Posted By:
Kevin CummingsJust as most people knowledgeable about the game would agree that thanks to cronyism, sentimentality or just sheer stupidity there are members of the Hall of Fame who do not belong, they would also agree that there are still some 19th century players who do belong that are not enshrined.
Admittedly, it is difficult to compare the performance of players from different eras. To say that Nolan Ryan would have blown away the competition back then is as naive as thinking Pete Browning couldn't have cut it today. They each developed in their own era and given different environmental circumstances each might have failed miserably or soared mightily if they exchanged places. All you can say for certain is how they performed in their own era relative to the competition of that time.
Several good books have been done to try to allow one to equate performances across the baseball continuum. If you haven't read Whatever Happened To The Hall Of Fame, The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract or Outrageous Fortune, you should. There are rational, plausible arguments contained within for exactly this issue.
Stepping off my soapbox and answering the question, I'd love to see pitchers Jim McCormick, Tony Mullane and Bobby Mathews and field players Harry Stovey, Jimmy Ryan and George Van Haltren get serious consideration.
Sorry, John - I was going to include Tommy Bond and Bob Caruthers among the pitchers, but then I'd have to include Larry Corcoran, too! 