Quote:
Originally Posted by packs
I've said it before but Don Mattingly was the best player of his generation. He was Pujols before Pujols. Yes, he got hurt. But there was no one better.
The HOF has awarded players with shortened careers before. Dizzy Dean had the promise of a HOFer but he didn't have a HOF career. The same is true for Rube Marquard (brief dominance) and Hack Wilson.
So why not Mattingly?
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But by that logic, if Red Schoendienst and George Kell, why not Julio Franco and Omar Vizquel? If Chick Hafey, why not Andres Galarraga? If Dean, why not Gooden, who I believe had just as many dominating seasons? I think arguments based on who is in -- which seemed to be the justification for the eventual induction of, for example, Rice and Dawson -- just lead one down the road of dilution.
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