Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
I went from being largely ambivalent about the BBWAA to openly hating them when that happened.
Edmonds isn't an inner-circle HoFer -- he didn't break out until a little later in his career and injuries prevented the finishing kick he needed for that sort of thing. But he should've had that sort of Larry Walker slow build that eventually got him in there.
And I hate hate hate that so many in the BBWAA hold CFers to the same offensive standards as corner OFers and 1b. It's just ridiculous to me.
Edmonds is a HoFer in my book.
You can't hate the BBWAA enough. Biggest cock suckers in sports. [Reply]
And I hate hate hate that so many in the BBWAA hold CFers to the same offensive standards as corner OFers and 1b. It's just ridiculous to me.
Andruw Jones is a prime example of that on the present day ballot.
I think the Veterans Committee/Eras Committee will eventually relook at Edmonds' case, but he's not a priority. They tend to give guys like Fred McGriff (39.8% on his last ballot) the first look and that's where the 2.5% hurts Edmonds. I could see Jeff Kent getting a look before Edmonds because he got 46.5% on his last BBWAA ballot.
Ted Simmons is reason to believe Edmonds has a chance. Simmons dropped off with 3.7% of the vote on the 1994 BBWAA ballot and got elected 26 years later by the Veterans Committee in 2020. [Reply]
And either McGriff or Kent ahead of Edmonds is asinine.
if you're a roughly similar offensive player who plays (at best) a mediocre 1b, that's just nowhere close to as valuable as a guy who plays CF at even an average level.
And set aside if you think Edmonds is a truly elite CFer for a moment, he was most assuredly good.
It's why I also didn't like the folks that killed Piazza for not being an elite C. Who gives a shit? Guy played C and hit like a 1b, which then opens up 1b for ANOTHER guy who hits like a 1b and thus has a cumulative impact on your offense as a whole.
Moreover, Piazza's defensive shortcomings were overstated because he wasn't good at controlling the running game. He was actually a pretty solid pure receiver back there.
I just don't understand how Baseball Writers can do this for a living and have such an insanely shallow understanding of the game. [Reply]
If those guys had retired at 31 due to injury, they'd have made the hall (i.e. Kirby Puckett) but because they stuck around and didn't perform over the latter 1/3 of their careers, they didn't make it in.
Which is ridiculous. Either vote them in on their peak or don't. Don't speculate as to what that peak may have been for some guys and then punish others for not playing at that hypothetical level. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
And either McGriff or Kent ahead of Edmonds is asinine.
if you're a roughly similar offensive player who plays (at best) a mediocre 1b, that's just nowhere close to as valuable as a guy who plays CF at even an average level.
And set aside if you think Edmonds is a truly elite CFer for a moment, he was most assuredly good.
It's why I also didn't like the folks that killed Piazza for not being an elite C. Who gives a shit? Guy played C and hit like a 1b, which then opens up 1b for ANOTHER guy who hits like a 1b and thus has a cumulative impact on your offense as a whole.
Moreover, Piazza's defensive shortcomings were overstated because he wasn't good at controlling the running game. He was actually a pretty solid pure receiver back there.
I just don't understand how Baseball Writers can do this for a living and have such an insanely shallow understanding of the game.
There really is no consistency and way too much focus on one way offensive players. Then you have a guy like Omar vizquel who was nowhere near a HOF hitter and was also a piece of shit. I’m all for defensive specialists getting in but not when you have legit 2 way players getting snubbed. [Reply]
