FanNation - The Republic of Sport

T-fo is Medium Pimpin' said 06/09, 03:15 PM
I don't know why I keep accpting these "Hall of Famer?" TD's, but I just can't resist another chance to jump up on the soapbox and argue again that the Hall of Fame is just that, not the "Hall of the Very Good". Baseball especially. The voters to the Baseball Hall tend to be extrememely selective as they should.

Santo was a VERY GOOD fielding third baseman - but not an all-time great like Brooksie as evident by Santo's five GG to Robinson's SIXTEEN.

Wade Boggs (along with Gwynn) defined a generation of hitters. You also fail to mention that along with Bogg's lifetime .328 avg, he also had hits.

Kell is a bit of an obscure pull, but as a ten time allstar, he did win a batting title, and also was a two-time hits leader and had 8 consecutive .300 seasons.

Santo put together a very nice career, but not an all-time career. He has fought a courageous fight against diabetes, but he is not a Hall of Famer.

T-fo is Medium Pimpin' said 06/09, 03:38 PM
In Ron Santo's LIFETIME, (born in 1940), in all of Major League Baseball, the voters to the Hall have chosen a grand total of only SIX third basemen to the Hall of Fame. Six. They are:
George Kell
Eddie Mathews (512 HR's - when it meant something)
Brooks Robinson
Mike Scmidt (548 hr's)
George Brett (3,154 hits, 300+ HR's)
Wade Boggs

That's it. Each of these guys posted significantly better numbers than Santo, except Brooks who is usually considered the best fielding 3B of his time. If his numbers even remotely approached these, you would have an argument. But if you compare him to who is in the Hall, his career simply does not stack up.

T-fo is Medium Pimpin' said 06/09, 04:29 PM
Alright, first off, there is no way he is better than Boggs. Boggs has over 3,000 hits (still the gold standard for hitters), was AL batting champ 5 out of 6 years from 83 to 88 - oh, and managed to snag a couple of Gold Gloves along the way (not bad for a "poor fielder"). The voters seem to think he was ok to, seeing as he was a 1st ballot with over 90% of the vote.

To counter your "stats in #2, consider these alltime rankings for Santo:
Career HR - 80th (his best placement)
Career RBI - 83rd
Career Hits - 143rd
Career Runs - 200th!!

These are simply not the stats of a Hall of Famer. Santo did not truly excel at any single category. Even taken as a whole his career cannot be described as anything more than very good.

I think he's a very likeable personality, who has taken on the persona of Mr. Cub as a broadcaster. But that's not a reason for induction. Being a nice guy should not get you a slot among the immortals of the game. I for one am tired of the Hall of Fames in pro sports being diluted with less than the best performers the history of sports has offered.