This will be brief because 6 day work weeks are taking my toll on me and my sports watching and reading but the Baseball Hall of Fame is always a topic I enjoy to write about. Let’s keep in mind, my standards are pretty tough for a Baseball Hall of Famer, because its a Hall of FAME, not a Hall of Very Good. Lets also keep in mind, in my eyes a Hall of Famer is more than just numbers. Lots of people would say Raffy Palmeiro was a HOF’er before the steroids, I would tell you different. Here are some reasons, and I think you will find they make sense. You would like to think your HOF’er was a MVP at least once or twice. Now I realize that is tough, there is only one given out a season, but it is food for thought. You would like to think that he was the top two or three at his position for several years during his career. Was he statistically better than Will Clark? , yes but he was a juicer, was he better than Big Mac? Was he better than Todd Helton? Was he better than Jeff Bagwell? Better than Eddie Murray? I am not a Frank Thomas guy but we know he probably was not Frank T. either. Did he win a BA title? Did he win a HR title? or a RBI title? A WS? You would like to think he won one of these or came close? He did win a gold glove but that is a fake award for this reason, he actually started more games that season in Texas at DH. A man should not win award for being the best defender at his position, if he did not play majority of his major league games at that position in the given season. Here is a big one for me. Its sometimes called the perception test, or eye test. Did you look at this guy and say there is a HOF’er? I have a air tight way to tell if a everyday player is a HOF’er. It is called the Shaun Boyle Beer and Pee test. If you are willing to get up and get a beer or take a pee when a player is up to bat or about to come up to bat and you are likely to miss the said AB, then he is not a Hall of Famer. Put it to the test, you do not have to take my word for it. Derek Jeter? Mike Schmidt? George Brett? Bagwell? Reggie? Now steroids aside if you take the dopers, they even passed this test. But of course with steroids, they get scratched. Ask yourself would I get a beer or take a pee if Griffy or Ripken was up AB? So you can see how rock solid my system is.

Bagwell is in. He fits the steroid era, he got unusually big, his body broke down, yada , yada, yada.

Now lets look at the case for Bagwell. He was not named in the Mitchell Report, He never failed a test in the testing era, or before when test results were to be kept private but were still out there. In the NL where he could not hide behind a DH ( Frank Thomas, Raffy P. Jim Thome for parts of his career) he played in 156 games or more in 10 of his 15 seasons. He was only the 22 nd player since WW2 to 1500 RBI’s and 1500 runs scored. His 2000 season 152 runs scored is the most since 1930’s era play. Of that 22 he is ranked 8th in OPS. He won a MVP in 94, He only made 4 All Star teams but was stiffed a couple of times at the turn of the century. He also was going up agains Big Mac, The Crime Dog, Galleraga and Helton. Thats tough for only only a couple of slots. He was a 3 time silver slugger, won a gold glove, and a ROY. Bottom line is, when you factor in his stats vs. the time and players he played against, you factor in the suspicians are just that, no tangible evidence once so ever, and The Shaun Boyle Beer and Pee test, then Bagwell deserves his due.

Jack Morris. Bottom line is he is a HOF’er. Detractors will point to the high ERA compared to other pitchers in the Hall. I will point out to the winningest pitcher in the 80’s, 14 straight Opening Day Starts, 4 WS Titles of which he was the Ace for 3 of them, Several seasons of 230 innings pitched, and of course Game 7 of the 1991 WS, Where Cactus Jack went 10 innings 7 hits, 8 strikeouts, and just willed the Twins to the title. This was maybe one of the most intense pitchers and leaders around and he knew how to throw a complete game, which these days between pitch counts, multi million dollar contracts, atheletes being big babies, and a different look at the game ( see how St. Louis used pitchers in 2011 in the WS) and you see that it is a dying breed.

Check out this box score from the 2012 ALCS …

Detroit Tigers
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
J Verlander
(W, 1-0) 8.1 3 1 1 0 3 1 132-86 1.08
P Coke
(S, 2) 0.2 2 0 0 0 1 0 21-13 0.00
Totals 9.0 5 1 1 0 4 1 153-99
PITCHING
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: J Verlander 14/28; P Coke 2/4
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: J Verlander 18-8-38-22; P Coke 3-1-6-3
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: J Verlander 8-14; P Coke 1-0
Game Scores: J Verlander 76

Do you know who threw out the first pitch that night? You guessed it. Just by being in the house and shaking a few hands, and kissing a few babies, Cactus Jack inspired Verlander to have a very Jack Morris like big game night. And finally there was his famous quote when a female reporter was in the lockerroom. ” Lady I do not talk to any woman naked unless I am on top of them or they are on top of me.”

Fred McGriff How the Crime Dog is not in the HOF is beyond me. 493 HR’s, 2490 career hits, 5 All Stars, 3 Silver Sluggers, All Star game MVP. .284 career BA. He passes the Shaun Boyle Beer and Pee test. It should also be noted he led the AL in HR’s once and the NL once. I am sure that has been done but probably not often. I would guess maybe Frank Robinson but will have to look up out of curiosity.

I will add to this at a later time, but wanted it to be read.

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