Five men are going into the Baseball Hall of Fame this year. Two by way of a Veterans Committee and three via the voting of the BBWAA. I am unapologetically a Small Hall guy who believes that most years too many get in. Not that you asked, but one of the things I find most annoying is the publicity surrounding ballots. I do not care who one votes for; and the trackers that track everything need to get a life. Why cannot they (we) just wait until the announcement is made? Well, I ignore all that and then struggle to watch the announcement show as Brian Kenny is annoying, and I also cannot stand Tom Verducci and Bob Costas. So, I ultimately just check on social media.
I collect the Last Topps Cards for those players voted into the Hall of Fame. It is almost always cheaper than going after their rookie card and you get the added bonus of having most if not all of their career stats on the back of the card. It is those stats that historically are the reason why they are in. I don't count modern "stats" like "WAR". And never talk to me about Roberto Clemente's WAR. The WAR stat did not exist when he played. And things like Home Runs, Strike Outs, ERA, and BA don't change month to month and day to day like WAR can.
Here are the last Topps cards for Richie Allen (1976), Dave Parker (1991), Billy Wagner (2011), C. C. Sabathia (2019), and Ichiro Suzuki (2017)--only one of whom actually deserves to be in the Hall of Fame for his MLB stats (don't you dare try to include what he did in Japan as part of his Major League numbers).
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I am a "Big" Hall supporter if only for the fact that, at its core, the National Baseball Hall of Fame is a tourist attraction and more people in the Hall will mean more tourists will come to the Hall.
ReplyDeleteHowever, don't get me started on the Hall being located in upstate New York.
Ha ha. It's certainly not a convenient place to get to. And your rationale for a larger Hall is perfectly sound. In fact, I believe that a bigger Hall is helpful for getting bodies through the doors. As a museum, of sorts, I don't mind so many players being recognized, but I guess we all want it to be a certain thing.
DeleteDoes the 2018 Topps Update Ichiro not count here?
ReplyDeleteNo. In the past I haven't "acknowledged" Update cards as base set cards. Rickey Henderson comes to mind. But his 2018 Update would've been a much better card for stats and for the fact he's not in a Marlins uniform.
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