Will Roger Maris ever get into the HOF?

[nat]

Originally Posted by Brianruns10

I was wondering, is there ANY single season achievement that might get someone in the HoF? Like, suppose someone broke DiMaggio's hitting streak, or batted .400 for a season, but then their career fell apart due to an injury. Do you think that single season's achievement would be HoF worthy?

The instructions that the hall sends to voters explicitly say that players are not to be elected for a single achievement. They're not clear about a whole lot, but they are clear that it's a lifetime achievement award.

Someone else said:
"I always felt that the Hall should be reserved for those players that were iconic at their position within the era that they played, and numbers in line with the elites of the game"

It hasn't been this since the 1940s. Tommy McCarthy was elected in 1946. Frank Chance was elected the same year. Pie Traynor was elected two years later, along with Herb Pennock. And so on. Except at the very beginning, the hall has never been just for the Babe Ruths.

That said, Maris doesn't belong. Even by the hall's rather lax standards, there have been some notable mistakes. Maz is one. Harold Baines is the most recent example. These guys are far below the hall's usual standards. So to say that Maris is better than some of the guys in the hall isn't much of an argument. Maris burned brightly but briefly. And given that the hall prohibits electing players for single achievements, he burned too briefly.