Why is Joe Tinker in the HOF

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Posted By: Kevin Cummings

According to several sources I've read, Tinker was an exceptional shortstop for his time. He led National League shortstops in fielding percentage in 1906, 1908, 1909 and 1911. He was also supposedly the best hit and run man of his time. He was not a great hitter, but he owned Matty and had lots of key hits in the 1908 charge to the World Series and even homered in one of the WS games. Finally, he was instrumental in the historical context of the game since he was the first name player signed by the upstart Federal League leading to other named players coming on board.

That having been said, he was a crummy teammate (he and Evers didn't speak for years), got into fights with fans, and is the shortstop who meets the fewest Hall of Fame statistical standards (Bill James has him ranked as only the 33rd best shortstop ever to play the game, behind non-HOF players like Alan Trammel, Maury Wills, Bill Dahlen and Cecil Travis among others).

So, I guess the short answer is one more screwup by the Veterans Committee.