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January 10, 2006
What's Good For The Goose Is Good For The Sutter
So, the Baseball Hall of Fame election results were announced today. I have no problem with Bruce Sutter being elected; in fact, I would have voted for him if I'd had a vote. But for Goose Gossage and Jim Rice to come up 54 and 53 votes short, respectively, is a joke. Gossage was far and away the most feared closer of his day -- as innovative and dominating as Sutter was, I'd have rather faced him than Gossage. And Jim Rice was the premier American League slugger of his day, one of the top five power hitters in his era, and a dominant figure who led the AL in both home runs and triples in different seasons ... when do you ind a power hitter with the speed to leg out enough triples to lead the league? And ask any pitcher of the late 70s and early 80s who they'd least like to face, and you'd get one of three names: Reggie Jackson, George Brett, or Jim Rice. The first two are in the Hall of Fame. The latter one should be.
You can make cases for others on the ballot: Bert Blyleven, Andre Dawson, Jack Morris, or even Alan Trammell. But to leave Gossage and Rice -- two of the best players of their era -- out of the Hall is a Devil Ray-sized joke. The writers blew it this year. Big time.
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Comments
It's not going to get any easier for Goose and Rice next year. Ripken, Gwynn and Mcgwire are on the ballot, I think. I think Ripken and Gwynn are locks. What do you think about Mcgwire?
Posted by: Scott at January 10, 2006 11:07 PM
I think he's going to make it eventually, but there will be a lot of writers who want to punish him for the steroid scandals. Palmiero was the active poster boy (along with Steroid Barry) for the problem, and now McGwire will pay for not only his own sins but those of his generation. He won't get 50% next year. In fact, I won't be surprised if he dips below 40%. I'll predict 43% on the first ballot.
Posted by: Curmudgeon at January 10, 2006 11:15 PM
I don't normally agree with 'mudge on baseball (because he's smarter than me and, well, it's fun to get him riled up). But on this, I agree 100%. Gossage was the closer of closers. Hitters feared him. And, 60' 6" away, Rice was equally feared by pitchers. These are two players that deserve to be recognized for careers that stood above their peers and continue to stand the test of time. Writers...who needs 'em ;-)
Posted by: The SpinMD at January 11, 2006 07:26 AM
I'm too aghast to make a coherant comment.
Posted by: eden at January 11, 2006 01:48 PM
