Don't be surprised if..... (HOF debate!)

[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by UnVme7

Maybe so, but I've never seen him on a list, never heard him in Canseco's books(which he was a teammate with for a while and we all know he would've been in there if he did anything), and never failed a test of any sort to my knowledge. My apologies if I didn't read anything on this. If you have an article about him taking steroids, send me a pm on it because I would be interested in reading. His defense alone was incredible. Take as many steroids as you want, you aren't getting that kind of D. That many hits as a catcher is unheard of nowadays.

And I know what year you're talking about when he dropped the weight. Steroids? Maybe, but we don't know that either. Maybe he changed his workout routine, maybe he was sick and lost some weight, or maybe it was around the time he switched trainers. Who knows, but looking at a guy and saying yep, he took steroids, look at his weight. Yeah, that's not quite fair.

According to Wiki (gotta be true, right? ), Canseco did claim to have injected Pudge.

A LOT of these steroid guys were great players. I say let them all in. To say it's not fair to assume a guy DID steroids is, to me, just as unfair as assuming a guy did NOT (see: Rodriguez, A and Palmiero, R).

Bagwell had the same weight loss and a similar, lame explanation.

[UnVme7]

Originally Posted by ooo-ribay

According to Wiki (gotta be true, right? ), Canseco did claim to have injected Pudge.

A LOT of these steroid guys were great players. I say let them all in. To say it's not fair to assume a guy DID steroids is, to me, just as unfair as assuming a guy did NOT (see: Rodriguez, A and Palmiero, R).

Bagwell had the same weight loss and a similar, lame explanation.

I just saw that. Guess I don't remember reading it in the book.

[robw]

Bill James is a lock...just a matter of when. Whether you agree with his philosophies or not, he has changed baseball immensely and is arguably the most influential person in baseball in the past 20-30 years. Every MLB team now evaluates players differently based on his evaluation and statistics.

On a separate note, if anyone does own any of his original Abstracts from 1977-1981, I'm an interested buyer. Let me know. Thanks.

Rob

[darwinbulldog]

Originally Posted by robw

Bill James is a lock...just a matter of when. Whether you agree with his philosophies or not, he has changed baseball immensely and is arguably the most influential person in baseball in the past 20-30 years. Every MLB team now evaluates players differently based on his evaluation and statistics.

I'd like to see him go in with Bobby Grich.

[packs]

Couldn't Bill James be inducted at any time? Or are there special election years for people like him?

[robw]

Originally Posted by packs

Couldn't Bill James be inducted at any time? Or are there special election years for people like him?

Not entirely sure, but found this on baseball-reference.com:

Veterans Committee

General Summary: A group of Hall of Fame members and others charged with the induction of players who were not voted in by the BBWAA, as well as Negro League players and non-playing personnel (including managers, owners, and executives). To be enshrined, players must be named on at least 75% of the Committee members' ballots.

[Centauri]

I was the biggest Albert Belle fan out there, but I think he falls just short. His best 10 year stretch was HOF material, but his injury took away those 4-5 years of "very-good" that is needed to be a true HOf hitter. He would make the hall of crazy, however.

The one the would really bother me if he makes it is Bagwell. The dude was an obvious juicer, even if there is no "proof" out there.

Randy Johnson is the next one where some stupid sports writer will have to invent a reason not to vote for. He was absolutely awesome. Totally dominating as a pitcher - that 2001 series with Arizona, game 6 the Yankees had no chance whatsoever. 300 wins, perfect game, second most K's ever, played on a ton of winning teams, world series MVP, 5 Cy's.