Recently, year by year, ballot by ballot, The Baseball Hall Of Fame has made us casual fans scratch our heads, and at times question the credibility of the voters decision making in who should, and shouldn’t get in. From the majority of people wanting to put the steroid commotion to bed and put the Bonds and Clemens of the world in to move on, to questioning how a handful of voters leaving 600 HR Jim Thome off their ballots completely, Cooperstown/BBWAA has been controversial to say the least as of late. We won’t get too lost in all that this time though, this time? we’re gonna take a deeper look at the guys we often label as in the “Hall Of Very Good”, and make a case for their spot in Cooperstown. Think of it as a HoF reform, and we’re giving those outsiders a second chance.
Fred McGriff
A phrase I often say is “If Crime Dog ain’t in, then (insert player here) ain’t gettin’ in”. He’s become the benchmark for the level you seemingly have to surpass to be in Cooperstown. Has he been wrongly overlooked by voters after all those years of eligibility? A lifetime OBP of .886 over an 18 year span, with 10 of those seasons posting an OBP above his career average, he embodied consistency. Perhaps being among the long list of premier power bats in the 90s, he might’ve simply gotten lost from the eyes of the voters. How 493 HRs and 1550 RBIs goes unnoticed though is another conversation. He’s got a ring with Atlanta, a handful of top 10 MVP finishes, 10 shy of 2500 hits, a sneaky cool 1305 career walks (unintentional), a career .917 OPS in the postseason over 50 games, and for primarily known as a power bat, a .284 lifetime AVG is more than a cherry on top of what surely needs to be put on a plaque in Cooperstown.
Gary Sheffield
He certainly wasn’t everyone’s cup o’ tea, and was never short on something to say, but you’d be hard pressed to find any cons on Sheff in the batters box. Everything about the guy was different from the field. That unique, constant wrists in motion batting stance, that violent but elegant short stroke, and the owner of the fastest bat speed maybe of all time, he had dare I say, a Hall Of Fame swing. He’s got power numbers up with the best of ’em (509 HRs, 467 doubles, 2689 Hits, .292/.393/.514 AVG/OBP/SLG), a top tier run producer with 1676 RBIs, and crossing the plate 1636 times himself, there was no pitcher during his time that said to himself “I can’t wait to pitch to Gary Sheffield”. What really makes him unique though? He’s the only player ever with an 100 RBI season with 5 different teams, and he produced an unreal 16 seasons with more walks than strikeouts. He’s got a ring, a batting title, 5 Silver Slugger awards, 9 Time All-Star. Phenomenal. The verdict? Vote this man in.
Jim McCormick
This one has been supported and backed by almost every baseball historian, and the way the voting system is today is the only reason why he’s not in Cooperstown, and why he wasn’t in during the first ever year of nomination is yet another question. One of the OGs of the sport, (he was actually born in Glasgow, England in 1856), he was one of, if not the first ever to master what we call today as the curveball. 4000+ innings worth of a career 2.49 ERA, starting 485 games and completing 466 of them (yeah, you read that right), and 265 wins. The common theory as to why he was never inducted is that he “only” has 265 wins. Whether or not 265 is a lot by Hall Of Fame standards is another question, but all other successful numbers considered, that’s first ballot resume stuff. In the age where Ks an W/L records were otherworldly in comparison to today, the emphasis of the end all be all stat for pitchers, that ERA, shines brighter. in 1880 he won 45 of Cleveland’s 47 games, and still to this day holds the record for the longest undefeated streak to start the season as a pitcher at 15-0 in 1886. So, is he a Hall Of Famer? the guy pretty much invented the freakin’ curveball, put him right next to Christy.
Bernie Williams
The crank shaft of the 90’s Yankees dynasty. A catalyst no matter where Torre put him in the lineup. Bernie has quite worthy numbers to go along with all the sliver and gold he accumulated in his career. From ’95 to ’02, the majority if not the entire 90’s Yankees conquest, he hit at least .305. 150+ hits in every one of those seasons. .297 lifetime AVG. Career .381/.477/.858 OBP/SLG/OPS line, with 1000+ walks. 287 Career HRs, 1,257 RBI’s, proving plenty of sneaky top tier pop. Like the rest of that team though, Bernie also produced in October, cranking out a solid .850 career postseason OPS over 121 games, with 22 bombs and 80 RBIs. An impressive 4 Gold Gloves, posting a better fielding percentage and range factor than the league average nearly every year, playing an underrated difficult, spacious center field in Yankee Stadium. Throw in 5 All Star games, an ALCS MVP, Silver Slugger, Batting Title, and those 4 WS rings, Cooperstown should be a lot shinier and brighter with Bernie’s shrine in it.
