Bubble of Fame
I love sports debates.
It's easy to look up and down the MLB rosters and pick out a few sure-fire Hall of Famers-- Clemens, Maddux, Bonds, A-Rod, Randy, etc. But there's a few guys on the bubble who need some more help. With the induction of Ryne Sandberg this week, who played his entire career on the bubble, only to be knocked further off it by the juiced-ball era, I think these guys should get some air time. But like all bubbles, some slide one way, some the other. Feel free to leave as many comments as necessary.
Start the Bronzing Now
Andruw Jones
Going for him: Picture this fantasy scenario-- it's 2005, and you've got a time machine that will take you back 5 years, where you can pick one outfielder to be on your team for the next 10 years. So, for example, in 1995 you'd have taken Bonds or Griffey, and either pick would have been money (remember, Junior didn't hit the wall until 2000). In 2005, the consensus pick is Andruw Jones, and it's not even close. Speed and defense in centerfield with the power of a corner outfielder (and climbing). He'll breeze in after retirement. He's so far ahead of every other outfielder in the game, and he's only 28 years old (6 Gold Gloves and counting). By the way, this is also my argument for Griffey (he'll be in on the first ballot).
Could use: A World Series ring. A higher average couldn't hurt, but his power numbers should make up for that.
Derek Jeter
Going for him: 4 championships, enough highlights to fill a bank vault, 100+ runs scored in 9 of 10 seasons (I'm projecting 2005), ROY award, WS MVP, All-Star MVP, Mariah Carey...
Could use: A top-5 finish in the MVP race. Maybe two.
Manny Ramirez
Going for him: Fearsome hitter, RBI machine, high career avg, will have 600+ HRs when he retires, rose above hitters even in a juiced era.
Could use: Defense. But Paul Molitor cruised in as a DH, so Manny should as well. His negative rep shouldn't hurt him too much. It's not like he's Pete Rose.
Bagwell/Biggio
Going for them: Cool nickname (Killer B's), played all in one city, plenty of offense, plenty of defense, if one gets in the other's going to follow. Bigs will finish with 3K hits, Bags may get 500HRs (health is key). 1 MVP, 1 ROY and 5 Gold Gloves between them.
Could use: A freakin' playoff win here and there. This one will be close, but voters appreciate the hard work.
John Smoltz
Going for him: Reinvented himself twice. Dominant starter, then dominant closer (154 saves), then dominant starter again. A few more years of this should seal his envelope.
Could use: A new elbow. DL stints may hurt him with some voters.
Mariano Rivera
Going for him: His playoff experience blows his competition out of the water, which will put him in way ahead of "off-bubble" guys like Trevor Hoffman. Now that I think about it, Mo probably isn't even on the bubble, I don't know why I included him.
Could use: A mulligan on that one stinking pitch to Luis Gonzalez in 2001.
Not Without Full Admission Price
Frank Thomas
Going for him: A few MVP awards, decent career numbers.
Could use: The 500HR milestone. But even with that, his numbers aren't even up there with guys like Fred McGriff and Gary Sheffield. When the Big Hurt retires, voters will see his stats as a product of the era in which he played (and while we're here, Crime Dog and Sheff don't make it either).
Trevor Hoffman
Going for him: Roughly similar career numbers to Lee Smith.
Could use: Lee Smith's induction into the Hall. Sutter and Gossage are still ahead of him in line though.
Curt Shilling
Going for him: World Series heroics-- not once, but twice.
Could use: Better career stats. He's clutch, but wasn't dominating for long enough. Case study: Jack Morris.
Andy Pettitte
Going for him: Anchored 4 World Series pitching staffs, a few 20-win seasons, 149 wins by age 31, .647 career win percentage, never had a losing season. The guy simply wins ballgames.
Could use: Longevity. If he does this for 8 more years, he'll be in. But history tells us he won't.
Jeff Kent
Going for him: Career HR leader for 2nd basemen, MVP Award, mustache, Sandberg's induction
Could use: Sandberg won 9 gold gloves at his position. Jeff Kent? Zero. Kent would have to start getting better defensively even to have a prayer, and at his age, it's not happening.
Omar Vizquel
Going for him: 9 Gold Glove awards, Ozzie Smith's induction in 2002 (at the same position)
Could use: Offense. In a hitter's era, he sparkled defensively. His career numbers are pretty similar to the Wizard's with the bat, but relative to his peers, they sucked. Ozzie also won 4 more GG awards, an NLCS MVP award, and a World Series title early in his career-- something Vizquel hasn't done. Oh, plus Ozzie had the backflips. A tough call, but I don't think he gets in. (Author's note: He is, by the way, now the answer to a trivia question: Who was Greg Maddux's 3000th strikeout?)
posted by BJC @ 11:50 AM
Your thoughts (4 so far)
4 Comments:
Sorry no comment from me, Baseball bores me......Give me the good old Expos from the early 80's and the Blue Jays in the 90's
I'm for #65. It's not like they ever win against a 1 seed. Gives the school something to cheer about. Good for them.
I mean, it's not like it's hurting anybody. It's strictly a pride thing for a small school, so I'm for that. I know how worked up small universities get just by getting a bid into the big tourney, regardless of how well they do.
So unless you've got some Rainman-like affinity for factors of 2 (couldn't resist throwing that in there), I'm OK with 65.
Yep, every year. This year I took 3rd (freakin' Kentucky). I usually have at least 2 brackets going. Maybe I'll mail one up there next March. Is that extra postage?
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