Bruce Sutter elected to Hall of Fame

[savafan]

Just heard on MLB radio. That's all. Really expected more than just one person elected.

[savafan]

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060110&content_id=1293389&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

By Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- Bruce Sutter made history on Tuesday. Not only did he become the latest member of baseball's most exclusive club by the slimmest of margins, the right-handed split-fingered fastball artist became the first pure reliever ever elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

In a year in which there were no runaway candidates, a select group of 520 members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America cast their votes -- the most in history -- anointing only Sutter, who pitched for the Cardinals, Cubs and Braves in a career that spanned from 1976-88, ending when his signature pitch shredded the insides of his right elbow.

Only three pitchers previously elected to the Hall were known for their closing skills. But Hoyt Wilhelm, Rollie Fingers and Dennis Eckersley all made numerous starts during their illustrious careers. Sutter never started a game, but he finished 512 of them to record 300 saves, the 19th most in history.

Sutter will be inducted during Hall of Fame Weekend ceremonies in Cooperstown, N.Y., on July 30, giving baseball's red brick shrine on Main Street 196 former players, 103 elected by the BBWAA. He'll be in New York on Wednesday for the traditional Hall of Fame electee press conference.

Dale Petroskey, the Hall of Fame president, made the announcement of Sutter's election Tuesday on BaseballChannel.TV.

Sutter received 76.9 percent of the vote -- only 1.9 percent more than the necessary 75 percent to gain election -- as his name appeared on 400 of the 520 ballots, 12 of which were returned blank. Voters -- BBWAA members with at least 10 consecutive years of baseball writing experience -- can place the names of up to 10 former players on their ballots.

2006 Hall of Fame
voting results



The complete vote (520 ballots, 390 to gain election, 26 to remain on ballot):
Player Votes %
Bruce Sutter 400 76.9%
Jim Rice 337 64.8%
Rich Gossage 336 64.6%
Andre Dawson 317 61.0%
Bert Blyleven 277 53.3%
Lee Smith 234 45.0%
Jack Morris 214 41.2%
Tommy John 154 29.6%
Steve Garvey 135 26.0%
Alan Trammell 92 17.7%
Dave Parker 75 14.4%
Dave Concepcion 65 12.5%
Don Mattingly 64 12.3%
Orel Hershiser 58 11.2%
Dale Murphy 56 10.8%
Albert Belle 40 7.7%
Will Clark 23 4.4%
Dwight Gooden 17 3.3%
Willie McGee 12 2.3%
Ozzie Guillen 5 1.0%
Hal Morris 5 1.0%
Gary Gaetti 4 0.8%
John Wetteland 4 0.8%
Rick Aguilera 3 0.6%
Gregg Jefferies 2 0.4%
Doug Jones 2 0.4%
Walt Weiss 1 0.2%
Gary DiSarcina 0 0.0%
Alex Fernandez 0 0.0%

This was Sutter's 13th year on the BBWAA ballot, two shy of the end of his eligibility for the writers' vote. His percentage had steadily increased in recent years from 53.6 percent in 2003 to 59.9 percent in 2004 to 66.7 percent last year when Wade Boggs and Ryne Sandberg were inducted.

But Sutter's 2006 total was the lowest percentage since 1975 in a year in which there was a single electee. Pirates slugger Ralph Kiner received 75.4 percent of the vote that year to make it in.

The last time the writers elected only one player was when Ozzie Smith routed the field in 2002 with 91.74 percent of the vote. The writers have elected at least one former player a year since 1996.

There were a total of 29 candidates on this year's ballot, including 14 first-timers.

Jim Rice and Rich "Goose" Gossage, who many thought had a chance this time around, garnered 64.8 percent and 64.6 percent, respectively. Andre Dawson, with 61 percent, was the only other player on the ballot who received 60 or more percent of the vote.

Thirteen players -- Will Clark, Doc Gooden, Willie McGee, Ozzie Guillen, Hal Morris, Gary Gaetti, John Wetteland, Rick Aguilera, Gregg Jefferies, Doug Jones, Walt Weiss, Gary DiSarcina and Alex Fernandez -- did not receive the requisite five percent of the vote and will no longer appear on the ballot. DiSarcina and Fernandez didn't receive a single vote.

Any possibility of Rice, Gossage or Dawson making it will dwindle in 2007, the year Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripken Jr. and Mark McGwire are eligible for the first time.

Sutter led the National League in saves five times from 1979-84. In an era in which relievers routinely pitched several innings or more an outing, Sutter recorded a career-best 45 saves in 1984 for the Cardinals, a year before he signed what was then considered a huge four-year, $6.5 million free agent contract with the Braves.

Sutter, who starred for the Cardinals' 1982 World Series winners and saved 36 games that year, was never the same in Atlanta. He saved only 40 more games and missed the entire 1987 season because of the elbow injury before his career peetered out in 1988, when he made only 38 appearances, saving 14.

Sutter, though, was considered the top closing stylist of his time because he perfected the split-fingered fastball, also known as a forkball, as his out pitch.

The three other relievers already in the Hall started 489 games between them. Wilhelm, who was one of the top knuckleball artists in history, started 52 games. Fingers was used as a starter 39 times. And Eckersley started 361 games before he was turned into a closer by then-Oakland manager Tony La Russa. After that, Eckersley added 390 saves.

Wilhelm was elected in 1985, Fingers in 1992, and Eckersley when he was on the ballot for the first time in 2004.

[savafan]

Clearly there is something wrong when Walt Weiss, Hal Morris and Gregg Jefferies are getting votes for the Hall of Fame.

[Cyclone792]

Will Clark doesn't even get 5 percent ...

What a joke.

[RedFanAlways1966]

We could argue to death about who should be in that is not. But I find it hard to argue that Bruce Sutter does not deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. Congrats to a guy who was the best at what he did in his prime IMO.

:thumbup:

[cumberlandreds]

Congrats to Sutter! He had the first devastating fork ball I can remember seeing. He was truly dominate for quite a few years.
The one thing I would like to know is what separated Sutter from Lee Smith and Goose Gossage in the voters minds? These two were equally dominate in their time. IMO they should be HOF too.

[Cyclone792]

Name, Era-------------------------Saves-----G. Fin.-------INN ---------ERA+

Firpo Marberry, 1923-1936,--------101--------271----------2,067--------134
Hoyt Wilhelm, 1952-1972,--------- 227--------651----------2,254.3------146
Roy Face, 1953-1969, -------------193--------574----------1,375.0------109
Ron Perranoski, 1961-1973,--------179--------458----------1,174--------123
Dick Radatz, 1962-1969------------122--------297------------693.7------122
John Hiller, 1965-1980,-----------125--------363----------1,040--------134
Sparky Lyle, 1967-1982,-----------238--------634----------1,292--------127
Rollie Fingers, 1968-1985---------341--------709----------1,701.3------119
Rich "Goose" Gossage, 1972-1994---310--------681----------1,809.3------126
Kent Tekulve, 1974-1989,----------638--------184----------1,436.3------132
Gary Lavelle, 1974-1987-----------399--------136----------1,085.0------126
Dennis Eckersley, 1975-1998-------390--------577----------3,285.7------116
Bruce Sutter, 1976-1988-----------300--------512----------1,042.3------136
Dan Quisenberry, 1979-1990--------244--------553----------1,043.3------146
Jeff Reardon, 1979-1994-----------367--------695----------1,132.2------121
Dave Righetti, 1979-1995----------252--------474----------1,403.7------114
Jesse Orosco, 1979-2003,----------501--------144----------1,295.0------125
Lee Smith, 1980-1997--------------478--------802----------1,289.3------132
Tom Henke, 1982-95----------------311--------548------------789--------156
Doug Jones, 1982-2000,------------640--------303----------1,128.3------130
John Franco, 1984-present---------424--------770----------1,230.7------139*
Mike Jackson, 1986-2004,----------422--------142----------1,188.3------126
Jeff Montgomery, 1987-1999,-------304--------549------------868--------134
John Wetteland, 1989--------------330--------523------------765--------148
Trevor Hoffman, 1993-present------394--------578------------764.7------148*
Robb Nen, 1993-2002---------------314--------548------------715.0------138
Mariano Rivera, 1995-present------336--------424------------728.3------190*
Billy Wagner, 1995-present--------246--------417------------552.7------169*
Eric Gagne, 1999-present----------152--------197------------530--------124*

[savafan]

Looking at that Cyclone, Gossage and Smith were more dominant than Sutter. Voters are clueless.

[guttle11]

It's quickly becoming the Hall of "Whoever had the most votes last year, gets in".

I agree with what I heard Colin Cowherd say today.

"If you have to persuade me into believing that a woman is beautiful, she isn't beautiful"

[Yachtzee]

The real tragedy is that Blyleven, 5th all-time in Ks with an incredible number of complete games and shutouts, sits on the outside looking in. With Sutter I think of a blown-out elbow. In fact, he makes me think of all those pitchers of the '80s who were brilliant for a few years living off the split-fingered fastball, then blew out their arms throwing it. Sometimes I wonder if members of the BBWAA actually paid attention to the games they've supposedly watched.

[flyer85]

Just confirms what we already knew. The Baseball Writers are basically clueless.

[flyer85]

But I find it hard to argue that Bruce Sutter does not deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. Congrats to a guy who was the best at what he did in his prime IMO.

:thumbup:I guess that's a vote for Albert Belle.

BTW, the voters just elected a guy that pitched ~1000IP in his career. A good starter will hit that in 4 seasons.

[M2]

I don't have a problem with Sutter making it, but I can't come up with a rationale for keeping Gossage and Smith out now that he's there.

[Chip R]

The real tragedy is that Blyleven, 5th all-time in Ks with an incredible number of complete games and shutouts, sits on the outside looking in. With Sutter I think of a blown-out elbow. In fact, he makes me think of all those pitchers of the '80s who were brilliant for a few years living off the split-fingered fastball, then blew out their arms throwing it. Sometimes I wonder if members of the BBWAA actually paid attention to the games they've supposedly watched.

I wonder if this was a backlash against the people who were pimping Blyleven.

[flyer85]

I don't have a problem with Sutter making it, but I can't come up with a rationale for keeping Gossage and Smith out now that he's there.My problem with Sutter is
His success was limited to 8 seasons and he pitched only a little over 1000IP

The best analogy to the modern relief pitchers are placekickers and punters. The NFL HOF contains 1 placekicker and no punters.

Outside of Gossage(over 1700IP) the only other reliever I can see building a HOF resume for me is Mariano Rivera and he still has some work to do.

[larryboy]

What 2 idiots voted for Greg Jeferries

[Chip R]

What 2 idiots voted for Greg Jeferries
The ones who bought his rookie cards? ;)

[flyer85]

The ones who bought his rookie cards? ;)I didn't get a vote.:cry:

[westofyou]

I guess Whitey will be introducing him.

[BRM]

What 2 idiots voted for Greg Jeferries

At least it was only two. Five idiots voted for Ozzie Guillen.

[Puffy]

Its re-freakin-diculous that Blylevan isn't in the Hall yet. If he had just 13 more wins, just 13 (one years work) he'd have 300 wins and be a guarantee.

He has the K's, the complete games, the better than league average ERA and the wins, if they bothered to look.

Its a crying shame.

[flyer85]

Sutter 12 seaons and ~1000IP with a 3.00 ERA and 1.15 WHIP gets in.
Blyleven 21+ season and ~5000IP with a 3.31 ERA and 1.20 WHIP does not.

Go figure. I know I would like to compete with those baseball writers as GMs to assemble a winning team.

[remdog]

Very poor choice, IMO. Every year the HOF becomes less and less of a shrine and more and more 'shinola'.

Rem

[timmario66]

At least it was only two. Five idiots voted for Ozzie Guillen.
and Hal Morris:eek:

I guess there's hope for Casey then.:evil:

[M2]

I wouldn't get too tweaked about spare votes. Most writers don't even use up half the 10 slots they've got on the ballot so a few kick a vote the way of an old pal as a courtesy. No big deal. It's not like these guys were getting serious consideration. They can at least say they were on the ballot and that they didn't get shut out. It's the HOF balloting equivalent of a "Thanks for giving blood" sticker.

[IowaRed]

according to Dan Patrick, Pete Rose got 10 write-in votes and 12 writers returned their ballots unmarked. I'm not a fan of Sutter's and agree that it's a crime that Blyleven isn't in. Definitely time for baseball to re-think the voting process

[pedro]

I agree that Sutter shouldn't have gotten in and Blyleven got jobbed again.

[Puffy]

Bert Blylevan should come out of retirement and pitch for the Reds. With the Reds offense I would bet he could win the 13 games to get him into Cooperstown. And he'd immediately become our 3rd best starter! Even at his age.

[Danny Serafini]

If I was a voter I'd be the type to vote for Gary DiSarcina just for the heck of it. It's always sad to see someone get shut out. Who was the guy who went on a campaign a couple years ago to try and get a single vote from someone, a pitcher from the Astros maybe?

[M2]

If I was a voter I'd be the type to vote for Gary DiSarcina just for the heck of it. It's always sad to see someone get shut out. Who was the guy who went on a campaign a couple years ago to try and get a single vote from someone, a pitcher from the Astros maybe?

Jim Deshaies

[Puffy]

Jim Deshaies

from LeMoyne College :thumbup:

[RedsBaron]

I don't have a problem with Sutter making it, but I can't come up with a rationale for keeping Gossage and Smith out now that he's there.
Bill James has written that one good argument for inducting someone into the HOF is that he is the most qualified person at his position not in the Hall. By that standard, the line for relief pitchers should have began with Gossage IMO. Until the Goose went in, Sutter should not have been inducted.
Sutter's election should really open things up for relievers ASSUMING the writers are consistent---but they won't be.

[Falls City Beer]

I've always felt that Sutter doesn't belong; I've always felt, however, that he'd be voted in.

[RFS62]

Its re-freakin-diculous that Blylevan isn't in the Hall yet. If he had just 13 more wins, just 13 (one years work) he'd have 300 wins and be a guarantee.

He has the K's, the complete games, the better than league average ERA and the wins, if they bothered to look.

Its a crying shame.


He had the greatest curveball ever thrown too.

He got jobbed again.

[Unassisted]

Blyleven's clearly got the numbers to get in. Unless it's the 250 losses vs. 287 wins that are keeping him out.

So is there a non-baseball reason Blyleven keeps getting the stiff-arm?

Was he a jerk to reporters? I seem to remember Blyleven being a prickly interview.

His Chris Berman nickname was a painful pun? (Bert "Be In" Blyleven)

Deep-seated prejudice against the Dutch? ;)

[MrCinatit]

congrats, Bruce. IMHO, it is deserved.

[M2]

Blyleven's clearly got the numbers to get in. Unless it's the 250 losses vs. 287 wins that are keeping him out.

So is there a non-baseball reason Blyleven keeps getting the stiff-arm?

Was he a jerk to reporters? I seem to remember Blyleven being a prickly interview.

His Chris Berman nickname was a painful pun? (Bert "Be In" Blyleven)

Deep-seated prejudice against the Dutch? ;)

I think Blyleven was fairly well-liked. He had a rep as a practical joker, one of the masters of the hot foot, iirc.

Honestly, I think his problem is he spent the bulk of career pitching in the midwest. Alan Trammell's got the same problem. They played outside the limelight and mostly before Sportscenter became a national phenomenon.

[Cyclone792]

Neyer's column today regarding Sutter, Gossage and relievers. If you read only one paragraph of the column, read the bolded one.

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/insider/columns/story?columnist=neyer_rob&id=2286632


I'm writing this in the middle of the night, just a few hours before the Hall of Fame announces who -- if anybody -- the Baseball Writers Association of America has elected this year. All the indications are that if anybody is elected, it will be Bruce Sutter.

If so, he might already know. If not, he already knows that, too.

If so, then I congratulate him. If not, then I'm happy to know that at least 25 percent of the voters are paying attention. Because a Hall of Fame that does contain Bruce Sutter but does not contain Rich Gossage really doesn't make much sense.

As Joe Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus noted Monday, if you take Sutter's career numbers and remove them from Gossage's numbers, Gossage still has 767 innings (277 earned runs), a 3.25 ERA and 56 wins, nearly 30 "wins above a replacement [major-league average] pitcher." And one could argue, if one were in less than a charitable mood, that neither did enough to merit a plaque in Cooperstown.

No, I'm not going to argue that relief pitchers don't belong in the Hall of Fame, any more than I'm going to argue that designated hitters don't belong in the Hall of Fame. Not today. But let's be honest about this, friends: There are three things about relief pitchers that nobody talks about but are nonetheless true. We'll call them Neyer's Rules for Relievers (until their legitimate originators step forward).

Rule 1: Relief pitchers, because they throw a relatively small number of innings, don't have the same impact on winning and losing that starting pitchers (let alone hitters) have.

Rule 2: Nearly every great relief pitcher was a failed starting pitcher.

Rule 3: Most good starting pitchers could be great relief pitchers.

Rules 1 and 2 are facts. Rule 3 is speculative, but in the same way that it's speculative to predict that Kansas City won't win the World Series in 2006.

If you believe in Rule 2, as I do, then we might guess that many, many pitchers over the years would have put together Hall of Fame-caliber careers as relievers, if only their managers had been willing to use them in that role. Which should make you wonder just how valuable a great relief pitcher really is.

I make all these points not -- as I mentioned earlier -- to argue that relief pitchers don't belong in the Hall of Fame. I believe they do. But I also believe the standards for Hall of Fame relievers should be incredibly high, just as they are for kickers and punters in professional football.

There are zero punters in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. There is one pure kicker (Jan Stenerud) in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which is approximately how many pure relief pitchers are in the Baseball Hall of Fame (two: Hoyt Wilhelm and Rollie Fingers). I think that's about right. There probably should be two more kickers -- Morten Andersen and Gary Anderson, when they're eligible -- in the Football Hall of Fame, and maybe Mike Vanderjagt should someday join them. There should probably be one more reliever -- Gossage, naturally -- in the Baseball Hall of Fame, and someday Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman should probably join him.

Meanwhile, Bruce Sutter pitched in the major leagues for 10 full seasons. In two of those seasons, he wasn't good. That leaves eight good (or great) seasons, and I challenge you to identify a Hall of Fame hitter recently elected on the strength of only eight good (or great) seasons. And good (and great) hitters are more valuable than good (and great) relief pitchers.

The voters certainly can't be supporting Sutter because of his value; if they were voting for value, they would have Gossage ahead of Sutter, because Gossage so obviously was more valuable than Sutter. They must be voting for Sutter as a "pioneer" -- a pioneer of the split-fingered fastball (even though he didn't invent the pitch) and a pioneer of the save situation (even though he was just following orders). Voting for Sutter but not voting for Gossage is simply an irrational act. Nothing personal; I act irrationally at least a couple of times a year, so I can't exactly hold that against my esteemed colleagues.

But the Hall of Fame voters, as a group, generally are quite rational (even if it sometimes takes them a few years to get there; see Gary Carter and Ryne Sandberg). So when they do something -- again, as a group -- so obviously irrational, it leads to a great deal of curiosity among those of us who believe the facts are mostly what matter. And as we read the facts, there's one more rule:

Rule 4: Bruce Sutter was just two-thirds the pitcher that Goose Gossage was.

[RedsBaron]

Good column by Neyer. As I posted earlier, the line for relievers under consideration for the Hall of Fame should have begun with Gossage, not Sutter.

[MrCinatit]

hopefully, Sutter's induction will lead the way for others such as The Goose and Smith - but i said that several years ago when Fingers was inducted.
had Blyleven played in New York or (we can always dream) The Big Red Machine, he would have made it the first year. but in playing with low-estemed teams such as Texas, Minnesota and Cleveland, the man gets no respect.

[RedsBaron]

If one accepts the arguments Neyer made in his column, then one can also question certain decisions the Reds have made regarding pitchers.
If you have a young pitcher with a ten million dollar fastball, a ten cent brain, and not much else (paging Rob Dibble), developing that pitcher as a relief pitcher makes some sense as a reliever can be dominant with just one great pitch, and Dibble was dominant for a few seasons. Even then, if the young pitcher can develop another pitch or two, train him to be a starting pitcher.
However, if you have a young pitcher without one dominant pitch but a variety of pitches, maybe greater effort should be made to see if he can develop into a starting pitcher before he is put on the reliever track.
Neyer's column does argue against the wisdom of expending a number one draft choice on someone who is clearly a relief pitcher, nothing more, such as Ryan Wagner. Number one drat picks should be used for only two types of players IMO: stud starting pitchers, preferably with some college experince, and stud hitters. If you feel compelled to draft slick-fielding middle infielders with questionable bats, speed merchants with questionable bats, catchers with great gloves and questionable bats, or relief pitchers, do it in the latter rounds, not in the first or second rounds of the draft.

[NJReds]

Well, the Goose wasn't earning any points with writers yesterday. I agree he should be in before the other two relievers (Fingers/Sutter), but I think he hurt his chances yesterday. It may not matter, because with Ripken and Gwynn on the ballot next year, guys like Rice, Blyleven, Morris and Gossage will be shut out again.



Goose Lets Loose (NY Post)

January 11, 2006 -- YOU would not want to get into the batter's box yesterday against Goose Gossage.

The greatest closer of his era, the right-hander who did double and triple the work of today's closers, fired high hard ones after receiving word he did not make the Hall of Fame.

"I just don't get it," a frustrated Gossage said in Colorado yesterday, moments after he was told fellow reliever Bruce Sutter would be the only man going into Cooperstown this summer. "I'm at a loss for words."

Not really.

"I just can't believe Sutter got in before me," Gossage added. "He deserved it. I was hoping Sutter and I could go in together. ... I don't know if I ever will make it."

Once again the Baseball Writers Association of America embarrassed itself by keeping the likes of Gossage and Jim Rice out of the Hall. The writers who did not vote for Gossage will say numbers kept him out, but Gossage collected 10more saves than Sutter, 56 more wins and 948 more strikeouts than the split-fingered specialist.

Gossage challenged those who have deemed him not worthy to come forward to debate him.

"You know what, I never hear from these guys who don't vote for me," Gossage said, his voice rising. "But I'll take on any writer, anywhere, on any show, and I will bury him."

Gossage, 54, was talking about burying those writers verbally, although you could be sure he would do the same thing in any back-alley fight.

Make no mistake, Gossage is disappointed because he didn't make Cooperstown but he feels just as badly for fellow stars Rice, Andre Dawson and Bert Blyleven, who also did not get the heavenly nod.

"I'm not a campaigner," he said. "I'm just asking questions. The only reason I have ever spoken out is that you hate to see injustices."

As for Rice, Gossage said it was a "joke" that Kirby Puckett was a first-ballot Hall of Famer while Rice is now 0-for-12 in Hall of Fame voting.

"If Jim Rice had played in the Metrodome, he would have torn the place down, and that's nothing against Kirby Puckett, that's just the way it is," Gossage said.

Gossage said comparing the modern-day reliever, pitchers like Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman, to him is like comparing apples to oranges.

"The job is so easy because they're only pitching one inning," said Gossage, who would go two or three innings for many of his 310 saves. "Writers have forgotten how the role has changed."

Don't get him started on Barry Bonds, and the bulked up home-run hitters of this PHE - Performance Enhanced Era.

"Hitting in a game is no different than hitting in a home run contest," Gossage said. "It [ticks] me off to say Barry Bonds is the greatest hitter. He's playing in a wussy era. The game is soft. You never get thrown at today. Last thing a hitter has to worry about today is getting hit. The first thing Hank Aaron had to worry about is: Am I going to survive this at-bat because I'm black."

Gossage shot up from 55.2 percent to 64.6 percent this year in the voting. He collected 336 votes, falling 54 short. He is closing in on the needed 75 percent, but next year's class features Cal Ripken, Tony Gwynn and Mr. Andro, Mark McGwire. Gossage could get lost in the spotlight. He said the voting system is flawed and new criteria should be used to measure Hall of Fame quality.

But he is not about to lose any sleep over the snub.

"There are more important things in life to worry about," Gossage said. "Some of my best friends have lost kids to drug overdoses in just the last couple of months. That's how I keep the game in perspective. The war in Iraq, great kids are losing their lives over there. That's the stuff that really matters.

"Real life," he said, "sets me straight."

Chalk that up as one more great close for the man they call Goose.

[RedsBaron]

While I don't know if Jim Rice would have actually put up any better numbers had the Metrodome rather than Fenway Park been his home park, for the most part I agree with Gossage.
Kirby Puckett probably does deserve to be in the HOF, but he made it as a no-doubt-about-it-first-ballot-Hall of Famer, because at the time he had a beloved image. I've previously posted that there is not a great deal of difference in Puckett's HOF qualifications and those of Don Mattingly.
Jim Rice? Yes, I'd vote for him.
The Goose? Yes, if any reliever on yesterday's HOF ballot should've been elected, he was the guy.

[savafan]

Hey, after reading that, I'd campaign for Goose to be the next commissioner.

One problem is that some of these baseball "writers" were kids back when the guys on the ballot were still playing.

[NJReds]

Hey, after reading that, I'd campaign for Goose to be the next commissioner.

One problem is that some of these baseball "writers" were kids back when the guys on the ballot were still playing.

And the older writers don't think relievers belong.

[westofyou]

"Hitting in a game is no different than hitting in a home run contest," Gossage said. "It [ticks] me off to say Barry Bonds is the greatest hitter. He's playing in a wussy era. The game is soft. You never get thrown at today. Last thing a hitter has to worry about today is getting hit.

The Goose 2006


Batters don't follow out their natural instinct to wallop the ball, but stall around the plate in the hope of drawing a base instead of hitting the ball hard.

Bill Lange 1909

[Cedric]

I know I'm late, but Bruce Sutter? What a load of crap.