On the Yankees beat

I assume "The Goose" got screwed again. The guy deserves to be in "The Hall". Goose even "closed" when a "closer" went more than 1 inning. I'm sure he'll have a lot to say about this.

Goose got about 71% of the vote, according to Rob Neyer, and he feels that should all but assure him for the class of '08.

Goose really should just shut up and wait like everyone else.
Sometimes I wonder if he would have gotten in earlier if he didn't cry about not getting in a few years ago.
I don't recall anyone else ever whining about not getting voted in. He looks like a baby speaking out to the media about it

Here is why the BBWAA is such a joke - players who don't get in on their first try sometimes get in down the road. Why? Before a player is eligible for the Hall he needs to have been retired for 5 years right? So tell me, if Don Mattingly (for example) isn't good enough to get in on his first try exactly how would his stats improve over the course of the next year that would merit him getting in a year later?

Yes, Goose got screwed and so many others but for the life of me, I'll never understand why Bert Blyleven with almost 4,000 K's and approached close to 300 wins has never made it ? Tommy John with 288 career wins and a surgery named after him and saving who's to know how many careers is another. The whole process of election smells heavily political.

Here's a thought. The two former players who completely changed the sport forever are Tommy John for the surgery and Jose Canseco. Hear me out. I'm not saying he should be considered as a Hall of Fame player, but between the book and the firestorm it unleashed, has anyone had as much of an effect on the sport as Canseco in the last decade? I can't think of one. Rules were changed because of him, CBA's and policies were instituted because of him, testing became mandated, penalties have been handed down...it has completely changed the game.

Chip

Your correct major impact players, but yet there was one player who should,ve been an impact player one who teams should have model after.....RICKEY HENDERSON 100 steals and 20 plus homers -UNREAL!!

Ripken and Gymnn, two quality men first and two fabulous ballplayers second.

Ripken is a class act, and one of the most deserving first ballot hall of famer's. It is rare these days that there is loyalty in ball players. Ripken and Gwynn exemplified the game of baseball. It was a great honor to see these guys play when I was a kid. I got to see Cal a lot more than Gwynn being my father lives in Maryland. One of the things I will remember most till the day I die was the day I met Cal when I was 12. And every time I go to an Orioles/ Yankees game at Camden Yards(I now too live in the DC area) Cal is always there.
Cal reminds me of Jeter, Jeter is a class act and a loyal player. He is another who never left his team for any reason. Cal bleeds orange and black and Jeter will always bleed pinstripes.
I know this is a little long winded but it just warms my heart to see one of my hero's get the honor he so deserves. Hopefully Jeter will join him one day.

Chip : Canseco deserves a special wing at Cooperstown,maybe we could call it the "I told you so" Sosa,Palmeiro,Mcguire,Bonds etc.could be featured all holding a giant syringe instead of a bat...the one player who has no business being in the Hall Of Fame was voted in by the veterans committee is George Kell a 3rd baseman who won 1 batting title in the early fifties but really had no impact on the game whatsoever...Kell is in the Hall ,yet Ron Santo isn't ? Bruce Sutter and not Goose?

I don't understand the baseball writers. The Hall really is missing out on a lot of baseball greats.

Many might not agree with me but I think Don Mattingly should be in the Hall. His numbers parallel Kirby Puckett's, who also belongs and is in the Hall.

Just from this year's vote the top vote getters who missed getting in are all deserving except for McGwire.

Rich Gossage
Jim Rice
Andre Dawson
Bert Blyleven
Lee Smith
Jack Morris
Tommy John

can anyone explain to me why gogossage keeps getting denied? he was as good if not better the bruce sutter and he is in the hof!

Year 1996 . Place Yankee staduim. event WOrld series victory. WHat took place afterwards is incredible

Several yankees came out and shared a moment with us , I personally gave david cone a bear hug and told him Excellent game he pitched in ATLANTA. He almost cried, because someone recognized that feat. but what happen next was INCREDIBLE! DEREK JETER came out of the staduim with something in his hand ..HIS GAME WORN CLEATS. walked over to a FOOD VENDOR lady who little boy was sitting on the ground and JETER handed the boy his cleats - GAME 6 Cleats!!!!

Bomber- I heard that kid sold those cleats on eBay for $50,000. Just kidding...
Rickey Henderson will get in the first time he is eligible, that shouldn't even be an issue. However, I think he is still trying to come back isn't he? :)

All-
I'm just getting back from a couple days of travel for work and was seriously upset that Goose got denied again. Like Chip says the BBWAA is a complete joke. The fact that they use their ballots to fulfill personal vendettas and make their own political statements is ridiculous. One guy turned in an empty ballot because he was making a statement about the era Ripken, Gwynn and McGwire played in..WTF?

Just saw the photo of Randy Johnson smiling from ear to ear at his DBacks press conf. Way to go Randy, may the rest of your career be as mediocre as you want it to be.
Honestly, that is one thing I've always held against Tony Gwynn. He had a few chances to leave San Diego and play for a winner, for maybe a few months but always turned it down. Even when SD told him they would immediately resign him in the offseason- weird. If you really want to help your team and you mean it, why not let them make a trade for some other players then rejoin them in a couple months? I know, family this, family that. These guys are millionares, they can fly their family in to see them whenever they want.

Lastly, to Paul: The reason Puckett got in the HOF and Mattingly didn't is Puck won two WS, one of them almost single handedley.
I fear our beloved Donnie may never get in.

A-Rod rules and is a good guy. Lets get off his back and cheer him on in 07 !

Moose Skowron was a great 1B. He had a slick glove like Donnie and Tino, and the power of a Giambi.

Jim A: Didn't Gwynn spend 1/2 his career on the DL ?There could not have been a more out of shape player than Tony Gwynn...great hitter ...I agree on the Mattingly /Puckett evaluation...if D-BBall had posted just 3 more excellent yrs would have been 1st ballot HOFer

Joe: Moose Skowron a career .992 fielding percentage ,that's very good,batted .293 in the World Series,29 RBI in 39 games,good clutch hitter.Unfortunately Moose was very brittle and injured alot,but he still managed to make 6 all-star teams.

Ruse: Thanks for your HOF comments. I've been saying the same thing about all your points for a few years now. Give them all a special section and and perhaps it should be designed in the shape of an asterisk. Until Howard or some other legit slugger comes along Roger still holds the record in my book.

yanks61: On one of local Bay Area' TV sports shows they played footage of McGuire as a rookie,tall,babyfaced and skinny as a twig then they fastforwarded to 1998,the difference in physique was amazing,in terms of bulk and upper body mass,the before and after looked like 2 different human beings...and then they played that pathetic speech he gave to the Feds...Maris was 6' 200 lbs.

Ruse,
You can look at pictures and footage of Bernie Williams and see the same type of change in his body, although not as dramatic.
Gwynn was hurt early in his career but I thought he held up okay later on which was weird considering he was such a fat b*stard.

Agree with all the comments about a special section of "infamous" players in baseball history. These people are part of baseball's history and they should be included. That's like having museums that don't acknowledge the bad times in our history, which is silly.

Jim A.: speaking of Bernie ,I remember in 2003 Bernie got off to an excellent start,one of the best Aprils of his career then sometime in early May he twisted his knee or something,when he returned he was never the same ballplayer ,players on steroids always seem to have joint injuries,especially knees,if you look at all the players allegedly on Steroids ,they all have sustained very similar type injuries .

Jim A -

To me Ricky is one of the best players in the last 25 years if not all time. has anyone EVER hit 24 hr's and 100 steals? and bat over 300? I mean 100 steals in it self is incredible!

Ruse,
Bernie also had that problem in both shoulders where the muscle or tendons were becoming disconnected from the bone and this type of injury, along with the knee injury that McGwire and Jason Giambi suffered, often referred to as "the nose bleed of steroid use".

Bomber- I'm with you. Rickey changed the game and was an absolute monster in his prime. He could do everything on the field except throw. The man is probably still in better shape than 85% of the players in MLB today.

Bomber: Rickey 1st ballot Hall of Famer.In 1985 Martin would often bat Mattingly 2nd because he knew if Rickey got on base via a walk or single he would usually steal second,and Mattingly would knock him in ,money in the bank!,Rickey in 1985 scored 146 runs in 145 games ,Mattingly knocked in 145 and was MVP

Kirby Puckett makes it on first try, yet Don Mattingly is barely considered. Put their stats side by side and they are almost identical. What's Up?

Kirby Puckett makes it on first try, yet Don Mattingly is barely considered. Put their stats side by side and they are almost identical. What's Up?

Look, Gossage was always going to get. He was an excellent pitcher but hardly dominant relative to other pitchers in the era. He is barely a HOF'er, barely... But a HOF nevertheless. He will get in next year. As for Blvelyn, his numbers barely qualify him for the Hall. You cant just look at K's, look at his low winning percentage, his high era and his poor amount of quality starts. He was never ever dominant in any way. Toomy John and HOF should never ever be mentioned. He was a good pitcher for half of his career and a decnet pitcher for the other half. He was just able to hold on long enough to get close to 300, and still he did not get there. Look at his stats from year to year. Those are not numbers of the elite. I would throw Andre Dawson and Lee Smith into the hall eventually, but NEVER EVER Tommy John...

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