Posnanski piece on the HOF

[gunnarthor]

http://sportsworld.nbcsports.com/the-pre-integration-committee/

 

Obviously, Poz loves the HOF and he's done a pretty good job of pointing out the problems of baseball's racist history.  He points out that 127 of the 217 players in the HOF played during the "pre-integration" era.  So while we may complain that Jim Rice or Jack Morris or Tim Raines don't belong in the HOF, there sure are a lot of players in the HOF that they were better than.

[Willihammer]

It does seem, odd, that the HoF committee would be so concerned about a 45 WAR player who logged his last season in 1890.

[nicksaviking]

Good read, and I agree that focusing on the "pre-integration era" seems silly and short-sighted, however I don't believe that they are doing it with any malice.  Simply the various committees have been tasked with reviewing a particular era every year, it was this era's turn this year.  Hopefully they decide that they've already mined all the HOF worthiness from that era that is left.

 

I will agree with the point on Buck O'Neil.  I was never more disappointed when they failed to elect him while he was still alive.  Surely they left him off because they felt his numbers didn't quite stack up, but he was one of baseball's greatest ambassadors, and there are plenty of guys in the HOF due to intangible contributions.

 

 

[DJL44]

The purpose of the Hall of Fame is to recognize important players throughout history. I'm open to having the best players elected, even if they played 100 years ago. Deacon White was a pretty big oversight when looking at players through history and their impact on the game. Bill Dahlen was a helluva player, but also a colossal jerk from contemporary accounts which explains why he has been left out.

 

Harry Stovey was really fast and a very good player for his time. Wes Ferrell was better than many pitchers already inducted. They wouldn't embarrass the HoF if they were inducted but leaving them out isn't embarrassing either. The other players would be mistakes and they certainly don't need more owners in the HoF.

 

I agree 100% that it makes no sense to keep picking white players while leaving black players out of consideration. There are black players from the pre-integration era as good as Stovey and Ferrell that aren't inducted (John Beckwith, Quincy Trouppe, Alejandro Oms, Dick Lundy, Dobie Moore) and they should continue to be considered.

 

One caveat about WAR - it is a counting stat. You can't directly compare the impact of a player who only had a 135 game season with one who played 162 games by comparing total WAR. You also have to consider defensive WAR from that era as highly inaccurate.