Most Undeserving Hall of Famer

[RedsoxRockies]

And Lou Merloni! WHo actually lives near me. My Grandma has met him before

[RickD]

Then induct Johnny Pesky! And Jim Rice! And just for the heck of it, Mo Vaughn, Jose Offerman, Rich Garces, and John Valentin.

Bah they weren't all Yankees!

[haveacigar]

rich garces would be in the fat pitcher hall of fame.

[boomboom]

Bah they weren't all Yankees!

lol

[RickD]

Had to bring some irrationality to the discussion......get it out of my system before writing on the BB Report.....

[HoustonGM]

When it comes to Phil Rizzuto you have to remember that when he retired his 1,217 career double plays ranked second in major league and he also ranked second among sortstops with his .968 career fielding average. He also ranked fifth in AL history in games at shortstop (1,647), eighth in putouts (3,219) and total chances (8,148), and ninth in assists (4,666).

This would be a valid argument, I'd say, if Rizzuto was elected shortly after he retired. However, had to wait until the 1990's and the Veteran's Committee put him in, surely aided by his broadcast career.

None of the other guys mentioned in this paragraph are in the Hall, so it's not that clear that this is that good of an argument for Rizzuto.

Minor nitpick, Lou Boudreau is.

[RickD]

This would be a valid argument, I'd say, if Rizzuto was elected shortly after he retired. However, had to wait until the 1990's and the Veteran's Committee put him in, surely aided by his broadcast career.

So maybe the Vet's committee actually looked at how he did in his era and not at his broadcast career. Since we weren't there we can only speculate but he clearly was one of the best in his era at his position.

[HoustonGM]

So maybe the Vet's committee actually looked at how he did in his era and not at his broadcast career. Since we weren't there we can only speculate

Judging by the other VC selections throughout history, that's HIGHLY doubtful...

but he clearly was one of the best in his era at his position.

Lou Boudreau, Vern Stephens, Luke Appling, Pee Wee Reese...

[RickD]

Phil Rizutto, Phil Rizutto, Phil Rizzuto!!!!

Sorry there I go getting irrational again.

Seriously though I do agree there are many undeserving to be in the HOF I don't think Scooter is one of them and I don't say that because he's a Yankee.

[HoustonGM]

I'd say there are a number of HOFers that are much less deserving than Phil Rizzuto, even though I don't think Phil is a HOF-caliber shortstop (broadcaster, easily). However, in discussions like these, people tend to forget the truly baffling Hall of Famers (such as those I linked to in my first post) because they're not famous.

[dps]

Minor nitpick, Lou Boudreau is.

Oops.

EDIT: you know what? We need a better embarrassed smilie.

And BTW, I agree with HGM's post directly above.

[RedsoxRockies]

I should make one

[metsguy234]

Even as a Met fan, I gotta also add Ralph Kiner to this discussion.

He'd go in my Broadcaster Hall of Fame (dude, he has been a full or part time broadcaster for the Mets every single year in their history!) and my Hall of Very, Very Good, but his statistics don't really hold up to the HOF standard...

I mean, he only played 10 seasons- he was great for a few years- had an obvious drop near the end (which was at age 31-32, and then just hung it up.

[TheNamelessPoet]

i only got thru the 1st page when I posted this... but gold gloves are nothing but a popularoty contest... they dont show a players true performance. both maddux and griffey have won them *withoout looking at the records) and had lower fielding records than others...

[HoustonGM]

Even as a Met fan, I gotta also add Ralph Kiner to this discussion.

He'd go in my Broadcaster Hall of Fame (dude, he has been a full or part time broadcaster for the Mets every single year in their history!) and my Hall of Very, Very Good, but his statistics don't really hold up to the HOF standard...

I mean, he only played 10 seasons- he was great for a few years- had an obvious drop near the end (which was at age 31-32, and then just hung it up.

Isn't 7 great years and 3 good years a better HOF case than perennial medicority?

Ralph Kiner, Phil Rizzuto...these guys are all famous, and not slam-dunk HOF cases, so people mention them in these discussions. But nobody's heard of Freddie Lindstrom and the like, who are all clearly and obviously multiple steps below Kiner and Rizzuto, so Kiner and Rizzuto get unfairly "slighted" in these discussions, while true mistakes go unnoticed.