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Hillyer Puts Hawk in Hall

By Quin Hillyer on 1.6.10 @ 6:14PM

Gee, I didn't know I had so much power! Here I write a column arguing that Andre Dawson should be in the Hall of Fame, and lo and behold, he finally gets in! I mean, it had to be my doing, right?

Seriously, congrats to the Hawk. I was disappointed to see that Bert (Be Home) Blyleven just barely missed (I exchanged emails several months ago, I think it was with the great Wlady, about my belief that Blyleven also was deserving), but am now more confident that Blyleven too will eventually get in, as he should. Also, I had never seriously considered Roberto Alomar, who probably (and deservedly) suffers because of his nasty spitting incident. What a jerk. But I did, for the first time, check his stats just now, and was amazed to see they compare VERY favorably to those of the great Joe Morgan, one of my favorite players ever. In many ways, his career is as close to identical with Morgan's as two careers will ever be -- except that Morgan was a respected leader on every one of his teams, while Alomar was a spitmeister. Anyway, Alomar seems well poised to make it in future years as well. Finally, for what it's worth, I think reliever Lee Smith belongs in the Hall as well.

Anyway, since I have now proved my powers of persuasion, I will start chilling the bubbly to celebrate former Saint linebacker Rickey Jackson's impending induction into Canton as well!

View all comments (6) | Leave a comment

J.A. Davis| 1.7.10 @ 1:50AM

Well done Quin. Now can you get to work for one of my favorite players, Barry Larkin! And, if you're really feeling confident, let's try to get in Dave Concepcion ...

china racking| 1.7.10 @ 2:07AM

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Derek Leaberry| 1.7.10 @ 8:50AM

Two very big differences between Joe Morgan and Andre Dawson. First, Morgan was a big part of one of the greatest baseball teams in history, the Cincinnati Reds of the 70s, winners of two World Series championships. Dawson rarely played on playoff teams and did not play in a World Series. Second, Joe Morgan usually walked at least one hundred times a year and had a very high On Base Percentage. Dawson was notorious for his lack of plate discipline, rarely walked, struck out often, and had a very low On Base Percentage. At best, Dawson is most similar to other recent borderline Hall of Fame cases like Al Kaline and Robin Yount.

The Hall of Fame election system is a farce. How is Detroit Tiger shortstop Alan Trammell left out of the Hall while Cardinal shortstop Ozzie Smith is elected in his first try? Trammell had 97 % the glove of Smith and three times the bat. Smith, had he not played over half his games on Astro Turf, often batting behind speedster Vince Coleman by the way, would have been the .230 bango-hitter that he was when he played with the Padres if he had played most of his games on grass, which is what baseball should be played on.

Paul Zummo| 1.7.10 @ 9:51AM

Dawson's a borderline case that probably doesn't belong, but it's nothing to get too upset about. The farce is that Alomar, Blyleven, Larkin, Raines, and Trammell were all excluded. At least it it looks like Alomar and Blyleven will get in next year, and Larkin will probably make his way into the Hall as well at some point. But I'm with Derek on this - Trammell should get in, and perhaps one day with his double play partner if the Veterans Committee has a say.

Ken (Old Texican)| 1.7.10 @ 9:54AM

Quin, thank you so much for today's article.

The greek battle article you posted today is being faxed to LOTS of Republican senators.
Here is one TEAM America is sending.
Senator Cornyn 1-7-10
You guys up there don’t have a clue.
My donations, and those of all my teammates are going directly to good conservative candidates with cajones…Direct!
Tell Mr. Steele the same thing.
We want to see some press conferences on the Capitol steps!!!!!
We expect you to run every dirty trick known to man to defeat this death-care bill.
The link below from The American Spectator tells you where to start.
Ken JudgeRoy, T.E.A.M. AMERICA www.myteamusa.org
http://spectator.org/archives/.....ealth-care

Seek| 1.7.10 @ 11:47AM

Bill James, the world's foremost authority on these matters, argues that very good players who find their second wind during their mid-to-late 30s have an edge in eligibility over those who have a fabulous first decade and then fade quickly. That's why Paul O'Neill, Harold Baines and Chili Davis are more likely to get into Cooperstown than Jim Rice, Albert Belle and Dale Murphy.

Any takers on this?