Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeThierry
I'm clearly in the Ted Simmons camp because of homerism. At the very least, I don't think he should have been taken off the ballot after the first vote. Aside from Bench, Simmons was the premier offense catcher of his era. He also wasn't that bad of a defensive catcher as well, though people aren't going to remember him for his glove.
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In his book about the Hall of Fame, "The Politics of Glory," Bill James ranked the best retired player at each position who was not in the HOF (this was in the mid 1990s). James ranked Joe Torre and Simmons as 1 and 1A in the list of catchers.
I have never come to a firm decision with regard to Simmons but I agree that he should have lasted more than one year on the HOF ballot.