Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice elected to the HoF

[And That]

This link not brought to you by Bert Blyleven.

 

I'm glad Rice got in - I think he deserved to get in, if only barely. Blyleven gets screwed again with 63%. Dawson got 67%, Raines only got 23% and someone voted for Jesse Orosco.

[dlk9s]

And 5.2% of the voters didn't vote for Henderson.

[brewcrewreview]

I think Dawson deserves it more than Rice. I wanted Rickey to be the only one to get in this year. To have the whole ceremony dedicated to him followed by a two hour, unedited speech by Rickey would have been the greatest!

I wonder who Tom Houdicourt and Scott Bartell voted for.

[And That]

I wonder who Tom Houdicourt voted for.

TH's blog answers your question.

I voted for seven:

Rickey Henderson

Jim Rice

Andre Dawson

Bert Blyleven

Lee Smith

Jack Morris

Tim Raines

[fondybrewfan]

Henderson's induction speech is going to be epic.

[Fatter than Joey]

I think Dawson deserves it more than Rice.

 

Agree 100%.

 

To have the whole ceremony dedicated to him followed by a two hour, unedited speech by Rickey would have been the greatest!

 

Rickey will probably be playing ball somewhere.

 

I wonder who Tom Houdicourt and Scott Bartell voted for.

 

I don't like Lee Smith or Jack Morris -- but otherwise TH's picks are hard to argue.

[bball123h]

Whoever voted for Jesse Orosco deserves to lose their voting privileges.

[brewcrewreview]

I wanted to get a good head to head comparision on Andre Dawson vs. Jim Rice to really see who is more worthy of the Hall. I just stumbled upon this interesting article:

 

http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2...of-famer-so-is-andre-daw/

[yount19.u]

I don't like Lee Smith or Jack Morris -- but otherwise TH's picks are hard to argue.

My feelings exactly.

 

As for Raines, I don't know how he only got 23% of the vote. Besides Henderson, Raines is more deserving of the Hall than anyone on the ballot this year.

[rickey24]

As a lifelong fan, I am so happy to see my boy Rickey Henderson get in on the first ballot to the Hall of Fame. Of course Rickey called it the "first round" of the HOF, so either way, congratulations Rickey!!

 

I can't wait to hear that induction speech!

 

Rickey

[MessiahRp]

Whoever voted for Jesse Orosco deserves to lose their voting privileges.

Hey 2 people voted for Jay Bell a couple of years ago... so this group has a bunch of complete idiots in it. From the beginning I have no idea how Cobb, Ruth, Williams, Mays, Aaron were not unanimous... Ricky to me should have been unanimous. Anyone who voted against him has a grudge. Lame.

 

Rp

[WV Brew]

No votes for Plesac or Greg Vaughn?

[craigharmann]

I can see it now...."Today, I am the greatest Hall of Famer..." Can't wait for the induction ceremony, and I will most definitely be watching! Congrats Rickey....and Jim Rice as well.

[PaulRigdon]

I can see it now...."Today, I am the greatest Hall of Famer..." Can't wait for the induction ceremony, and I will most definitely be watching! Congrats Rickey....and Jim Rice as well.

 

Probably more like Today, Rickey is the greatest hall of famer"

[alorrigan]

Could someone explain how Hall of Fame voting works. Do the writers vote for each player as a yes or no if they get in or not. Or can they only vote for a certain number of guys. Some writers say I voted for this guy and than guy. And another writer will say I voted for these 5. Is there any rationale behind voting?

[GAME05]

i guess i'm more of the opinion that the HOF should be for the truly elite players of the game, and that middling HOFers like Rice shouldn't really make it. being one of the best in the game for a five-year stint doesn't really seem like enough of an accomplishment to me. same goes with players whose biggest credential is that they pitched in and won a big game.

 

i immediately presumed the writer who actually voted for Orosco is using his vote to set up some nostalgic Orosco article in his local paper next week. otherwise, is Orosco a member of the BBWAA? I'd also love to read the rationale of the 5% who didn't vote for Henderson? should have stolen more bases? One time he went 0-5?

[brewcrewreview]

You can only vote for a maximum of ten players.

[Invader3K]

I can't believe Blyleven still isn't in, but it's a pleasant surprise to see Jim Rice voted in. I admit that I didn't follow him when he played (I was still fairly young when he retired), but everything I read makes it seem like he really should have gotten in a while ago.

[Weirdos19]

Nobody seemed to argue when Sandy Koufax was inducted and he only played nine seasons.

 

Rice was very deserving. He was the most feared hitter in baseball in the late 70's. You can say Reggie Jackson was, but I would argue that. The problem with baseball these days is that everyone focuses on power. As a Brewer fan in the AL East, I feared Rice more than Reggie Jackson, George Brett, and any other player in the AL. #2 on that list was Eddie Murray.

 

How many HR's do you think a line drive hitter like Jim Rice hits if he isn't in Fenway? Normally, Fenway is an advantage. But to two Hall of Famers (Ted Williams and Jim Rice) it wasn't. Rice put many of those dents in the Monster, maybe more than anyone else. I don't know if there is a way to find out, but his line drive ratio had to be incredible.

[DuWayne Steurer]

23% for Rock Raines? The only thing I can think of is that he was overlooked because he's a very similar player to Ricky, and was overshadowed by him for his entire career. Raines is very deserving, and it's a shame.

 

Dawson.......meh. Really not impressive with an .805 career OPS for a corner outfielder. Nice? Sure, but this is the Hall of Fame, not the hall of "somewhat decent, with a few standout seasons"

 

Raines had a superior OPS, a FAR superior OBP, played better defense, and stole a ton more bases. He walked 400 times more than he struckout, and was basically just a superior player to Dawson. The fact that Dawson got 3 times as many votes as Raines shows what a joke HOF voting is.

 

And if that wasn't enough, Jim DeShaies (sp?) got a vote the year he became eligible, if that tells you anything.

[joepepsi]

It's hard for me to jump on the Dawson bandwagon too. Jim Rice had a career OPS of .920 at Fenway and .789 everywhere else. He's not the worst player elected and certainly brings no shame to HOF.

 

Some old crappy writers are just never going to vote for Blyleven because they see this as a war between the "old guard" standards like 20/300 wins and world series rings, versus today's more objective and accurate player analysis.

[Cracked Bat Collector]

Why Bert Blyleven wasn't voted in yet again is an absolute joke.

[splitterpfj]

I've spent a lot of time on this subject over the years, and like always, I have to say, this year's voting is impossible to explain.

 

FWIW, Rickey was obvious - I would not have voted for Jim Rice.

 

I have no idea why Blyleven isn't in, he's the most obvious of the holdover candidates for me, and I'd vote for Raines as well.

[endaround]

I'd like someone to explain yes to Rice but no to Murphy. Or yes to Rice but no to Mo Vaughn

[DuWayne Steurer]

The more I look at Rice's numbers, the more I don't like them as a HOFer. He was "dominant" for maybe 4 years in his career. (77-79 and 83), and above average for most of the rest. He didn't hit any of the milestone counting numbers. (3,000 hits, 1500 RBI, 500 homers).

 

I'm one of those that thinks the standards are *too* high sometimes, but in this case I think the voters lowered the standard a tad too much.