Posted By:
Brian H (misunderestimated)I think the doors are pretty much shut to the OJ players... at least to the extent that they get in simply as great players. The way things look right now I don't even believe that any are elgible as players....I think the only elgible OJ subject is actually Hank O'Day who was a rather poor player and then became a stellar umpire in the early 20th century...
My personal choices for HOF inclusion from the OJ set are (in no real order)
Bob Caruthers
Deacon White
George Gore
Cupid Childs
Harry Stovey
Paul Hines
Tony Mullane & Pete Browning and maybe Ezra Sutton (based on his position).
Also a few guys had some HOF-like seasons but really weren't dominant long
enough to justify induction -- Tip O'Neill, D Orr, Corcoran, Ned Wiliamson (kind of 19th Century Roger Maris' or even Dale Murphy or Albert Belle)...Although I kind of think Belle should be in the Hall of Fame and would be along with Dick Allen if he wasn't detested by so many of the voters.
Some of the others frequently mentioned were never really much more than good relative to their peers (especially some of the Pitchers) but their Stats make it seem like they should be in... If its a given that each team only has 1 or 2 Pitchers it normally uses, the wins pile up very quickly (even in a shorter season) so if you can stick around long enough (e.g. Bobby Mathews) you put up some big totals...