MLB HOF - Too Big or Too Small?

[Bigdaddy]

Reading the recent Jackson/Rose thread and thinking about the numerous past threads on here debating who belongs in the HOF, I started wondering - Are there too many players in the HOF, or too few?

Many times folks argue that Rose/Jackson/Hodges/Wood/Minoso/Schilling etc should be in the Hall. But just as many folks seem to argue that the Hall is watered down and has let in too many marginal players.

So which is it - are there too many players in the Hall, or too few?

[Mark17]

Third choice should've been "Just about right size"

[sycks22]

The moment Baines / Raines got in it became a joke.

[Casey2296]

When I go to the Hall I get excited about the Ty Cobb, Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Willie Mays displays. Not so much with a poorly designed 1986 Harold Baines White Sox jersey...

[Peter_Spaeth]

I used to think much too big but I'm used to it now so I would say about right. Agree Baines was a really bad choice though.

[darwinbulldog]

I figure 1-2 players per year since the start of NL is the right size, so I guess that makes me a Big Hall guy. However, there are probably 20 guys in there that I never would have voted for, so I have more of an objection to which players are in than to how many there are.

[clydepepper]

Originally Posted by sycks22

The moment Baines / Raines got in it became a joke.

Actually, there have been many before that brought it to that: Lindstrom, Haines, Marquard, Ferrell, Mazeroski and Tinker to Evers to Chance just to name a few.


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[sreader3]

Both overinclusive and underinclusive.

So I’ll take door number three.

[Mungo Hungo]

I would go with choice 3, Too Random.

Think about how different the HOF would be if we started over, and used actual reasoned analysis instead of politics and myth.

This is an institution that elected Tinker-Evers-Chance simultaneously because they were in a famous poem, Mazeroski based mainly on a single home run and Bruce Sutter despite a fWAR of 19.2.

Lou Whitaker has a higher fWAR than fellow Tigers Jack Morris and Alan Trammell, and more than double the fWAR than fellow 2B Mazeroski. Yet he's not in. I just don't see any rationality in Mazeroski being in and Whitaker out.

So I've given up. I just don't care, because it's simply too random to be valid, IMO.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by sycks22

The moment Baines / Raines got in it became a joke.

I'm with you on Baines, but Raines was criminally underrated due to the misfortune of laying at the same time as Rickey Henderson. Raines belongs.

[timn1]

Raines is a no-brainer, man!

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

I'm with you on Baines, but Raines was criminally underrated due to the misfortune of laying at the same time as Rickey Henderson. Raines belongs.

[glchen]

I voted too big. However, saying that, I think the MLB HOF is much, much better than the NBA or NFL Hall of Fames. The main problems that I have with the MLB HOF are that it tends to value longevity too much, and is also sometimes too dependent on the player position. For example, if a player just plugs away, plugs away, and somehow manages to get to 3000 hits, that's an automatic ticket to the HOF even if he were never really great or just great for 1-2 seasons. For the position player argument, I see justifications that this player deserves to be in the HOF because he's was the 8th best 2nd baseman or 9th best hitting catcher. I think it's well known that the toughest fielding position is SS (or maybe 3rd base), and if you're not quite as good, then you get moved to 2nd base. If you really can't field very well, you get moved to 1st base or LF. Some players try to be catchers if they have a hard time making it at other positions. Therefore, I don't think it's right that if you're the 8th best 2nd baseman, you can make it to the HOF, where say the 20th best SS can't make it, but if that SS had moved to 2nd base, then he would be much more likely to be in the HOF. The example I'll use here is Mike Piazza. He was never that great of a fielding/throwing catcher, but his batting stats as a catcher put him in the HOF. However, if he were exclusively a 1st baseman, I doubt that he'd make it.

[BobbyStrawberry]

Originally Posted by sycks22

The moment Baines / Raines got in it became a joke.

Baines was a complete joke, I agree.

[Hankphenom]

It would seem there are a bunch of New York players who got in due to the sheer number of Big Apple newspapers back in the day, with their baseball writers having votes on the HOF.