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Thinking About Writing A Book
Entitled, "The Hall Of Overlooked"
In it, I would write interesting biographical histories of such egregious oversights as Riggs Stephenson, Cecil Travis and Thurman Munson, and any others whose omission from the Baseball Hall Of Fame is glaring. There would be accompanying interesting and rarely-seen photographs, used of course only with permission (I have written books and magazine articles before; this wouldn't be my first rodeo). I would solicit input from this net54baseball.com forum. I feel the real experts are here, and the Society For American Baseball Research (SABR). This isn't something taken lightly, and would take months to accomplish. But I feel this would perhaps bring some level of comfort to those of us who just can't sit idly by and watch these baseball heroes of ours be passed over, year after year, decade after decade. |
Two guys that come to mind are: Gavvy Cravath and Lefty O’Doul. O’Doul might make more sense when you consider his impact on the sport after he retired as a player. Cravath doesn’t get the recognition he deserves either. Went on to become a judge out in California when he retired.
As for the NHL, John Tonelli is real close to having a HoF career, was super clutch. Butch Goring was a better player than Guy Carbonneau and gets slighted every year. |
Goring was the final piece to the puzzle and why the Islanders won those Cups. Great penalty killer and played his best when it mattered the most. He also wore that old helmet forever and just painted it every year. He was substance and not style.
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I always support more books. Go for it! You will get much debate, if you want to do a more scholarly approach I would excuse the egregious part and make it a Hall of Overlooked. The egregious type of presentation is more for an argumentative piece, if that is the intent.
Chapter 1 should be James Creighton and Ross Barnes. They seem objectively to be the 2 clear no brainers that have been kept out more by the strict setup of the ruleset than any argument or belief that they don’t honestly belong. |
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Save a chapter for Steve Garvey.
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New book
What a great notion! First piece of advice is not to take too seriously, any advice you get here, including mine:) It’s your book. A few names to consider: David Concepcion, Bill Dahlen, Jack Glasscock. Trent King
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Ross Barnes, Curt Schilling and Keith Hernandez.
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Higher BA (.307 to .296) More HR's (222 to 162) More All Star Games (6 to 5) Hernandez did have 11 gold gloves to Donnie's 9 |
You can likely tell where my baseball life came of age, but in addition to Munson:
Willie Randolph Sparky Lyle Graig Nettles |
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Hernandez's career WAR is 60.3 vs. Donnie's 42.4 Keith's career OBP is .384 vs. Mattingly's .358 |
How is Riggs Stephenson an "egregious oversight" if he wasn't good enough to be a regular? He had four years as a regular out 14 major league seasons. (I understand that was complicated a little by injuries, but people don't get elected on "might-have-beens.") To me he seems to be roughly equivalent to John Kruk.
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Hernandez got a ring… Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
I’m all for anything that calls the HOF out on their ridiculousness.
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Brian |
Most people will go to the mat for an overlooked player who, absolutely conincidentally, was their childhood hero at age 15.
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Make sure you do a deep dive with each of your subjects, namely how they were perceived and respected by their teammates and opponents. That inside insight is invaluable as to what their worth truly was on the field. For instance, Keith Hernandez was brought up. That guy was a frickin' leader and a huge driver of those successful Mets teams. The theoretical WAR that everyone always seems to immediately turn to tells us nothing about that aspect of a player's impact on the game.
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I know there will be folks upset about some of these guys going in. Likewise, there will be someone who doesn't go in, that I somehow overlook. I will do my best with it. What I envision at this point is to go chronologically, 1800s to now. In the end, I will come up with a list, and go with it. |
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Lou Whitaker
Mickey Lolich |
I don't see Richie Allen mentioned yet, but I may have just missed it. From that general era, I would also suggest Tommy John, Al Oliver and Dave Concepcion (who I saw was previously mentioned).
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Compare Catfish Hunter and Vida Blue stats
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Kenny Boyer is a great one.
Smokey Joe of course. A modern one that is crazy to me how hes not mentioned much, Carlos Beltran (should have gotten 75% easily). And Gary Sheffield??? No idea how he didn't get in first ballot. |
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Going way back, I'd choose Jim McCormick. And for a more recent guy--Kenny Lofton. |
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Hernandez: 2 Mattingly: 0 |
No way the Dodgers win those 4 pennants and 3 World Series from 1959-1966 without Maury Wills. His 104 stolen bases in '62 was epic, and his 2134 career hits are impressive when you consider he broke in as a 26-year-old rookie.
He'd also be an interesting story, with the angle of Topps not signing him to their standard contract because they thought he had little chance to even make the big leagues. He came very close to making the Hall a few years ago, but last time was mostly forgotten, as Oliva, Minoso, Kaat and Hodges got in. |
All the names mentioned:
Dick Allen - Great rate stats, I would vote for him. Ross Barnes - Truly egregious he is not in. Vida Blue - Borderline that could go either way. Probably gets in eventually as he's near the top of the waterdown list. Ken Boyer - Good candidate, near the top of his position not in. Not sure that's enough though. Dave Concepcion - Good glove, below average bat. If he was not part of a famous franchise he would not be considered. Gavvy Cravath - Great rate states, barely played. 1,221 games. Not a real candidate, but played like one for a few years. Homer totals heavily inflated by a ridiculously short fence. Short career + context have correctly kept him out. Bill Dahlen - I would vote for him. Steve Garvey - Possibly the most overrated 1B in baseball history. .294/.329/.446 as a 1B is not a HOFer. Relies heavily on people liking him when why we're young, which is always a clue a candidate is not a real candidate. If they are a good choice, people who like them will still use the math instead of sentiment when making the case. When the argument is about sentiment, red flag. Jack Glasscock - I would vote for him. Keith Hernandez - No slouch at the plate, but his batting line is not competitive with a 1B HOFer. One must place a heavy value on 1B defense to make a logical argument for him, which I don't think is really supportable. Hall of Very Good. Tommy John - Borderline, probably going in as few starters since 1900 are better than him and not in, his fame from the surgery endures, and they just elected Kaat. Kenny Lofton - Embarrassing he fell off the ballot his first year. He is on the border and deserves a serious look instead of an instant dismissal. Mickey Lolich - 217-191 with an ERA 4% over the league. This is not a serious candidate, we would need to elect ~50 other starters first. Sparky Lyle - Hard to take him as a serious candidate using math. Don Mattingly - 80's rookie card fans and Yankees fans are not a reason to induct people. His state line is again not competitive with HOF 1B. He may get in on sentiment, but not merit. Jim McCormick - Clearly meritous. Thurman Munson - One of, maybe the, best at his position not in, reasonable electee but not overlooked, right on the edge. I would vote against. Graig Nettles - One of the best at his position not in. A candidate, I would vote no, but not an unreasonable expansion. Lefty O'Doul - One would have to amend the criteria to include Japan. He is, like Stephenson, not a real candidate on the basis of his MLB playing performance but did a lot of other things. Al Oliver - I don't think hitting .300 alone is enough. Willie Randolph - Closer than some would think, but still not there. A good example of the excess of WAR, which loves his league average bat. Curt Schilling - He is not in for being a loudmouth for the political party the media hates. He is obviously meritous when one restricts it to the math. If his comments and jokes were to the detriment of the groups the voter base hates, he would have been in ballot 1. Gary Sheffield - Notorious steroid user, he is out for that reason (as only Ortiz is exempted from responsibility because reasons and corruption). Not a serious contender. Riggs Stephenson - Great rate stats, barely played. Hit 100 games 5 times. Not a real HOF candidate, but a great player who could have been. Cecil Travis - One of the most overrated players in baseball history. He had 1 great season, and 3 more between 110-120 OPS+. His candidacy is based on sentiment and a fantasy fiction what if. Not a real candidate if one accepts a mathematical basis. Lou Whitaker - Real borderline, edge case who could reasonably not go in or reasonably go in. Trammell's election pretty much guarantees he's going in on a committee ballot at some point here. Smoky Joe Wood - 1,400 IP. Not a serious candidate for anything other than people like his story. |
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Thinking About Writing A Book
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Actually had no clue Gary was a Roider. Guess it was barely reported compared to bonds and mark. I think Joe should get a little extra consideration because his time as a hitter was quite good. And that was very impressive making the switch a decade into his career. Also the fact the best players of the time, Wajo, Cobb, the list goes on and on have quotes listing Joe as one of the top pitchers of the day. You can’t overlook that. I remember a quote somebody said about Joe to me. “There are players in the hall who pitched double the amount of games as Smokey Joe Wood. But they were only half as good as him” Strange to think about. If that’s true or not. |
This is excellent. Just excellent. The list is starting to come together, becoming chapters.
Love the comment "I would take every one of them over Baines". Question - do you think I should stop before the modern era, avoiding controversy? A few of the names listed might actually get in at some point. Or just go with it? |
As a member of the pre-war committee, Ross Barnes, Bill Dahlen, Joe Wood, & Lefty O'Doul all get my vote, if Buck O'Neil gets in for being an ambassador of the game so does O'Doul. I'd also induct Joe Jackson.
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Dwight Evans, Dave Parker
Speaking of Harold Baines, his career numbers are very similar to Tony Perez. |
I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Bill Freehan. He was the best catcheer or his era.
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Bobby Grich. I know this is controversial but he gets a big boost from the Sabermetric crowd.
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I say do it! There are plenty of SABR guys and girls willing to help - myself included. I think it's a great idea!
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Tony Mullane
Harry Stovey Bob Caruthers Bob Grich Ron Guidry Pete Browning Luis Tiant Jimmy Ryan George Van Haltren Billy Pierce Carl Mays Bob Johnson Some I didn’t see mentioned that deserve some consideration IMO |
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Goring was definitely the final piece for the dynasty run to begin......and no one - no one was tougher on the boards than Tonelli and Nystrom..... They don't win four in a row without those three guys.....even with the HOF talent they had at the time with Potvin, Bossy, Smith, Trottier and Gillies..... IMHO.... |
I'll be the third to say Dave Parker. He WAS the most feared hitter in baseball for quite a few years, he had the cannon throwing arm, and he's got the lifetime stats.
I believe the writers had issues with him, but that should be water under the bridge. I'm all for a "small hall" but would like to see Parker get in. |
Interesting stories, overlooked stories, who to include, who to leave out. I think the list is coming together.
I anticipate approximately 200 pages, + or - Strongly desire to populate this with rarely seen photos, even newspaper clippings and cards and such. Not the same old, stale images we've all seen a million times. If I use your stuff, I will ask for and get permission or I will use something else. |
Ned Williamson? George Gore? Bobby Lowe?
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Uncle Charley most definitely voted for him. But perhaps the out of town writers didn’t like him. Good question. |
I could have sworn Pete Browning WAS in the HoF already.
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My childhood hero was Mattingly. That being said, in my opinion he don’t belong in. He was good (great) for couple of years and that’s it. Unless his managerial credentials amount to anything, still a no. Players that fall in this category regardless, no!!!! |
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