Day: December 5, 2021

The Old-Timers Committee adds some names to the HoF

UncleScoopy

“Bud Fowler and Buck O’Neil were elected from the Early Baseball Era Committee ballot of 10 candidates, while Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Minnie Miñoso and Tony Oliva were elected from the 10 Golden Days Era Committee candidates.”

Some of those were long overdue. I regret that the Hall overlooked Lefty O’Doul, and it is long past time to waive the 10-year rule to induct Ross Barnes, the greatest player of his day (lifetime .360 batting average), whose career was cut short to nine seasons because of illness. He was considered not only the best hitter in those years, but the best fielder and the best base-runner as well. There were two years where he essentially led the league in every major category but homers. At 145 pounds, he wasn’t much of a long-ball threat, but he did hit the first home run in the history of the National League! He was the best player on the best teams in early baseball. Many of Barnes’s less-talented teammates are in, but the star of those teams is not.

I made my case for Lefty O’Doul here. He batted .349 lifetime and made many other contributions to the game.

Barnes and O’Doul are 4th and 9th of all time in lifetime batting average.

R.I.P Bob Dole, passing from our earthly realm at 98

UncleScoopy

Bob Dole, 1923-2021, one of the last of the WWII warriors.

He had a good sense of humor to the last. When Norm Macdonald died, Dole got the comment exactly right when he tweeted “Bob Dole will miss Norm Macdonald.”

(Norm’s hook in his Dole impersonation was that he always referred to himself in the third person.)