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Thread: Special Inductee to the Hall of Fame?

  1. #1
    Redsmetz redsmetz's Avatar
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    Special Inductee to the Hall of Fame?

    I thought I'd stop a thread that I've been mulling over for some time. I've often thought that there is one player who is not eligible for the baseball HOF, but who should be inducted nonetheless.

    He's not eligible because he never played baseball in the major leagues here in the U.S. Of course, I'm talking about Sadaharu Oh, the current all time homer leader in organized baseball.

    Here's a link to the Wikipedia's entry about Oh

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadaharu_Oh

    I highlight the following

    Oh led his league in home runs fifteen times (and for thirteen consecutive seasons) and also drove in the most runs for thirteen seasons. More than just a power hitter, Oh was a five-time batting champion, and won the Japanese Central League's batting triple crown twice. With Sadaharu Oh at first base, the Yomiuri Giants won eleven championships, and Oh was named the Central League's Most Valuable Player nine times and to the All-Star team eighteen times.
    One thought, and this is the impetus for this, is that its almost the counterpart to Barry Bonds and his possible entry in to the Hall - or perhaps andidote.

    Folks thoughts?



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  3. #2
    On the brink of disaster
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    Re: Special Inductee to the Hall of Fame?

    Impressive, no doubt. After reading the wiki entry though, I have doubts about considering him. He was head and shoulders above everyone in his league, but had he played in the US his bat would have been illegal, and the parks would have been bigger. What is impressive from looking at the entry though is he lead the league in batting and the numbers of HRs in a shorter season than MLB is outstanding. Especially for his time. How many times would he have lead MLB with those numbers. He was apparently a pure hitter with power, and even though the bigger parks may have cut down on his HR totals, I would bet that he could have been a top tier talent. Whether he would have been good enough for the HOF is hard to guess, but I wish we could have found out.

  4. #3
    Baseball card addict MrCinatit's Avatar
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    Re: Special Inductee to the Hall of Fame?

    This is the kind of outside the box thinking the Hall should be taking - unfortunately, it seems to be swaying more towards an exclusive trend, rather than an inclusive trend.
    I would like to see Oh in the Hall. Unfortunately, chance are it will likely never happen.

  5. #4
    Member Highlifeman21's Avatar
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    Re: Special Inductee to the Hall of Fame?

    Let him in.

    The Football HOF includes people that played in Canada.

    IIRC, the Basketball HOF includes people that played in Europe.

    The Baseball HOF needs to go global as well.

    While we're at it, why do they play the "World Series" when it's 2 US teams playing annually?

  6. #5
    Sprinkles are for winners dougdirt's Avatar
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    Re: Special Inductee to the Hall of Fame?

    Quote Originally Posted by Highlifeman21 View Post
    While we're at it, why do they play the "World Series" when it's 2 US teams playing annually?
    1992 and 1993 disagree.

  7. #6
    Just The Big Picture macro's Avatar
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    Re: Special Inductee to the Hall of Fame?

    Quote Originally Posted by Highlifeman21 View Post
    While we're at it, why do they play the "World Series" when it's 2 US teams playing annually?
    You never know...30 or 40 years from now, winning the MLB championship may only be the final step toward playing in the true "world series". The same may be said for the NFL and NBA champions, as well. I think global travel will become faster and less expensive in the future, so perhaps even more global scheduling may take place. The world will continue to get smaller.

    As for the HOF and their "exclusive" trend...if only they'd been so picky all along. After reading acredsfan's post, I'm undecided about Oh, but the Hall didn't seem too exclusive when it let Phil Rizzuto in.

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    Redsmetz redsmetz's Avatar
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    Re: Special Inductee to the Hall of Fame?

    Quote Originally Posted by acredsfan View Post
    Impressive, no doubt. After reading the wiki entry though, I have doubts about considering him. He was head and shoulders above everyone in his league, but had he played in the US his bat would have been illegal, and the parks would have been bigger. What is impressive from looking at the entry though is he lead the league in batting and the numbers of HRs in a shorter season than MLB is outstanding. Especially for his time. How many times would he have lead MLB with those numbers. He was apparently a pure hitter with power, and even though the bigger parks may have cut down on his HR totals, I would bet that he could have been a top tier talent. Whether he would have been good enough for the HOF is hard to guess, but I wish we could have found out.
    I think my thinking is that it's an acknowledgment of his special place in history and I think it's a way for the Hall to magnanimously open itself to a wider world.


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