R.I.P Cecil Travis.....

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Posted By: James Feagin

A war hero, baseball hero, Hall of Fame worthy. Sure he is not at the top of most pre-war wantlists, however, there is not many who are a better representation of what this country is about.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2705459

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Posted By: Kenneth A. Cohen

Travis' election to the Hall would be a nice and fitting departure from the recent elections to the "Hall of Longgevity."

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Posted By: barrysloate

There was a post on the board a couple of days ago which noted that Fred Clarke went five for five in his first game in the majors. The only other player to do it was Cecil Travis.

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Posted By: Paul

Does anyone know why he retired so young?

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Posted By: Judge Dred (Fred)

He missed 1942-44 completely and most of 1945. He wasn't the same player after the war. Travis had 8 very productive seasons before the war.

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Posted By: Anonymous

Frostbite of his toes during military service has been noted as the reason for his loss of production. That, and over three prime years lost to service for to his country.

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Posted By: Greg

A person shouldn't be elected to the Hall of Fame just because he died, but in this case I think the publicity surrounding the death of Cecil Travis brings to light the fact that he is a deserving candidate who had long been forgotten.
Travis was a great hitter (albeit a singles hitter) who kept getting better -- his last pre war year was by far and away his best -- in 1941, when Ted Williams hit .406 and Dimaggio had his hitting streak, it was Travis who led the American League in hits.
You can't give a player who has a great 8-10 years then gets injured credit for what might have been, but I think you certainly have to for someone whose careeer essentially came to an end because he joined the military and defended his nation. I believe Travis is just about the only player who fits into this category. Teddy Ballgame lost his chance at the home run record due to his war service, but I can't think of anyone else who lost his shot at the Hall of Fame because of it. Travis was also burdened by playing for terrible Washington teams -- had he played for New York or Boston, he might be in the Hall already.

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Posted By: Chris Counts

There are few subjects that get me more fired up than who should be in the Hall of Fame. And there few more deserving players than Cecil Travis. My uncle played on a team with him in Germany during the war, so perhaps I'm a bit biased, but was Travis really any less a player than most of the Hall of Fame shortstops? Was he really less a player than Joe Tinker, Rabbit Maranville, Bobby Wallace, Phil Rizzuto, Arky Vaughan or Dave Bancroft? The real tragedy, like that of Buck O'Neil, is that baseball fans never had the chance to see Travis standing at the Cooperstown podium with his plaque in hand. And for that, I resent those who make the decisions at the Hall ... get it together, you guys! By the way, Minnie Minoso is still alive, and there are few things I'd rather see than him standing at that podium ... But back to Travis, the man with the third highest batting average lifetime among all shortstops to ever play in the major leagues ... Rest in peace, Hall of Famer ...