GaryMrMets
01-06-2005, 06:09 PM
http://www.yesnetwork.com/announcers/article.asp?article_id=328
One man's Hall of Fame vote
http://www.yesnetwork.com/images/talent/small/pepe_head_sm.jpgBy Phil Pepe
Special to YES Network Online
December 28 2004
Peel back the pages of the calendar, back 18 years, to the 1986 World Series. The Mets against the Red Sox, each team driven by a burgeoning star on the fast track to the Hall of Fame.
In his fifth major league season, 28-year-old Wade Boggs had batted .357 and had won the American League batting championship for the third time in four years. Already, Boggs had accumulated 978 hits and compiled a career batting average of .352, which placed him fourth on baseball's all-time list behind Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby and Joe Jackson.
In his fourth season, Darryl Strawberry, a mere lad of 24, had blasted 27 home runs and driven in 93 runs. Already, he had hit 108 homers and knocked in 343 runs, and there were projections that 500 career home runs and 1,500 RBIs, Hall of Fame numbers, were easily within his grasp.
Fast forward a decade and Boggs and Strawberry would be linked together again as teammates with the Yankees from 1995 through 1997. Each would retire two years later and their names would be joined one more time, as first-year eligibles for election to the Hall of Fame.
Once, not very long ago, they seemed destined to be joined again in Cooperstown on a sultry midsummer day in the year 2005, but that rendezvous went up in smoke. Boggs kept his part of the bargain 3,010 hits, five batting championships and a lifetime average of .328.
But Strawberry's career, which began with such promise and high expectations, plummeted and ended in a cloud of ignominy. After averaging 17 homers and 86 RBIs over his first four seasons, he would hit only 227 more homers (an average of 17 per year) and drive in 657 runs (an average of 51) over his last 13 seasons.
And so, with the results of the latest Hall of Fame election due on January 4, what seemed like a lock coupling of Boggs and Strawberry 18 years ago is a no-brainer for Boggs, a resounding yes, for Strawberry, a rueful no.
Boggs is one of five names on my ballot, and the only one I consider a certain winner. The other four are probably long shots to get the required 75 percent of the ballots cast by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America; at best a 50-50 chance at being elected. Here are my choices:
http://www.yesnetwork.com/images/talent_article/boggs_1228.jpg http://www.yesnetwork.com/images/talent_article/strawberry_1228.jpg
Boggs Strawberry
RYNE SANDBERG
He was the premier player at his position in his time, a nine-time Gold Glove winner and holder of the highest fielding percentage in baseball history for a second baseman: .989. Offensively, he compares favorably to Joe Morgan, with a career batting average of .285 (to Morgan's .272), 282 home runs (to Morgan's 268), 1,061 RBIs (to Morgan's 1,134).
http://www.yesnetwork.com/images/talent_article/sandberg_1228.jpg
Sandberg
JIM RICE
His 382 home runs and 1,451 runs batted in seem paltry by today's standards, but players must be judged among their peers. In his time, Rice was the most feared hitter in the game for a five-year period. He led the American League in home runs three times, in RBIs twice, and had a career average of .298. His mediocre defense and irascible personality are probably what has kept him from being elected in his first 10 years of eligibility.
http://www.yesnetwork.com/images/talent_article/rice_1228.jpg
Rice
BRUCE SUTTER
Like Rice, Sutter suffers by comparison to today's inflated saves numbers. His 300 saves are dwarfed by the numbers being put up by today's closers. But Sutter pitched in an era when a "closer" often entered the game in the seventh or eighth inning, sometimes earlier. And he rarely came in to begin an inning or with a three-run lead. There were no cheap saves for Sutter, who also was the pioneer of the split-fingered fastball.
http://www.yesnetwork.com/images/talent_article/sutter_1228.jpg
Sutter
GOOSE GOSSAGE
Before I voted for him, I made certain to put down Sutter's name. If Sutter doesn't get in, Gossage should not. But they both deserve to make it, and whatever was said about Sutter with regard to never getting a "cheap" save, also goes for the Goose.
http://www.yesnetwork.com/images/talent_article/gossage_1228.jpg
Gossage
Acclaimed author Phil Pepe is a regular contributor to YES Network Online. Phil's latest book, "Unhittable: Reliving the Magic and Drama of Baseball's Best-Pitched Games," published by Triumph Books, is in stores now.
One man's Hall of Fame vote
http://www.yesnetwork.com/images/talent/small/pepe_head_sm.jpgBy Phil Pepe
Special to YES Network Online
December 28 2004
Peel back the pages of the calendar, back 18 years, to the 1986 World Series. The Mets against the Red Sox, each team driven by a burgeoning star on the fast track to the Hall of Fame.
In his fifth major league season, 28-year-old Wade Boggs had batted .357 and had won the American League batting championship for the third time in four years. Already, Boggs had accumulated 978 hits and compiled a career batting average of .352, which placed him fourth on baseball's all-time list behind Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby and Joe Jackson.
In his fourth season, Darryl Strawberry, a mere lad of 24, had blasted 27 home runs and driven in 93 runs. Already, he had hit 108 homers and knocked in 343 runs, and there were projections that 500 career home runs and 1,500 RBIs, Hall of Fame numbers, were easily within his grasp.
Fast forward a decade and Boggs and Strawberry would be linked together again as teammates with the Yankees from 1995 through 1997. Each would retire two years later and their names would be joined one more time, as first-year eligibles for election to the Hall of Fame.
Once, not very long ago, they seemed destined to be joined again in Cooperstown on a sultry midsummer day in the year 2005, but that rendezvous went up in smoke. Boggs kept his part of the bargain 3,010 hits, five batting championships and a lifetime average of .328.
But Strawberry's career, which began with such promise and high expectations, plummeted and ended in a cloud of ignominy. After averaging 17 homers and 86 RBIs over his first four seasons, he would hit only 227 more homers (an average of 17 per year) and drive in 657 runs (an average of 51) over his last 13 seasons.
And so, with the results of the latest Hall of Fame election due on January 4, what seemed like a lock coupling of Boggs and Strawberry 18 years ago is a no-brainer for Boggs, a resounding yes, for Strawberry, a rueful no.
Boggs is one of five names on my ballot, and the only one I consider a certain winner. The other four are probably long shots to get the required 75 percent of the ballots cast by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America; at best a 50-50 chance at being elected. Here are my choices:
http://www.yesnetwork.com/images/talent_article/boggs_1228.jpg http://www.yesnetwork.com/images/talent_article/strawberry_1228.jpg
Boggs Strawberry
RYNE SANDBERG
He was the premier player at his position in his time, a nine-time Gold Glove winner and holder of the highest fielding percentage in baseball history for a second baseman: .989. Offensively, he compares favorably to Joe Morgan, with a career batting average of .285 (to Morgan's .272), 282 home runs (to Morgan's 268), 1,061 RBIs (to Morgan's 1,134).
http://www.yesnetwork.com/images/talent_article/sandberg_1228.jpg
Sandberg
JIM RICE
His 382 home runs and 1,451 runs batted in seem paltry by today's standards, but players must be judged among their peers. In his time, Rice was the most feared hitter in the game for a five-year period. He led the American League in home runs three times, in RBIs twice, and had a career average of .298. His mediocre defense and irascible personality are probably what has kept him from being elected in his first 10 years of eligibility.
http://www.yesnetwork.com/images/talent_article/rice_1228.jpg
Rice
BRUCE SUTTER
Like Rice, Sutter suffers by comparison to today's inflated saves numbers. His 300 saves are dwarfed by the numbers being put up by today's closers. But Sutter pitched in an era when a "closer" often entered the game in the seventh or eighth inning, sometimes earlier. And he rarely came in to begin an inning or with a three-run lead. There were no cheap saves for Sutter, who also was the pioneer of the split-fingered fastball.
http://www.yesnetwork.com/images/talent_article/sutter_1228.jpg
Sutter
GOOSE GOSSAGE
Before I voted for him, I made certain to put down Sutter's name. If Sutter doesn't get in, Gossage should not. But they both deserve to make it, and whatever was said about Sutter with regard to never getting a "cheap" save, also goes for the Goose.
http://www.yesnetwork.com/images/talent_article/gossage_1228.jpg
Gossage
Acclaimed author Phil Pepe is a regular contributor to YES Network Online. Phil's latest book, "Unhittable: Reliving the Magic and Drama of Baseball's Best-Pitched Games," published by Triumph Books, is in stores now.