Who are your Inner Circle Hall of Famers?

[oldjudge]

I believe that the inner circle is Cobb, Ruth, Wagner, Mays and Aaron. I don’t think a pitcher can be in the inner circle. Next group would include DiMaggio, Williams, Hornsby, Mantle, Jackson, Lajoie, Delahanty, Gehrig, Foxx and Trout.
I think the pitchers have to be grouped separately. Their inner circle would be Young, Johnson and Mathewson.

[Mungo Hungo]

Kid Nichols seems to be unjustly forgotten. Nine straight years of 27 wins or more. Yes, this was 19th Century, but he was still the best pitcher of his time, aside from Cy Young.

[darwinbulldog]

Originally Posted by Mungo Hungo

Kid Nichols seems to be unjustly forgotten. Nine straight years of 27 wins or more. Yes, this was 19th Century, but he was still the best pitcher of his time, aside from Cy Young.

Cy Young had the better career ultimately, but Kid Nichols really was the better (best) pitcher in the 19th century, which is really saying something.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

I believe that the inner circle is Cobb, Ruth, Wagner, Mays and Aaron. I don’t think a pitcher can be in the inner circle. Next group would include DiMaggio, Williams, Hornsby, Mantle, Jackson, Lajoie, Delahanty, Gehrig, Foxx and Trout.
I think the pitchers have to be grouped separately. Their inner circle would be Young, Johnson and Mathewson.

I struggle with the idea that just 25% of the inner circle HOF have played in the last 85+ years. Major league baseball is 146 years old but 75% of the best players played their entire careers in the first 40% of its lifetime? And just one player in the inner circle or next group debuted in the last 65+ years?

[oldjudge]

The list would be different if steroid users were included. Then Bonds would have made the inner circle and Aroid the next level.

[RCMcKenzie]

My inner sanctum players are the guys I rooted for as a kid. TP Terry Puhl, Jose Cruz, Bob Watson, JR Richard, Cesar Cedeno, etc. Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio are not in my inner circle, because they are my age, and I view them as peers, and not heroes.

Here's the top 10 in WAR...(the inner circle)
Ruth
Johnson
Young
Bonds
Mays
Cobb
Aaron
Clemens
Speaker
Wagner

The problem with Bonds, Aaron and Clemens is that they don't have any cool cards to collect.


The story at the gym where no-one knew who Walter Johnson was, was the point I was trying to make about Doncic in the other thread, not that he's not good, he's not famous. George Washington is famous, and even he has a Q-rating of about 44.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by RCMcKenzie

The problem with Bonds, Aaron and Clemens is that they don't have any cool cards to collect.

You're joking, right?

[RCMcKenzie]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

You're joking, right?

Having some fun with the topic, yes.

There was a time when Aaron's 1976 RB was the best card in my collection.

It's almost like they made the list, and created a stat called "WAR" to back it up with a math formula.

15 Alexander
16 Arod
17 Nichols
18 Gehrig
19 Rickey Henderson
20 Ott
21 Mantle

[metroac]

David Ortiz became the 58th player elected to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot. Here's a link to the list: https://www.mlb.com/news/first-ballo...ers-c300943350

Why not decide how many you want in your Pantheon and start striking names off this list? It would be the "eyeball test HOF," but maybe also the "vote-with-your-heart HOF" too.

Interesting that, according to the list, there were no first ballot HOFer's between 1936 and 1962. Can this be true? Not DiMaggio?

Answer in supplementary article from MLB on ten greats not selected on first ballot: https://www.mlb.com/news/hall-of-fam...t-first-ballot

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

The list would be different if steroid users were included. Then Bonds would have made the inner circle and Aroid the next level.

Ruth and Aaron both used PEDs.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

The list would be different if steroid users were included. Then Bonds would have made the inner circle and Aroid the next level.

How is ARod not first tier?

[LincolnVT]

I would agree with this, but would put Jackson (non-HOF) in the inner outer circle collectibility wise.

Originally Posted by oldjudge

I believe that the inner circle is Cobb, Ruth, Wagner, Mays and Aaron. I don’t think a pitcher can be in the inner circle. Next group would include DiMaggio, Williams, Hornsby, Mantle, Jackson, Lajoie, Delahanty, Gehrig, Foxx and Trout.
I think the pitchers have to be grouped separately. Their inner circle would be Young, Johnson and Mathewson.