Quote:
Originally Posted by rats60
Alan Trammell and especially Jack Morris opened the door for Lee Smith and Harold Baines. The Veteran's Committee had been limiting the number of ex-players, but now seems open to putting in guys that just missed the cut with writers. Look for Ted Simmons, Steve Garvey, Tommy John, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker or Luis Tiant to be elected next year and Dick Allen, Tony Oliva, Jim Kaat or Minnie Minoso to get elected the year after.
You may consider them nondeserving, but the HOF and its voters do not and it has been that way for a long time. Candy Cummings was elected in 1939. Tommy McCarthy was elected in 1946. Ray Schalk was elected in 1955. Lloyd Waner was elected in 1967. Fred Lindstrom was elected in 1976. Rick Ferrell was elected in 1984. The Veteran's Committee has the job of electing players that were over looked by the writers, who for the most part do a good job with Arky Vaughan and Johnny Mize being the only two really bad misses.
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The funny thing in this situation is, unlike all those other players you listed (Murphy, Tiant, Oliva, Parker, etc), Baines was never at any time considered a star or great player by anyone while he was playing-- even for a short period. He was considered basically a non-entity even while he was playing. It may not have panned out, but with Parker and Garvey, for examples, when they were winning the MVP and on All-Star teams, some people thought "We may be looking at a future HOFer here." With Baines, no one ever thought that ever while he was playing. It's not as if he was one of those many former stars that never panned out-- he was never a star.
One sportswriter wrote that Baines doesn't deserve to be in the HOF, but don't be hard on him because he didn't do the selecting. My response is that it is true he didn't do the selecting-- and, in fact, he said he was surprised as anyone that he was selected. However, you can start blaming Baines once he accepts it. That part is his choice. If he says "I'm honored, but I don't deserve it and will respectfully decline," he would be admired if not become a folk hero in baseball history books. If he's enshrined, he will eternally elicit a collect an eyeroll and mocking chuckle anytime someone mentions his name. He'll never be known as "Hall of Famer" but as "One of the Worst Hall of Famers Ever." I googled his name and the word "joke" and you get a lot hits. I didn't try "travesty."