Writers and the Hall
Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2018 10:23 am
I once had a child-like faith in the baseball Hall of Fame.
The best of the best.
A place where Ty Cobb and Pete Rose could mythically talk about their days in accumulating the most hits in baseball for their times.
A place where Babe Ruth could say he was fueled by hot dogs while Barry Bonds can tell the Babe that his hot dogs came in a syringe or cream.
A place like we envision the corn fields in 'Field of Dreams'.
Being an adult, I know now that the Hall of Fame is no such place.
It is merely an opinion-based club whose inclusion is based on several factors both on and off the baseball field.
The obvious, being players like Rose, Bonds, or Shoeless Joe Jackson.
But, their is another factor too.
That of likeability.
Hall of Fame voters have never voted ANY player in with a 100 per cent vote.
Willie Mays was 'colored' and didn't receive some votes.
Mantle drank too much.
Steve Carlton, crass.
Voters have a hard time separating the field of play from the field of fair play.
As fans, we care about what goes on, on the field.
We don't get to know the players, up close and personal, like writers.
Writers take these personal feelings and incorporate it into their votes.
They deny it. They want to keep the vote. A vanity thing.
In my eye, they should be one of the last of baseball folks voting players into a Hall of Fame.
But, what is, is.
Here is a case in point.
Politics and Frankie Frisch lobbying and lawyering made almost all of recognized 'Gashouse Gang' members, Hall of Famers.
Go ahead and look at Rabbit Maranville's numbers sometime.
Lawyering and lobbying the writers have gone on for years.
They are close to the game and a phone call away from any player.
Not good for the game or Hall.
Another point is not the players feats, but rather his 'sweets'.
Red Schoendienst (yep, I know how to spell it without looking) was a sweet guy.
Everybody likes Red Schoedienst.
Was Red Schoendienst a Hall of Famer?
Heck yeah.
Nice guy.
He stayed in baseball for years and everybody loved him.
Years later, another second baseman comes around. He is not so well liked.
In fact, the best that can be said about him is that he played with Barry Bonds and didn't like Bonds.
His name is Jeff Kent.
Kent did not take to interviews or writers. Hated that part of the game.
On the field, he performed well.
He hit more homers than any second baseman in history.
He surpassed every Red Schoendienst number.
Every one.
Here is Schoendienst...
2216 games, 2449 hits, .289/.337/.387...289/1223/84/773/89
Here is Kent...
2298 games, 2461 hits, .290/356/.500...290/1320/377/1518/94
Schoendienst voted into the Hall of Fame with a 75 per cent vote.
Kent?
15, 14, 16, 16, and 14 per cent of the votes over the last five years.
The Hall of Fame has become a beauty contest.
Schoendienst had something Kent never had.
Congeniality.
And in this contest, Miss Congeniality goes to the Hall of Fame.
Kent, with his beautiful numbers and no personality, goes to a truck wash.
My only recourse is to call out the Hall of Fame for being stupid in a forum like this where not many care.
It is stupid that the closest contacts with players during a season are the very folks who vote on their participation into the Hall of Fame later.
The vote would be better off with voters not knowing players up close and personal.
We don't need somebody who can look at Red Schoendienst, thinking "Nice guy" .
We do need somebody looking at Kent and thinking, "Nice numbers".
Without the leading players in Hits, the leading player in Home Runs, and missing a batter who hit .400, the Hall of Fame is already less.
Just less.
Less than it could be.
Instead of trumpeting Pete Rose numbers, Bonds homers, and Shoeless Joe's 'Black Betsy' and .400 batting average, they shield the public from them, as if never happening.
Meanwhile, in Canton, we can go to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and see OJ Simpson's plaque.
Those viewers get to make the obvious comments that come in seeing his name in a revered place.
They have that choice. They can differentiate his exploits on the field from those off the field.
Baseball onlookers can too, if we had the chance.
The Hall of Fame is not about punishments for players.
Nor, should it be a place for likeable players to congregate.
It is meant for the best of baseball players. Even if having made bad choices or having lousy personalities.
A place where baseball fans can see the best of baseball that each generation had to offer.
Give us, the baseball fan, the choice to give a plaque a mind-spit or a loving rub.
As is, nice guys don't finish last, they go to the Hall of Fame.
The best of the best.
A place where Ty Cobb and Pete Rose could mythically talk about their days in accumulating the most hits in baseball for their times.
A place where Babe Ruth could say he was fueled by hot dogs while Barry Bonds can tell the Babe that his hot dogs came in a syringe or cream.
A place like we envision the corn fields in 'Field of Dreams'.
Being an adult, I know now that the Hall of Fame is no such place.
It is merely an opinion-based club whose inclusion is based on several factors both on and off the baseball field.
The obvious, being players like Rose, Bonds, or Shoeless Joe Jackson.
But, their is another factor too.
That of likeability.
Hall of Fame voters have never voted ANY player in with a 100 per cent vote.
Willie Mays was 'colored' and didn't receive some votes.
Mantle drank too much.
Steve Carlton, crass.
Voters have a hard time separating the field of play from the field of fair play.
As fans, we care about what goes on, on the field.
We don't get to know the players, up close and personal, like writers.
Writers take these personal feelings and incorporate it into their votes.
They deny it. They want to keep the vote. A vanity thing.
In my eye, they should be one of the last of baseball folks voting players into a Hall of Fame.
But, what is, is.
Here is a case in point.
Politics and Frankie Frisch lobbying and lawyering made almost all of recognized 'Gashouse Gang' members, Hall of Famers.
Go ahead and look at Rabbit Maranville's numbers sometime.
Lawyering and lobbying the writers have gone on for years.
They are close to the game and a phone call away from any player.
Not good for the game or Hall.
Another point is not the players feats, but rather his 'sweets'.
Red Schoendienst (yep, I know how to spell it without looking) was a sweet guy.
Everybody likes Red Schoedienst.
Was Red Schoendienst a Hall of Famer?
Heck yeah.
Nice guy.
He stayed in baseball for years and everybody loved him.
Years later, another second baseman comes around. He is not so well liked.
In fact, the best that can be said about him is that he played with Barry Bonds and didn't like Bonds.
His name is Jeff Kent.
Kent did not take to interviews or writers. Hated that part of the game.
On the field, he performed well.
He hit more homers than any second baseman in history.
He surpassed every Red Schoendienst number.
Every one.
Here is Schoendienst...
2216 games, 2449 hits, .289/.337/.387...289/1223/84/773/89
Here is Kent...
2298 games, 2461 hits, .290/356/.500...290/1320/377/1518/94
Schoendienst voted into the Hall of Fame with a 75 per cent vote.
Kent?
15, 14, 16, 16, and 14 per cent of the votes over the last five years.
The Hall of Fame has become a beauty contest.
Schoendienst had something Kent never had.
Congeniality.
And in this contest, Miss Congeniality goes to the Hall of Fame.
Kent, with his beautiful numbers and no personality, goes to a truck wash.
My only recourse is to call out the Hall of Fame for being stupid in a forum like this where not many care.
It is stupid that the closest contacts with players during a season are the very folks who vote on their participation into the Hall of Fame later.
The vote would be better off with voters not knowing players up close and personal.
We don't need somebody who can look at Red Schoendienst, thinking "Nice guy" .
We do need somebody looking at Kent and thinking, "Nice numbers".
Without the leading players in Hits, the leading player in Home Runs, and missing a batter who hit .400, the Hall of Fame is already less.
Just less.
Less than it could be.
Instead of trumpeting Pete Rose numbers, Bonds homers, and Shoeless Joe's 'Black Betsy' and .400 batting average, they shield the public from them, as if never happening.
Meanwhile, in Canton, we can go to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and see OJ Simpson's plaque.
Those viewers get to make the obvious comments that come in seeing his name in a revered place.
They have that choice. They can differentiate his exploits on the field from those off the field.
Baseball onlookers can too, if we had the chance.
The Hall of Fame is not about punishments for players.
Nor, should it be a place for likeable players to congregate.
It is meant for the best of baseball players. Even if having made bad choices or having lousy personalities.
A place where baseball fans can see the best of baseball that each generation had to offer.
Give us, the baseball fan, the choice to give a plaque a mind-spit or a loving rub.
As is, nice guys don't finish last, they go to the Hall of Fame.