[PowderedH2O]

Going back to the Grich question, I think the era that he played in and where he played had a lot to do with it. I don't know how many times I saw Alan Trammell play, but I can comfortably say it was several hundred times. How can I guess this? I had cable TV and access to American League teams starting in the mid 1980's. I saw the Tigers at least 10-15 times per regular season, plus all of the playoff games during Trammell's career. For guys like Garvey, how many times was he on television? The Dodgers were always a hot draw, plus you could see them on WGN or WTBS against the Cubs and Braves. I'd say I saw Garvey play at least 20-30 times per season from the 1977-1985.

Now, what about Grich? Grich played with the Orioles and Angels. Those teams didn't play on WGN or WTBS in the 1970's. For many fans, the only baseball game was the 1 PM NBC Game of the Week, and the ABC Monday Night Baseball game. How many times would you see Grich play in a season? 2-3 at most I would guess. Someone mentioned Rod Carew. He is a good example. Remember watching him with the Twins? No, seriously, do you remember? I don't. I collected his cards and I always saw him near the top of the batting stats, but how many times do I really remember seeing him as a Minnesota Twin? Maybe a couple in 1977 when he was pushing .400, but not before that. From 1973-76, I would bet the Twins were almost NEVER on national television.
So, I say all of this because we vote for who we know. Sportswriters didn't vote for Grich because half of them never saw him play. If you are going to get voted in without being seen, you better put up Rod Carew numbers. Grich didn't.