Posted By:
GregAll right, here we go:
If you believe that the Hall of Fame has loosened its standards too much over the years, and only sure-fire first ballot types belong in, then none of these candidates is worthy.
If you believe that people meeting and exceeding the defacto standards in place for Hall of Famers should be elected, then there are a number of worthy players.(and please don't think by that I mean that anyone better than the worst Hall of Famers deserves to be in -- I'm talking about people who would fall in the middle of the group of Hall of Famers at their position).
Hodges, Santo and Oliva all deserve to be in - that's easy. Kaat is borderline. Cecil Travis is one of the most overlooked great hitters in baseball history, and he has to be given credit for losing what should have been the second half of a great career to WWII. Joe Gordon should also be in (vastly superior to Bobby Doerr), as should Curt Flood, borderline as a great hitter and fielder, but pushed over the line by being a pioneer. Also in -- Minnie Minoso, he lost the first half of his career because of his race, and his numbers from age 28 on, are incredible. Joe Torre should also be elected, but later, as a manager.
I'm not sold on any of the executives, but Billy Martin and Dick Williams should both be in as managers.
I'm sorry to say I disagree on Doc Cramer -- a very good player, but not a Hall of Famer in my opinion. Al Oliver should rank ahead of him -- Al's numbers are better in an era that wasn't as kind to hitters.
Greg