Everyone likes to argue about who should or shouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame. Why argue about who should be in Cooperstown when we can establish our own Hall of Fame right here?
Here’s how it will work. We will vote on a position by position basis, which allows up to break up the vote a little so we can get a handle on it. At each position you may vote for TEN players, no more; you can vote for fewer if you like but please vote for ten if you can.
Eligibility will be open to all players in the entire history of baseball who have played a substantial amount in the Major Leagues, including the National League prior to 1901. We will have a separate category for Negro League stars, since it’s hard to gauge where they rank in a list of MLB stars. **You may vote for active players or players who have retired too recently to be eligible for Cooperstown. **
The ten players who receive the most votes are in. Maybe.
To help jog your memory I will make by best attempt to name all players who are in the Hall of Fame, or might be, or have impressive careers.
Our first ballot is for CATCHER. Please vote for ten catchers. Here is a list, but please post and cite any names I have forgotten. VOTE AWAY!
Johnny Bench
Yogi Berra
Ray Schalk
Gary Carter
Bill Dickey
Roy Campanella
Ernie Lombardi
Roger Bresnahan
Carlton Fisk
Thurman Munson
Bob Boone
Bill Freehan
Gabby Hartnett
Mickey Cochrane
Ivan Rodriguez
Mike Piazza
Rick Dempsey
Lance Parrish
Buck Ewing
Rick Ferrell
Alan Ashby
Jim Sundberg
Dan Wilson
Jim Hegan
Tony Pena Sr.
Del Crandall
Mike Scioscia
Matty Sanguillen
Ted Simmons
Jason Kendall
Brad Ausmus
Ernie Whitt
Gene Tenace
Jorge Posada
Darren Daulton
Ed Bailey
Benito Santiago
Sandy Alomar Jr.
Smoky Burgess
Stan Lopata
Bo Diaz
Steve Yeager
Earl Smith
Darrell Porter
Elston Howard
Walker Cooper
Johnny Roseboro
Tim McCarver
I read a book recently that argued that he was the greatest player in the history of team sports because of his ten World Series rings. If I remember correctly, that puts him behind only Bill Russell’s 11 championships. I’m not exactly sure how the author rationalized putting him behind Russell, when, obviously, a basketball player–one of only five players on the court–has more individual impact on the game… but I digress.
Bench
Yogi
Fisk
Campanella
Dickey
Cochrane
Allomar Jr
Piazza
Munson
Freehan This is not a popular choice but he handled a staff very well and commanded the game. Life time over 280 .
Awesome idea, RickJay. The big debate, of course, isn’t really about who’s better than whom, but where the mythic cutoff point should be: Big Hall versus Small Hall, so to speak.
That being said, while I’ll be voting in all of these (and will happily attempt to defend my assertions that all of the mid-90’s Indians should be in), I don’t know if I’m gonna vote for 10 in each category.
I should add that I probably rate catchers higher for their offensive productivity than I really should. There’s nothing quite like a team being able to extend the heart of their order with a player who’s chosen for their defensive talents.
Yogi Berra
Johnny Bench
Carlton Fisk
Buck Ewing
Mike Piazza
Sandy Alomar, Jr.
Bill Dickey
Great idea for a series of threads. Will you have a round of voting for DH? Will RP and SP be separate? Where will you get the names from?
Johnny Bench
Yogi Berra
Gary Carter
Bill Dickey
Gabby Hartnett
Roy Campanella
Carlton Fisk
Thurman Munson: I propose we are allowed one sentimental choice that defies statistical logic.
Mickey Cochrane
Mike Piazza: Boy, I really didn’t want to vote for him, but his offensive numbers are too great to ignore.
There won’t be separate voting for DHs because there aren’t enough career DHs. There are very few players who amassed impressive careers who didn’t play a defensive position most of their careers, and the few that were DHs most of the time… well, I can only think of three.
At the end there will also be a Wild Card Round, where players who just missed the cut will compete against each other to add a few more Hall of Famers, and I might throw the career DHs - really, just Edgar, Hal McRae, and Baines - into that mix.
There will be multiple rounds of voting for SP, divided by era. (Time era, not ERA.) Relief pitchers will have a separate round.
I’m compiling the names from a variety of sources; all actual Hall of Famers and lists of players compiled by various statistical categories.
In case you wondered there will be three rounds of voting for outfielders. I’m not sure that’s really the right approach, since left fielders are left fielders largely because they aren’t good enough to pay center or right, but when I get the lists together I’ll decide what to do.
Johnny Bench - Boyhood hero.
Yogi Berra - His folksy malapropisms disguise what a tremendous competitor he was.
Gary Carter - Bench Jr.
Carlton Fisk - Incredibly long career.
Mickey Cochrane - Even with the beaning ending his career prematurely.
Ivan Rodriguez - Still think Bench is the better overall defensive catcher tho.
Mike Piazza- Can’t argue with the bat, underrated D.
Ted Simmons - Also underrated, seriously jobbed by the BBWAA.
Gabby Hartnett - Hope Soto can be 1/5th the player this guy was.
Roy Campanella - Inconsistent but with huge peaks.
If I were making the rules, I’d compell people to include players from various time periods. What we’re doing here, admirable fun tho’ it is, is electing a Hall of Fame of the late 20th century, with scant attention for those bozos who played before the Eisenhower administration, which is fine, but it ain’t a real HOF.
Catching IMO is a position for players with defensive skills. Lombardi and Piazza, both great with the stick, were in the wrong era or wrong league–both should have played 90% of their games at DH, and certainly would have if they’d been on AL squads post-1973. I ain’t voting for half a ballplayer.
