Quote:
Originally Posted by D. Bergin
I think it’s silly that they refuse to induct guys based on their overall influence on the game, and insist on putting them in a specific box. Bill White is certainly worthy for his many cumulative contributions to the game.
I’d also like to see guys like Don Zimmer get in. They put umps in and executives in, but not coaches?
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I don't entirely disagree on the philosophy (recognizing that this is not how it works right now), I just cannot really identify these achievements and contributions for White.
He's not even close as a player, using the old stats or the new. League President was a mostly powerless trophy job at that time and still is, which is why there aren't really any achievements to point to. An argument that he should be the first person inducted on the strength of his announcing would be a pretty big stretch. If being a pretty good players hanging around in the baseball world after their playing careers is enough then we need to induct another ~50 guys. Guys who are on the borderline sometimes get unofficial boosts from other things they did, but White is not even close on performance.
Curt Flood is a sensible choice to me on pioneer logic and impact on the game, as we can discern and define what his impact was.