Today the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame inductees for 2009 were announced.
As expected, Rickey Henderson was inducted. However, in the final year of his eligibility, a player who has deserved this for so long finally got it.
Jim Rice
Rice was one of the most feared hitters of his time, hitting 382 Homers and 1451 RBI's in 16 seasons with Boston. He was a nine-time all star and won the 1978 AL MVP.
However, it took Rice 20 years, in his final year of eligibility, to get in.
This kind of thing shouldn't happen. Andre "The Hawk" Dawson didn't get in, he was 8.0 percent of the vote short. Do you know how little 8.0 percent of the vote is? 43 Votes, 43 out of 539 votes. Now, this "all-knowing baseball entity" these "Hall Despots" have made their "oh-so enlightened" opinion known to the public, and left him off the ballot. Who are they you ask? The Baseball Writers Association of America.
Now, BBWAA, I'm calling you out. Use your "infinite baseball wisdom" and answer this question for me. Why is Andre Dawson not in and Jim Rice is (this is NOT a knock on Jim Rice, who rightfully will have his plaque, complete with Red Sox hat, enshrined in Cooperstown).
If its by a pure statistical point of view, Dawson is better. 438 homers and 1591 RBI, and 314 steals.
Maybe it's by hardware. MVP in 1987, ROY honors in 1977 and winner of the Hutch award for the player who best exemplifies the fighting spirit and competitive desire to win, in 1994, when he played in 75 total games for Boston.
Maybe it's by championships. Neither have won one. (Although if Dawson had stuck around in Florida for one more season, he'd have his ring).
Did I mention the fact that the league colluded against him and he played in Montreal on turf destroying his knees early in his career? No? Well I just did. Does this mean that Dawson is a better player than Rice, not necessarily. But the point is, if Jim goes, The Hawk should be in as well.
So BBWAA, why not Dawson?
4 comments Last one added 5 months ago — Leave a Comment
Pat De Marco 5 months ago
Great article Noel. I think Dawson will get in within the next three years.
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Noel Purcell 5 months ago
Me too. But with the class this year and last year of HOFers, he was a top 3-4 player in the class. He should be in now.
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TR 5 months ago
True, he should be in, but maybe the BBWAA is waiting for his final year of eligibility, too. Kidding, really, but I have felt in years past that it was a travesty Jim Ed didn't get in. Dawson's a lock, and soon.
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Buddy Munson 5 months ago
I THINK the way the BBWAA does this stuff is on purpose. They have to look at the big picture. Look at next years new eligible players. The only 3 that I would consider even borderline are Roberto Alomar, Barry Larkin, & Edgar Martinez. None of these 3 are going to be first ballot HOF'ers, which brings us back to the holdovers. I THINK that Dawson and Blyleven will go in next year. The last big class to go in that I remember was when Nolan Ryan, George Brett, & Robin Yount went in together and if I remember right, Robin was barely voted in (76-80% range). I believe they already have in mind who is and who isn't HOF'ers and then figure out if they're 1st ballot material or not, what year and how many in that year they will vote in. Just my opinion.
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