Will Roger Maris ever get into the HOF?

[egri]

I don't see it. He was a good player who had a couple great seasons, but if Maris had hit 59 home runs that year, we wouldn't be having this conversation. At least not while sober.

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by egri

I don't see it. He was a good player who had a couple great seasons, but if Maris had hit 59 home runs that year, we wouldn't be having this conversation. At least not while sober.

Agreed. I almost included the exact same thing in my earlier post but then deleted it.

[UKCardGuy]

I completely get the points above. But somehow it just doesn't sit right with me. He may have had only a few great seasons but WOW weren't they great.

3x World Series Champion (the last being with the Cards)
7x All-star
2x MVP

I look at some of other names in the HOF and really can't understand the disparity. I mean Fergie Jenkins....really???? I remember watching him during the 70s. Nobody I knew considered him a star. Yet there he is in the HOF.

It seems to me that if you had a longer fairly average career that allowed you to rack up some career totals, you have a shot at the HOF. Somehow, it it doesn't seem right.

Even Nellie Fox (and I love Nellie)...is he really that much better than Maris?

[Frankish]

Very interesting question. Personally, I think Maris should have been elected to the HOF a long time ago. That said, I doubt he will be now and each year that passes seems to make it less likely, as generations of players change and baseball moves on.

I understand and appreciate all of the points made to the contrary. My own opinion is that long and consistent careers are overweighted in HOF selections. The length and/or consistency of some careers is remarkable but many HOFers are simply top 5% players that maintained that level of play over a healthy career. Nothing wrong with that. But I think the HOF should have room for the record-shatterers, the boundary breakers, etc. It is after all the Hall of Fame, not the Hall of Consistent High-Level Execution.

[D. Bergin]

If somebody says "The Hall Of Very Good" at any point in this thread..............I might have to blow my top.

[packs]

Players have gotten in on a single season or event before. I don’t know if Maz gets in without his home run and I don’t think Dizzy Dean gets in without winning 30 games. Would Hack Wilson be in without his RBI record? In my opinion what Maris did in 1961 eclipses all of them.

[UKCardGuy]

Originally Posted by packs

Players have gotten in on a single season or event before. I don’t know if Maz gets in without his home run and I don’t think Dizzy Dean gets in without winning 30 games. Would Hack Wilson be in without his RBI record? In my opinion what Maris did in 1961 eclipses all of them.

This! And the way Maris conducted himself in that 1961 season was beyond reproach. The constant press intrusion and the view of many fans at the time that Maris should take a bake seat to Mantle.

[Touch'EmAll]

Hall of FAME - I do believe Maris is quite famous, is he not? Darn good player to boot, couple MVP's, held one of the most prestigious records in all of sports.

[UKCardGuy]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

If somebody says "The Hall Of Very Good" at any point in this thread..............I might have to blow my top.

Dave, only because you set it up so nicely...

With some of the players in the HOF and they're journeyman records, I have to wonder if its becoming the Hall of Very Good.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by UKCardGuy

Dave, only because you set it up so nicely...

With some of the players in the HOF and they're journeyman records, I have to wonder if its becoming the Hall of Very Good.

[thecomebacker]

Yes, and still owns THE (legit) single season HR record in my book.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by UKCardGuy

I completely get the points above. But somehow it just doesn't sit right with me. He may have had only a few great seasons but WOW weren't they great.

3x World Series Champion (the last being with the Cards)
7x All-star
2x MVP

I look at some of other names in the HOF and really can't understand the disparity. I mean Fergie Jenkins....really???? I remember watching him during the 70s. Nobody I knew considered him a star. Yet there he is in the HOF.

It seems to me that if you had a longer fairly average career that allowed you to rack up some career totals, you have a shot at the HOF. Somehow, it it doesn't seem right.

Even Nellie Fox (and I love Nellie)...is he really that much better than Maris?

People who didn't consider Jenkins a star were wrong.