MLB Hall of Fame Tomorrow! Will Sandberg finally make it?

[Dignan]

@RickJay

As for the two things Murph has Ryno beat on; I don’t think two MVPs versus one really means much. Murphy really shouldn’t have won the MVP in 1983, anyway; it should have gone to Mike Schmidt, who led the league in home runs, got on base more often, won the Gold Glove at a harder defensive position, and was more or less the entire offense for a team that won the pennant. In any case, if we went by MVP Awards you’d be forced to conclude that Roger Maris was as good as Willie Mays, or that Hal Newhouser was infinitely better than Tom Seaver, and all kinds of other silly things.

Now this is only my biased opinion as a die-hard Cubs fan whose favorite player was Sandberg, but I think Sandberg should have won the MVP in 1990. Of course, that’s only my opinion from looking at stats and not really having any memories from 1990. The only thing I can think of is that the Cubs poor showing in the standings are the reason Bonds got it instead.

As for other second basemen: will Alomar be able to get in? From his accomplishments, I don’t see why not, but I know some people that don’t think he deserves it, and that the spitting incident will hurt his chances.

[Spoke]

@RickJay

As to the issue of total bases - well, yeah, if you pick ten specific years you can usually find a category in which a particular player led the majors for those ten years by virtue of his career being in the centre of the ten-year span.

I dunno. Isn’t the point to select the best players of a given era? Murphy’s era was the 80s, and IMHO the total bases stat for that decade is telling. I wonder if the total bases leader for any other given decade is excluded from the HOF? (I’m too lazy to dig up those stats, of course.) And it’s not a stand-alone stat. He also has the gold gloves as evidence of his defensive skills.

Just the admittedly biased opinion of a lifelong Braves fan.

[Spoke]

(So how does the Veterans’ Committee work? Any chance of Murphy getting in via the back door?)

[ElvisL1ves]

Hey, Phils fans, how’s the Sandberg and Bowa for DeJesus trade look to ya?

[Exgineer]

@Jonathan Chance

YES!!!

Justice is done! Stand down the missles! Recall the bombers!

Justice?

What in hell is it going to take to get Jim Rice in? He should have been in years ago.

[dantheman]

@ElvisL1ves

Hey, Phils fans, how’s the Sandberg and Bowa for DeJesus trade look to ya?

I have no regrets about that trade. I think Chicago was a much more hospitable environ for Sandberg than Philadelphia ever could have been. I don’t think he would have thrived in Philadelphia, and I think the pressure to do so would have weakened his game considerably.

Naturally, if he wound up having the career in Philadelphia that he did in Chicago, I would feel differently. But my opinion is that his temperment and that of Philadelphia would not have been an ideal match anyway.

[zev_steinhardt]

@spoke-

(So how does the Veterans’ Committee work? Any chance of Murphy getting in via the back door?)

Maybe. The Veterans Committee votes every other year.

In order for a player to be eligible, a player must be retired at least 21 years. So that precludes Murphy getting in by the VC method for a while.

The Committee consists primarily of living HOFers, with some writers and broadcasters thrown in. A player must get 75% of the vote from the commitee in order to be elected.

The initial feeling (it’s really still too early to tell) is that the living HOFers are going to be much tougher on voting someone in than the previous committee had been. IMHO, there will be very few players who did not get elected by the BBWAA who do get elected by the VC.

Zev Steinhardt