Will Roger Maris ever get into the HOF?

[John1941]

I like taking into account minor league stats also for pre-1950 guys, and in that case Lefty O'Doul has 10 full seasons, instead of just 6 .Still not a ton, but it gets him closer. And I really think the quality of the NL and PCL back then were at least comparable .For instance, O'Doul won 2 NL batting titles, but no PCL batting titles.

[yanks87]

I, too am a HUGE Yankee fan. I love Maris, but to look at his stat line, never hit above .283, had two really good years, and caught lightning in a bottle to hit 61 in '61. He is worth of a baseball history "tip of the cap", but not hall worthy.

I agree with a bunch of folks here that the hall quality level has REALLY dropped. Since I was a kid growing up going to Cooperstown every summer, I always felt that the Hall should be reserved for those players that were iconic at their position within the era that they played, and numbers in line with the elites of the game. It seems like the recent classes have really stretched both of those qualifiers. I am probably the lone crazy guy who thinks that Edgar Martinez has no place in the Hall. In fact, I think if DH's are going to go into the hall, they should have a minimum of 3000 hits. If not, they are good, not great, players by comparison, minus the fact that they don't play in the field. I stand by the fact that if Edgar is in, the Cobra should be as well, their numbers are almost the same, but Dave Parker actually played in the field on top of all the batting.

That is my problem with the way people are making it into the Hall currently, it seems to be more about perceptions than reality in the context of the history of the game.

[packs]

I'm in general agreement with you about the full picture but Hack Wilson is a HOFer too. He had exactly two outstanding seasons, one that saw him set the RBI record. Not all that different from Maris. Wilson even got in long after Maris hit 61. If there is room for single season achievements in the Hall I think Maris has achieved the most.

[jingram058]

While Cooperstown is an amazing visit, with a collection of baseball ephemera you would expect, to me it has lost credibility with respect to who gets in and who doesn't. Thus, in my own collecting, I focus not only on who is in, but who I feel should be. I have no problem with Roger Maris going in. Likely he never will, but I would be happy if he did. I don't have any Harold Baines cards, and frankly, I don't want any. Nothing personal, I do not dislike him, but he just isn't a great ballplayer or a Hall of Famer in my opinion.

[Brianruns10]

Originally Posted by jingram058

While Cooperstown is an amazing visit, with a collection of baseball ephemera you would expect, to me it has lost credibility with respect to who gets in and who doesn't. Thus, in my own collecting, I focus not only on who is in, but who I feel should be. I have no problem with Roger Maris going in. Likely he never will, but I would be happy if he did. I don't have any Harold Baines cards, and frankly, I don't want any. Nothing personal, I do not dislike him, but he just isn't a great ballplayer or a Hall of Famer in my opinion.

Yeah I struggle a bit with Cooperstown, when Gil Hodges can't make the cut, nor Mickey Vernon. And the whole business behind Buck O'Neil's exclusion just left a bad taste in my mouth (full disclosure I'm a Kansas Citian, and therefore biased here).

[UKCardGuy]

Originally Posted by jingram058

While Cooperstown is an amazing visit, with a collection of baseball ephemera you would expect, to me it has lost credibility with respect to who gets in and who doesn't. Thus, in my own collecting, I focus not only on who is in, but who I feel should be. I have no problem with Roger Maris going in. Likely he never will, but I would be happy if he did. I don't have any Harold Baines cards, and frankly, I don't want any. Nothing personal, I do not dislike him, but he just isn't a great ballplayer or a Hall of Famer in my opinion.

I'm with you here. I really liked Touch'emall's post. I think we should start a movement a'la Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant -
- a stream of fans walk in to the HOF one by one.
- each takes a turn to stand in front of the Harold Baines plaque
- while there, call over an attendant and ask, "Where can I see the guy who broke Babe Ruth's record?"
- Then walk out