Brewers announce plans for wall of honor in 2014

[TooLiveBrew]

I wrote the Brewers awhile back and said that I thought it would be a cool idea to have a Brewers Hall of Fame at Miller Park. I still like that idea much more than this wall that they are proposing. While the Hall of Fame inductees would be guys that truly have earned it in franchise history, the team HOF could be like Cooperstown in that they also include tons of displays and artifacts from guys from all eras of team history. To me that satisfies the need to document and honor the team's history, keeping a connection between different generations of fans, alumni, and the city itself. It also doesn't mean that you automatically honor all of these guys that they are talking about putting up on this wall. Their stories would be part of the overall history of the franchise, but not singled out as exceptional necessarily.

 

I have seen the Reds HOF in Cincy, and the Cards in StL. Both are well-done and capture the history of the team without just paying homage to the Jamie Navarro's of their franchises.

That's a really good idea, Doc.

 

As it is, this is more like a Wall of Participation

 

http://i.imgur.com/b7w4Qlo.jpg

[PrinceEatMeat]

Does Bill Schroeder fall short of 2000 plate appearances?

 

I can't say I'm fond of the criteria given the short history of the franchise. Guys like CC and Morgan should be locks. I'm also in favor of including announcers.

 

Yes, well short. He was a backup catcher. That doesn't amount to many plate appearances.

[1992casey]

There's a lot of wall space in Miller Park; the Brewers may as well use it. I'm generally fine with the Wall of Honor concept as a Brewers wall can err on the side of inclusion.

 

I think that given the criteria for inclusion on the Brewers Wall of Honor, the Braves Wall can be expanded considerably. That would serve the dual purpose of recognizing more players along with making a couple of the current choices more appropriate than they would seem to be right now.

 

I like the Hall of Fame idea. Like the Baseball Hall of Fame, which is also a museum, it can encompass both official inductees and great moments.

 

As far as retired numbers, Fingers' inclusion is definitely questionable in my mind, but he's not an outrageous choice. I see him as kind of on par with Reggie White; I wouldn't have retired his number either, but both guys are definitely worthy of just about every other honor that their teams offer.

 

The Walk of Fame is kind of OK despite the fact that it's evident that many voters don't know their history or seem unwilling to do research. Del Crandall is a really egregious omission, though.

[JackNicholson1974]

Cant wait to go to Miller Park with my Dad and laugh at some of the names up there are we recall the misery that was the 1990s and early 2000s! This Wall of Honor will lead to many trips of miserable baseball nostalgia.

[Invader3K]

Seems kind of silly to have both this and the Walk of Fame, but that's just my opinion.

[And That]

I don't get the uproar, seems completely harmless to me. As Casey mentioned, they have the space, so why not? It's not like they are unveiling a 30 foot high bronze statue of Bill Wegman. Not that that wouldn't be awesome in its own special way.

[trwi7]

I think the uproar is that there are a bunch of awful players in there and honoring them is ridiculous. I have no problem with guys like Burnitz, Briggs, Cirillo and Seitzer for example because they were actually good players with the Brewers. I do have a problem with guys like Listach, Vina and Moore being on there because they weren't good.

[Dragonbait]

If it wasnt for Dontrell Willis.... Scottie P. woulda made the list....

[DocLuna7]

I like the HOF idea best because it seems like the team can both showcase the good and the bad of its history while at the same time really honoring the guys who deserve a special place in franchise history. When I put together the idea awhile back, it seemed especially weird that they had a Milwaukee Braves display front and center behind home plate at the stadium, but nothing for their own team. (With all due respect to the Braves, but still.) This Wall of Honor really doesn't solve much in terms of bringing fans closer to the history that they remember growing up. It would be cool to see jerseys from the different eras, memorabilia, ushers uniforms, County Stadium stuff, all of the things that make the team what it is. At the same time you have a distinct wall of plaques, or something like it, like they do in Cooperstown to honor Brewer-only inductees.

[Outlander]

Of course nobody was elected to the Brewers walk of fame today. It seems like there could be a happy medium between the wall of honor and the walk of fame. The Packers were mentioned earlier in this thread but they elect at least a couple and usually 3 or 4 every year so don't know why the Brewers can't form a group that elects at least somebody every year.

[JimH5]

That Walk of Fame voting process is ridiculous. They aren't electing anyone, so what's the point of having elections?

 

I would recommend they honor the person who garners the most votes until the team is satisfied they have enough inductees.

[RockCoCougars]

I think that instead of reducing the threshold to get election to this thing, they need to reduce the amount of voters. I'd really like to see a list of the 40 people who are casting ballots here. I'm 100% certain that we could take any random cross section of members here and it would be more knowledgeable. I could rip the results apart as I've probably done here the past several years, but I wouldn't even know where to start.

[1992casey]

The Brewers need to set up a committee to research and discuss Walk of Fame candidates like the Hall of Fame did a few years back to examine Negro Leaguers. The Hall set up the committee because it was apparent that there were people who likely deserved to be inducted but were being kept out because voters didn't know much about them.

 

After a committee does its thing, the current voting process (or a variation of it) can be continued.

[RockCoCougars]

Has anyone heard anything about the induction ceremony next Friday? I'm wondering whether this is going to be a pregame on the field ceremony or something separate. I'm kind of surprised that I haven't heard more about it.