemen of this generation. He led the league in hits for an entire decade. Not just a year, a decade. There is no player in the history of the game, aside from Pete Rose, that has led their league in hits over the course of a decade and is not in Cooperstown. Ever. He had 1,754 hits from 1990-99. In addition, he has a better fielding percentage (.990) of any first baseman already in the Hall. I know he only hit 173 home runs, but is that all that matters? In my eyes, any player who was a better fielder than anyone at his position already in Cooperstown is a great leader and had more hits than anyone in the game over 10 years deserves a spot there. Oh, he also said he went "Upper Tank, boys!" after his World Series home run into the upper deck at Yankee Stadium in 2001. A dude that cool deserves a spot in Cooperstown.
Andre Dawson was never the best on-base guy - he never walked more than 50 times in any given season. But here's a guy who won the MVP in 1987 on a last-place team, was second in MVP voting two other times and was rookie of the year. According to ESPN.com, his combination of hits (2,774), home runs (438) and steals (314) puts him in the company of only Willie Mays and Barry Bonds. Those stats alone may be enough someday to get him a ticket to Cooperstown. He was a defensive madman in right field as well, winning eight Gold Gloves during his 20-year career. I once saw him throw out a hitter at first base, from right field, on a single. Rocket for an arm? You bet. Hall of Famer? Yep, the voters missed this one again.
Let's start with a couple of former Cubbies (as I always do); Mark Grace and Andre Dawson. Aside from Grace's outstanding 1989 NLCS when he hit .647 in a losing effort, not many people realize one stat that is eye-popping regarding the best Cubs first basemen of this generation. He led the league in hits for an entire decade. Not just a year, a decade. There is no player in the history of the game, aside from Pete Rose, that has led their league in hits over the course of a decade and is not in Cooperstown. Ever. He had 1,754 hits from 1990-99. In addition, he has a better fielding percentage (.990) of any first baseman already in the Hall. I know he only hit 173 home runs, but is that all that matters? In my eyes, any player who was a better fielder than anyone at his position already in Cooperstown is a great leader and had more hits than anyone in the game over 10 years deserves a spot there. Oh, he also said he went "Upper Tank, boys!" after his World Series home run into the upper deck at Yankee Stadium in 2001. A dude that cool deserves a spot in Cooperstown.
Andre Dawson was never the best on-base guy - he never walked more than 50 times in any given season. But here's a guy who won the MVP in 1987 on a last-place team, was second in MVP voting two other times and was rookie of the year. According to ESPN.com, his combination of hits (2,774), home runs (438) and steals (314) puts him in the company of only Willie Mays and Barry Bonds. Those stats alone may be enough someday to get him a ticket to Cooperstown. He was a defensive madman in right field as well, winning eight Gold Gloves during his 20-year career. I once saw him throw out a hitter at first base, from right field, on a single. Rocket for an arm? You bet. Hall of Famer? Yep, the voters missed this one again.
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J.R. Slim
posted 1/15/09 @ 8:33 PM PST
Let me preface this comment by saying thank JEEBUS that you do not have a say in the Hall of Fame voting process. There's nothing more insufferable than a homer sports writer. (Continued…)
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