By John Gottlieb
A couple months back after Cal Ripken, Jr. and Tony Gwynn were elected to the Hall of Fame I wrote a piece about those left on the outside looking in. It’s time to revisit the topic now that the Veterans Committee released the players and composite ballots.
For the third straight vote for the players, which occurs every other year, and the second consecutive casting for managers, owners, etc., which takes place every four years, nobody gained enshrinement into the hallowed Hall in northern New York.
My first question is why even give the Veterans Committee a vote if they never intend to use it? Now I’m not one for diminishing the standards for Cooperstown, since that’s already been done when guys like Bill Mazerowski and Phil Rizzuto were elected, but there are really some worthy guys that were left off…again.
The Committee is comprised of all living Hall of Fame members, Ford C. Frick Award winners (broadcasting) and J.G. Taylor Spink Award winners (writing), totaling 84 members.
There needs to be changes to the Committee if they are not going to use their power to induct people that are deserving. Changes were made to the system after Mazerowski was enshrined and it’s time that the system is revamped again.
Ron Santo came the closest on either ballot, falling just five votes shy of obtaining the long-coveted plaque.
The 67-year-old was named on 57 of a possible 82 ballots for 69.5 percent but 75 percent is needed for induction. Santo was eight votes shy the last time the committee voted in 2005.
The Chicagoland icon is one of the few that fell short and should have his accomplishments appreciated with a Hall of Fame election. He had a career average of .277 with 342 homers and 1,331 runs batted in while winning five Gold Gloves and appearing in nine All Star games in 15 seasons with the North and Southsiders. Mike Schmidt is the only other third baseman in the Hall with at least 300 homers and five Gold Gloves.
Here is a man that is suffering from diabetes and has dealt with a host of medical problems, including having both legs amputated at the knee. Santo has been the radio voice of the Cubs for the last 17 years. Why the Vets didn’t elect him is beyond me. Just like I wrote about Buck O’Neil it’s a travesty that the Committee will probably give him a plaque post mortem.
For some reason third baseman are slighted when it comes to the Hall, as there are only 10 who played in the major leagues, including Frank “Home Run” Baker, Wade Boggs, George Brett, Jimmy Collins, George Kell, Fred Lindstrom, Edddie Matthews, Brooks Robinson, Pie Traynor and Schmidt. There are fewer third baseman than any other position in Cooperstown.
Jim Kaat is another that is deserving, but was 10 votes short of Cooperstown. He ranks 29th all time in wins (283), 33rd in strikeouts (2,461) and had double-digit wins for 15 straight years in his 25-year career, including 25-13 with a 2.75 earned run average, 205 strikeouts and 19 complete games in 1966.
He would’ve won the Cy Young that year, but it went to Sandy Koufax, as that was the last season that only one award was given out for both leagues.
Kitty eclipsed 20 wins three times and will go down as one of the greatest fielding pitchers of all time with 16 consecutive Gold Gloves. He pitched in 898 games, ranking 19th all time while starting at least 24 games in 19 different seasons. He ranks third all time for seasons in pitchers behind Nolan Ryan (27) and Tommy John (26), 13th in games started (625) and 24th with 4,530 innings pitched. Simply put, Kaat was the model for consistency.
Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt, who was pulling for his former teammate told the Associated Press, "The same thing happens every year. The current members want to preserve the prestige as much as possible, and are unwilling to open the doors."
The 68-year-old lefty, who just retired after broadcasting the Yankees for the last 13 years, was named on 52 ballots.
Finally, my biggest beef comes with the exclusion of Marvin Miller. For better or worse Miller helped make the game what it is today. Marvin Miller is one of the most significant people in Major League Baseball history.
Miller’s term as the Executive Director of the Major League Baseball Player’s Association ran from 1966-1984 and during that time some of his accomplishments included negotiating the first collective bargaining agreements, increasing the players’ minimum salary from $6,000 to $10,000 after two decades of remaining the same, pushing players' average salary to more than $500,000, increases in benefits and working conditions and the right to have arbitration solve grievances.
It was not all roses for Miller, who in 1970, along with Curt Flood, took a battle all the way to the Supreme Court, challenging the reserve clause, but lost and essentially ended Flood’s career. He led the union through three players’ strikes in 1972, 1980, and 1981 and two lockouts in 1973 and 1976.
However, the 1975 Andy Messersmith-Dave McNally case stated that they were not chained by the reserve cause, which opened the door to free agency.
A couple months back after Cal Ripken, Jr. and Tony Gwynn were elected to the Hall of Fame I wrote a piece about those left on the outside looking in. It’s time to revisit the topic now that the Veterans Committee released the players and composite ballots.
For the third straight vote for the players, which occurs every other year, and the second consecutive casting for managers, owners, etc., which takes place every four years, nobody gained enshrinement into the hallowed Hall in northern New York.
My first question is why even give the Veterans Committee a vote if they never intend to use it? Now I’m not one for diminishing the standards for Cooperstown, since that’s already been done when guys like Bill Mazerowski and Phil Rizzuto were elected, but there are really some worthy guys that were left off…again.
The Committee is comprised of all living Hall of Fame members, Ford C. Frick Award winners (broadcasting) and J.G. Taylor Spink Award winners (writing), totaling 84 members.
There needs to be changes to the Committee if they are not going to use their power to induct people that are deserving. Changes were made to the system after Mazerowski was enshrined and it’s time that the system is revamped again.
Ron Santo came the closest on either ballot, falling just five votes shy of obtaining the long-coveted plaque.
The 67-year-old was named on 57 of a possible 82 ballots for 69.5 percent but 75 percent is needed for induction. Santo was eight votes shy the last time the committee voted in 2005.
The Chicagoland icon is one of the few that fell short and should have his accomplishments appreciated with a Hall of Fame election. He had a career average of .277 with 342 homers and 1,331 runs batted in while winning five Gold Gloves and appearing in nine All Star games in 15 seasons with the North and Southsiders. Mike Schmidt is the only other third baseman in the Hall with at least 300 homers and five Gold Gloves.
Here is a man that is suffering from diabetes and has dealt with a host of medical problems, including having both legs amputated at the knee. Santo has been the radio voice of the Cubs for the last 17 years. Why the Vets didn’t elect him is beyond me. Just like I wrote about Buck O’Neil it’s a travesty that the Committee will probably give him a plaque post mortem.
For some reason third baseman are slighted when it comes to the Hall, as there are only 10 who played in the major leagues, including Frank “Home Run” Baker, Wade Boggs, George Brett, Jimmy Collins, George Kell, Fred Lindstrom, Edddie Matthews, Brooks Robinson, Pie Traynor and Schmidt. There are fewer third baseman than any other position in Cooperstown.
Jim Kaat is another that is deserving, but was 10 votes short of Cooperstown. He ranks 29th all time in wins (283), 33rd in strikeouts (2,461) and had double-digit wins for 15 straight years in his 25-year career, including 25-13 with a 2.75 earned run average, 205 strikeouts and 19 complete games in 1966.
He would’ve won the Cy Young that year, but it went to Sandy Koufax, as that was the last season that only one award was given out for both leagues.
Kitty eclipsed 20 wins three times and will go down as one of the greatest fielding pitchers of all time with 16 consecutive Gold Gloves. He pitched in 898 games, ranking 19th all time while starting at least 24 games in 19 different seasons. He ranks third all time for seasons in pitchers behind Nolan Ryan (27) and Tommy John (26), 13th in games started (625) and 24th with 4,530 innings pitched. Simply put, Kaat was the model for consistency.
Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt, who was pulling for his former teammate told the Associated Press, "The same thing happens every year. The current members want to preserve the prestige as much as possible, and are unwilling to open the doors."
The 68-year-old lefty, who just retired after broadcasting the Yankees for the last 13 years, was named on 52 ballots.
Finally, my biggest beef comes with the exclusion of Marvin Miller. For better or worse Miller helped make the game what it is today. Marvin Miller is one of the most significant people in Major League Baseball history.
Miller’s term as the Executive Director of the Major League Baseball Player’s Association ran from 1966-1984 and during that time some of his accomplishments included negotiating the first collective bargaining agreements, increasing the players’ minimum salary from $6,000 to $10,000 after two decades of remaining the same, pushing players' average salary to more than $500,000, increases in benefits and working conditions and the right to have arbitration solve grievances.
It was not all roses for Miller, who in 1970, along with Curt Flood, took a battle all the way to the Supreme Court, challenging the reserve clause, but lost and essentially ended Flood’s career. He led the union through three players’ strikes in 1972, 1980, and 1981 and two lockouts in 1973 and 1976.
However, the 1975 Andy Messersmith-Dave McNally case stated that they were not chained by the reserve cause, which opened the door to free agency.
What’s even sadder is that Marvin Miller represented most of the Veterans Committee at one time and yet he still hasn’t gained enshrinement. Miller, 89, was named on 63 percent of the vote.
Miller is one of the founders of the modern game and it’s appalling that he has not been given a plaque with his contemporaries in the Hall of Fame. Just like Pete Rose, it is not a Hall of Fame without Marvin Miller, the father of the strongest union in the world.
Miller is one of the founders of the modern game and it’s appalling that he has not been given a plaque with his contemporaries in the Hall of Fame. Just like Pete Rose, it is not a Hall of Fame without Marvin Miller, the father of the strongest union in the world.
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