It's Up To The Veterans Committee
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
, Posted by Gator Guy at 10:14 AM
Phil Rizzuto, Nellie Fox, Bill Mazeroski, Tony Lazzeri and Red Schoendienst
Guidry is eligible for inclusion on the 2010 Veterans Committee ballot (the VC votes only every other year and won't vote in 2009). There's no assurance he'll be on it, but he'll be eligible. There is a winnowing process that reduces the number of candidates to ten.
The Veterans Committee consists of 65 Hall of Famers appointed by the Hall's Board of Directors. A list of the Veterans Committee members can be found at the bottom of this page at the HOF website.
As we all know, baseball Hall of Fame elections are controversial and hotly debated among fans. The Veterans Committee has come in for some heavy fan criticism for selecting players like Phil Rizzuto and Bill Mazeroski. Middle infielders in particular attract controversy, probably because they tend to have weaker offensive statistics. Joe Gordon, the great Yankees 2nd baseman from the '30's and '40's, is the most recent VC inductee. Other notable middle infielders who've been inducted by the VC over the last 30 years are Red Schoendienst, Nellie Fox, Tony Lazzeri and Bobby Doerr.
Like any other baseball fan I have my own opinions about some recent Veterans Committee electees, but on the whole I think they do a better job than the baseball writers, who have been guilty of some egregious oversights. Any group that could reject Johnny Mize and Arky Vaughan for the Hall of Fame has some explaining to do.
Johnny Mize was sixth on the all-time home run list when he retired in 1953. Arky Vaughan is the second greatest shortstop in National League history, behind only Honus Wagner. It is simply inconceivable that the BBWAA could have treated Mize and Vaughan so dismissively. It defies comprehension. Fortunately, the Veterans Committee fixed the BBWAA's mistake.
The Veterans Committee appears more capable than the BBWAA of looking past the career totals and focusing instead on whether a player was truly great for a period of years. From my perspective, I don't care if Lefty Gomez won 200 games - he's a no-brainer for the Hall. But it took the Veterans Committee to rectify the BBWAA's mistaken rejection of Gomez. Neither Hal Newhouser or Jim Bunning had huge career win totals, but the Veterans Committee saw in each a period of five to six years in which he could claim to be among the best pitchers in baseball.
Here's hoping the Veterans Committee does the right thing by Ron Guidry. I'll tell you this: I'm glad to see Rod Carew, Robin Yount, Reggie Jackson, Paul Molitor, Eddie Murray and Carl Yastrzemski on the Veterans Committee. These six Hall of Famers hit a combined .230 against Guidry.
The Veterans Committee consists of 65 Hall of Famers appointed by the Hall's Board of Directors. A list of the Veterans Committee members can be found at the bottom of this page at the HOF website.
As we all know, baseball Hall of Fame elections are controversial and hotly debated among fans. The Veterans Committee has come in for some heavy fan criticism for selecting players like Phil Rizzuto and Bill Mazeroski. Middle infielders in particular attract controversy, probably because they tend to have weaker offensive statistics. Joe Gordon, the great Yankees 2nd baseman from the '30's and '40's, is the most recent VC inductee. Other notable middle infielders who've been inducted by the VC over the last 30 years are Red Schoendienst, Nellie Fox, Tony Lazzeri and Bobby Doerr.
Like any other baseball fan I have my own opinions about some recent Veterans Committee electees, but on the whole I think they do a better job than the baseball writers, who have been guilty of some egregious oversights. Any group that could reject Johnny Mize and Arky Vaughan for the Hall of Fame has some explaining to do.
Johnny Mize was sixth on the all-time home run list when he retired in 1953. Arky Vaughan is the second greatest shortstop in National League history, behind only Honus Wagner. It is simply inconceivable that the BBWAA could have treated Mize and Vaughan so dismissively. It defies comprehension. Fortunately, the Veterans Committee fixed the BBWAA's mistake.
The Veterans Committee appears more capable than the BBWAA of looking past the career totals and focusing instead on whether a player was truly great for a period of years. From my perspective, I don't care if Lefty Gomez won 200 games - he's a no-brainer for the Hall. But it took the Veterans Committee to rectify the BBWAA's mistaken rejection of Gomez. Neither Hal Newhouser or Jim Bunning had huge career win totals, but the Veterans Committee saw in each a period of five to six years in which he could claim to be among the best pitchers in baseball.
Here's hoping the Veterans Committee does the right thing by Ron Guidry. I'll tell you this: I'm glad to see Rod Carew, Robin Yount, Reggie Jackson, Paul Molitor, Eddie Murray and Carl Yastrzemski on the Veterans Committee. These six Hall of Famers hit a combined .230 against Guidry.
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