Who Should Be in the Hall that isn't

[Brian-Chidester]

I'll have to look him up. Was just going through my 1961 Fleers this morning and reading stats, not fully comprehending Kiki Cuyler's induction, so I went and dug further on Wikipedia, SABR and Baseball-Reference. It's still not adding up, stats-wise, but with the Hall, it's not always about stats alone.

[Robextend]

Cuyler IMO is more deserving then a few others. Not being part of the era that these guys came from makes me hesistant to argue too much.

I would say the stats of Chick Hafey, Ray Schalk, and Travis Jackson make me scratch my head...

[bbcard1]

Originally Posted by Brian-Chidester

I'll have to look him up. Was just going through my 1961 Fleers this morning and reading stats, not fully comprehending Kiki Cuyler's induction, so I went and dug further on Wikipedia, SABR and Baseball-Reference. It's still not adding up, stats-wise, but with the Hall, it's not always about stats alone.

there was an interesting story going around at one time that Lloyd Waner was inducted into the HOF at least in part because his brother Paul's stats were inadvertently distributed to the old timers commitee....

[packs]

Ki Ki has a 321 career average with 2300 hits and led the league in stolen bases 4 times. Give the guy some credit.

[SteveMitchell]

A quick trip to http://www.baseball-reference.com/pl...uyleki01.shtml reveals that Hazen Ki Ki Cuyler put up some outstanding career numbers, including: 2299 hits, 1305 runs, 394 doubles, 157 triples, 128 home runs, 1065 RBI, 328 stolen bases and 176 sacrifice hits on .321 career batting and .474 slugging averages.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame ought to honor the greatest of the game's all-time greats. As one of fewer than 300 players among the many thousands of athletes talented enough to claim the title of Major Leaguer, Ki Ki Cuyler stands among the greats on the basis of his considerable record.

Frankly, I used to wonder about a few of the men honored with plaques at Cooperstown, but Cuyler was never one of those. In the final analysis I think a convincing case can be made for each player in the Baseball Hall of Fame. The non-players are another matter for another time.

[Robextend]

I agree. There is no other retired player with as many at bats that have a higher career BA and is not in the Hall of Fame. Look no further than a .321 BA with over 7,000 at bats...his other stats are impressive as well.

[Brian-Chidester]

For an outfielder whose period was the post-deadball era of the 1920s and '30s, Kuyler struck me as a very good player, but like the Vada Pinsons or Domenic DiMaggios of their era, a solid case could be made that Kuyler was in no way dominant during his 15 years.

It took the Veteran's Committee to put him in there. I mean, hell, Don Mattingly had 2,100+ hits in 12 years, and at least six of those he was injured. I loved Donnie, but I don't think he is Hall worthy, and yes, a real case could be made that he was the most dominant hitter of the 1980s. I guess that's the beauty of this... we all get to have our opinion.

[Brian-Chidester]

As to the Albert Belle issue, I'm actually one of those who thinks he should be in the Hall. He had 381 home runs in less than 12 full seasons, during a great era for the Indians. As far as I know, there have been no accusations of steroids or enhancing drugs for Belle. His strikeouts were surprisingly low for a power hitter, his averages and RBIs were consistently great. Huge slugging percentages were great, and even a few 700+ at-bat years.

I remember seeing him playing in Reading with the Canton-Akron team in 1989 or '90. The crowd taunted him ridiculously all game. In the seventh or eighth inning, he hit a moon shot that they're still waiting to land. It was evident that he was going to be unbelievable.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Brian-Chidester

For an outfielder whose period was the post-deadball era of the 1920s and '30s, Kuyler struck me as a very good player, but like the Vada Pinsons or Domenic DiMaggios of their era, a solid case could be made that Kuyler was in no way dominant during his 15 years.

It took the Veteran's Committee to put him in there. I mean, hell, Don Mattingly had 2,100+ hits in 12 years, and at least six of those he was injured. I loved Donnie, but I don't think he is Hall worthy, and yes, a real case could be made that he was the most dominant hitter of the 1980s. I guess that's the beauty of this... we all get to have our opinion.

A personal test I use for players that were active when I was a kid: if I didn't get excited when I got their baseball card, while they were in their prime, why would I want them in the HOF? examples: Sutton, Niekro, Pinson... The same reasoning could be used for Bert "Be home by 11" Blyleven - no kid gave a flip about a Blyleven card, so no way he gets in the hall (from a kid's perspective). On the other hand, you wanted a Jim Rice or a Don Mattingly.