Deja Vu All Over Again

Jim Kaat

Here I go again with my annual Veterans' Day post, saluting not the actual veterans who fought and died for our country, but for the comparatively meaningless exercise of a handful of people electing those passed over by the baseball writers to the Hall of Fame.

This is the fifth year of the tripartite carousel, in which one particular era is analyzed every three years. This year we're back to the "Golden Era:" players, executives, mangers, and umpires who worked primarily between 1947 and 1972.

Six of the ten players on the final ballot are returning. The highest vote getter last time was Jim Kaat, who many may know as an announcer. He's now 76, and has been waiting a long time to see if he gets in. He only missed by two votes three years ago, so he just may be the front-runner for election this year.

I have no major problems with Kaat; he does have 283 wins. But that comes over 25 Major League seasons. Of course, he spend the last five years or so of his career as a relief pitcher. His highest Hall of Fame vote by the BBWAA was 29 percent, which is pretty high compared to some of the other people on this ballot.

Also returning are Gil Hodges, Minnie Minoso, Tony Oliva, Ken Boyer, and Luis Tiant. I went over these candidates in more depth three years ago, and I think only Hodges deserves enshrinement. But why oh why are Boyer and Tiant back on the ballot? They received less than three votes last time out. There has to be a time when players like this are not considered any more.

Now, on to the four new names on the ballot, in alphabetical order:

Dick Allen: Allen was a good hitter, with a .292 lifetime batting average, 351 home runs, and 1,848 hits, but that's just shy of a Hall of Fame career. Why Allen really won't get in is because he was a pain in the ass wherever he went. and won't get any votes out of sentiment. He only played 15 years.

Bob Howsam: As I've mentioned before, the Hall is starting to take longer looks at general managers, which is a good thing. Howsam's claim to fame was building the Big Red Machine, the Cincinnati Reds of the 1970s. He also GMed the St. Louis Cardinals during each of their pennant years in the 1960s. He also had quite a career in football, founding the Denver Broncos. I think Howsam is a decent candidate, but I'm kind of mystified why Buzzie Bavasi, who was behind the helm for much of the Dodgers' success, isn't back on the ballot.

Billy Pierce: Pierce was a reliable hurler who won 211 games, mostly for the White Sox. He won 20 games in a year only twice, and in his five years on the BBWAA ballot never got more than 1.9 percent of the vote. He gets a solid no from me.

Maury Wills: Shortstops are tough to evaluate. Wills did have over 2,000 hits, which is pretty good for a shortstop, and a .281 lifetime batting average. He was best known as a base-stealer, getting 586 lifetime and holding the single-season record for over ten years. He only won two Gold Gloves, though. He did receive decent representation during his time on the BBWAA list, getting as high as 40 percent. It wouldn't be a crime if he was elected.

So, I would vote for Hodges only. I have a feeling he will again fall short, though, and only Kaat will be  elected.