Active HOF'ers - Should Their Careers End Today
James Leroy Wilson seems to be leading me into my next posts as of late with logical next-step questions in the comments. Which active players and managers would I put in the Hall of Fame should their careers end today? This is a great question, one that should spark good debate. I'm a bit tighter with my standards than the writers have traditionally been, but in light of a previous post about baseball's latest golden era, my list has more than a couple of names.
Here's my list of locks for the Hall:
Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, Ken Griffey Jr., Pedro Martinez.
And my list for most probably, and I'd be willing to vote for them:
Tom Glavine, Randy Johnson, Ivan Rodriguez, Mike Piazza, Trevor Hoffman
Darn close:
Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Curt Schilling, John Smoltz, Omar Vizquel
On the right track, but a few more years of dominating:
Alex Rodriguez, Mariano Rivera, Jeff Kent, Albert Puljols, Derek Jeter
Careers I'll be watching:
Every other player
I have issues, and could start a debate:
Gary Sheffield, Mike Mussina, Frank Thomas, Jim Thome
Managing has changed a bit and trying to view today's managers in light of past HOF managers is a bit difficult. Managers have something that players don't have - the potential to manage until their late 70's. I might look at Jim Leyland, and I'm certainly projecting Tony LaRussa into the future as a HOF'er. Frank Robinson might make it in someday, but I'm not his biggest fan and probably wouldn't vote for him. My mind might be blank right now, and if I think of others, I'll post again.
Here's my list of locks for the Hall:
Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, Ken Griffey Jr., Pedro Martinez.
And my list for most probably, and I'd be willing to vote for them:
Tom Glavine, Randy Johnson, Ivan Rodriguez, Mike Piazza, Trevor Hoffman
Darn close:
Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Curt Schilling, John Smoltz, Omar Vizquel
On the right track, but a few more years of dominating:
Alex Rodriguez, Mariano Rivera, Jeff Kent, Albert Puljols, Derek Jeter
Careers I'll be watching:
Every other player
I have issues, and could start a debate:
Gary Sheffield, Mike Mussina, Frank Thomas, Jim Thome
Managing has changed a bit and trying to view today's managers in light of past HOF managers is a bit difficult. Managers have something that players don't have - the potential to manage until their late 70's. I might look at Jim Leyland, and I'm certainly projecting Tony LaRussa into the future as a HOF'er. Frank Robinson might make it in someday, but I'm not his biggest fan and probably wouldn't vote for him. My mind might be blank right now, and if I think of others, I'll post again.
Labels: Hall of Fame
posted by Steve Scott at 10:21 PM
1 Comments:
Among managers, it'd be hard to not put Cox and Torre in there, just because of their division win streaks.
I think Frank Thomas has a good case, just by the number of times he was an MVP candidate (even as a DH) and his overall career averages. But I know there's more to it than numbers.
And I suspect Pujols won't need as many years as most players to earn Hall of Fame credentials.
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