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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

Let's not use Babe Ruth in our collective pondering. Comparing the Babe to a borderline HOF candidate who has been overlooked for over 70 years is akin to extolling the virtues of a Deusenberg against those of an Edsel. The Edsel was a mighty fine car, ahead of its time, but only a select few will ever realize and appreciate that. Most folks would tell you that the Edsel may have had power and performance, but it wasn't streamlined like the rest of the cars of its era. It had a clumsy, less graceful appearance when placed alongside its beautiful peers. It's taken some classic car enthusiasts half a century to realize how special the Edsel really was, but most of the world can't see the car's underlying beauty. Ergo, certain 19th century players are not in the Hall. Most of them will never be enshrined. Unless there is a huge campaign such as what provoked the recent Negro Leaguer love fest, we'll be lucky to see even one of them inducted.