[lex24]

Don't know how I feel about this class.  Oliva, great call.  Kaat...good for him, but lifetime .544 pitcher, 3x all star in 24 year career, only in Cy Young top 5 once.  Led the league in HBP and WPs a few times, hits allowed 4x.  Great fielder, won 16 Gold Gloves.  Won 20 3x, led the league in wins once.

Kind of feel the same about Minoso.  Led the league in triples 4x, doubles once, led the league in SBs 3x, led in caught stealing six times.  Led league in HBP 10 times.  9x all star, sub-.300 career batter.  Finished in Top 10 for MVP voting just once.  He's in and Jeff Kent and Dick Allen and Bill Freehan aren't?

AGree, Mick. If Kaat and Minoso are in, and Richie Allen not, there ain't no fairness.

Minoso gets points for being a trailblazer.  And he should.  Allen got hosed.  But I wonder if his reputation hurts him.  All I know is he was someone I didn’t want to see at the plate against the Giants in a key spot.  Scary good hitter.

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Very good player.  Seems like there are better players not in the hof.

Agreed, there are numerous better players not inducted.

But I would argue that there are even more worse players that have been inducted, including some elected today.

Right, that's the point I was making.

BTW, Jeff Kent's BBWAA vote percentages are creeping up.  From 2014-2018, he was stuck in the mid-teens, then in 2019 up to 18.1%, jumped to 27.5% last year, now 32.1% this year.  Maybe could happen for the second baseman with the most home runs in MLB history/5x all star/2000 MVP.  And full disclosure, led the league in errors at 2B 4x, twice as a Met, once as a Dodger, once as a Giant.  And gets credt -- from me, anyway, as does Will Clark -- for succeeding in a 'roid era as a non-'roid player.

And I still can't quite get over Bill Freehan not in the hall.  15 year career (with one of those years as a 19 year old with 10 ABs) and made eleven All-Star teams.  Yeah, I know he wasn't the greatest hitter, but he played during a pitcher's era.  Five gold gloves, 3x in the top 7 MVP vote.  Minoso gets in, and Freehan is out?  Freehan, ahead of Campanella and Bresnahan in JAWS, behind Munson, Tenace and Posey.

And one more tiny plea for Lefty O'Doul.  Never got more than 10.2% of the vote, 3rd highest career BA in MLB history, essentially all of it after age 30.  And yes, he played on the West Coast a lot...and who wouldn't?  And an incredible ambassador for baseball in Japan and the Far East.

Tenace to me is the outlier.  Munson certainly should be in.  I can’t understand why he isn’t.

[lex24]

Don't know how I feel about this class.  Oliva, great call.  Kaat...good for him, but lifetime .544 pitcher, 3x all star in 24 year career, only in Cy Young top 5 once.  Led the league in HBP and WPs a few times, hits allowed 4x.  Great fielder, won 16 Gold Gloves.  Won 20 3x, led the league in wins once.

Kind of feel the same about Minoso.  Led the league in triples 4x, doubles once, led the league in SBs 3x, led in caught stealing six times.  Led league in HBP 10 times.  9x all star, sub-.300 career batter.  Finished in Top 10 for MVP voting just once.  He's in and Jeff Kent and Dick Allen and Bill Freehan aren't?

AGree, Mick. If Kaat and Minoso are in, and Richie Allen not, there ain't no fairness.

Minoso gets points for being a trailblazer.  And he should.  Allen got hosed.  But I wonder if his reputation hurts him.  All I know is he was someone I didn’t want to see at the plate against the Giants in a key spot.  Scary good hitter.

---

Very good player.  Seems like there are better players not in the hof.

Agreed, there are numerous better players not inducted.

But I would argue that there are even more worse players that have been inducted, including some elected today.

Right, that's the point I was making.

BTW, Jeff Kent's BBWAA vote percentages are creeping up.  From 2014-2018, he was stuck in the mid-teens, then in 2019 up to 18.1%, jumped to 27.5% last year, now 32.1% this year.  Maybe could happen for the second baseman with the most home runs in MLB history/5x all star/2000 MVP.  And full disclosure, led the league in errors at 2B 4x, twice as a Met, once as a Dodger, once as a Giant.  And gets credt -- from me, anyway, as does Will Clark -- for succeeding in a 'roid era as a non-'roid player.

And I still can't quite get over Bill Freehan not in the hall.  15 year career (with one of those years as a 19 year old with 10 ABs) and made eleven All-Star teams.  Yeah, I know he wasn't the greatest hitter, but he played during a pitcher's era.  Five gold gloves, 3x in the top 7 MVP vote.  Minoso gets in, and Freehan is out?  Freehan, ahead of Campanella and Bresnahan in JAWS, behind Munson, Tenace and Posey.

And one more tiny plea for Lefty O'Doul.  Never got more than 10.2% of the vote, 3rd highest career BA in MLB history, essentially all of it after age 30.  And yes, he played on the West Coast a lot...and who wouldn't?  And an incredible ambassador for baseball in Japan and the Far East.

Tenace to me is the outlier.  Munson certainly should be in.  I can’t understand why he isn’t.