Quote:
Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B
Yeah, I've always said there'd be no argument from me on that idea.
Both Cecil and his contemporary Mel Harder, who was a friend of mine, need to be put in there. Harder has the strange distinction of getting enough votes but NOT being inducted (?!). He could have lived to see it happen, too. Stupid, stupid "institution", Cooperstown is.
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I'm not familiar with the careers of either Cecil Travis or Mel Harder. Looking at their stats, it looks like Travis may have had a chance to be in the Hall of Fame until he missed 3 years for military service. When he came back after WWII, he was clearly no longer the same player and was out of the majors at age 33. I can see an argument being made for him being inducted, but he probably needed a few more good years that he likely would have had if not for being in the military.
As for Harder, his stats show 4 or 5 very good seasons but overall it looks to me that he had a solid career but not one that makes me think he definitely belongs in the Hall of Fame. Regarding him getting 75% of the vote from the Veterans Committee but not getting in because 2 others were higher, does anyone have a link to the actual voting results showing that? I found a few places that mention it happened but couldn't find the actual results anywhere. If it was in 1999, then it looks like the Veterans Committee elected 4 people that year not 2.
https://baseballhall.org/discover/in...ss%20of%201999.