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1/25/2025 | Congats | markphip |
I have changed my opinion of the HoF over the years. I used to think it was this elite club that only the players that met some measuring stick should be included. The reality is that version of the Hall stopped existing more than 50 years. It was at least when Frankie Frisch made sure all his buddies were added but it probably had already stopped existing before that even.
I now see the HoF as a museum that exists to celebrate the game of baseball. To do that, it needs to always be honoring new people that added something to the game. I am not sure I would have included Wagner, but I do not really have a problem with CC. I also do not believe there is anything actually special about "first ballot". I do think that is an easy way to describe a player, and I agree that CC was not a "first ballot" by the criteria of whether he was a no-doubt about it player like Ichiro. Inducting him on the first ballot is more a reflection of the year a player first appears.
I am now in the camp of adding more players and I really hope the Hall finds a way to make sure all the players that did not get a fair look because they came on during a crowded ballot get a fresh look. I previously mentioned Whitaker, Lofton and Santana. I think they all deserve to be included in the Hall but if nothing else they at least deserve to be considered. They all fell off the ballot via fluke of the years they came on. I would also like to see Murphy, Tiant and many others keep getting a look but at least they have all had their cases heard a few times. I do think Tiant would have been an easy inductee if he did not happen to appear on the ballot during a run of all time great starters. Had he been on the ballot around the time Catfish was elected I think he would have easily made it.
I am 100% in favor of adding Bonds, Clemens and ARod and I would not be against McGwire, Sosa and Manny either. |
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