Will the Hall make a Goose call?
The 2008 inductees to the Baseball Hall of Fame will be announced Tuesday. Baseball fans like to pass the cold, dark days of winter arguing various players’ Hall worthiness, and I’m no different.
There is nobody in the crop of first-time eligibles worth enshrining (with the possible exception of Tim Raines), so lets take a look at some of the holdovers. Fortunately, I can recycle an old post from a different blog to save time:
Bert Blyleven: For the life of me, I can’t figure out why the Dutchman isn’t in the Hall. Why should voters love thee? Let me count the ways: 287 wins; career ERA+ of 118; top 10 in ERA 10 times; top 10 in WHIP 11 times; 13th all-time in innings pitched; 3,701 strikeouts, good for fifth (fifth!) all time; and a career K/BB ratio of 2.8. Naysayers may point to his 250 losses or his penchant for the long ball. But let’s take a look at the strikeouts. Of the four men ahead of him on the all-time list, two are in the Hall and two will be. Of the next 11 men after him, eight are in and one (Maddux) certainly will be; the others (Schilling, Martinez) merit consideration. Of course, the win is a highly imperfect measure, but you don’t pile up 287 by accident. And if you are a believer in Baseball-Reference’s comps, eight of Blyleven’s 10 most similar players are in the Hall. Come on, baseball writers… vote him in. Don’t fuck this fucking thing up.
Andre Dawson: If players such as Billy Williams and Dave Winfield, both fine players, are in, there’s no reason that Hawk should be out. Plus, there’s that whole (undeserved) 1987 NL MVP award.
Rich Gossage: When it was announced that old friend Bruce Sutter made the Hall, I tried to make a case for the Goose’s inclusion. My feelings haven’t changed. During nine seasons, Gossage played Harlem Globetrotters to the rest of the league’s Washington Generals. He straight-up housed opposing hitters. From the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, he was the most lethal reliever in the major leagues. Just check his ERA+ from those years, and you’ll see what I mean. Honestly, I think it’s kind of a shame that Sutter made the Hall before the Goose.
Jim Rice: I’m not against enshrining Rice, but if it’ll get Dan Shaughnessy to shut up, then I’m all for it.
You might notice a certain well-muscled yet gutless slugger absent from this list. Since he’s not willing to talk about his past, I’m not either.
