Bobby Thomson & 8 Players Of Great Feats Who Won't Get Into HOF
With the passing of Bobby Thomson Monday night (August 16), it brought to mind some of the players in MLB history who will NEVER get into the Hall of Fame, despite some legendary individual performances.
Thompson certainly is on that list, along with seven of his fraternity brothers.
What follows are the Top 8 Baseball Players Of Great Feats Who Will Never Get Into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
No. 8: Certain Perfect Game Pitchers
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One of the beauties of baseball is that the pedestrian player can, for a moment or an entire game, become Babe Ruth or Walter Johnson. Such is the case with some pitchers in history who have tossed perfect games. The list contains some definitive non-Hall of Famers.
The photo used for this slide is Len Barker of the Cleveland Indians, who was perfect against Toronto in 1981. Not picking on you, Len, but even you would agree that your career was not HOF-worthy.
No. 7: Johnny Vander Meer
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In 1938, Vander Meer of the Cincinnati Reds performed a feat that, over 70 years later, has only been halved at best.
He threw two consecutive no-hitters in June---against the Boston Braves and Brooklyn Dodgers.
Some folks place this in the category of never being duplicated, while others maintain someone else will come along and twirl two straight no-nos.
What do YOU think?
No. 6: Pinky Higgins and Walt Dropo (tie)
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Mike "Pinky" Higgins (pictured) was a solid if not spectacular third baseman throughout the 1930s and into the 1940s. His career BA was .292 and he drove in over 1,000 runs.
Coincidentally, Higgins' great feat also occurred in the same month as Vander Meer's---June 1938.
Over 14 plate appearances, Higgins smacked 12 straight hits, with two walks in there.
Dropo, a huge first baseman known for his power, also had 12 straight hits, in 1952---with no walks.
Think about that. 12-for-12!
Talk about boosting your BA in a hurry, eh?
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No. 5: Orel Hershiser
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In late 1988, righthanded starter Hershiser of the Los Angeles Dodgers closed the season by tossing 59.1 consecutive scoreless innings. The streak would add two-thirds of an inning in 1989 to reach an even 60, breaking the 58-inning streak set by fellow Dodger Don Drysdale in 1968.
Hershiser, for a time, looked to be on a HOF pace, but the second half of his 18-year career wasn't nearly as impressive as the first half.
Still, Hershiser won 204 games and had a fine ERA of 3.48. But those numbers are unlikely to get him to Cooperstown, despite the 60-inning scoreless streak.
No. 4: Don Larsen
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Sure, Larsen could have been part of the first slide (No. 8), but I'm elevating him to No. 4 because Larsen's perfect game occurred in the World Series.
Larsen perhaps epitomizes the cautionary tale of the single-game guy who just never really put it all together aside from that one magical contest.
Larsen's career numbers: 81-91, 3.78 ERA.
But on October 8, 1956, in Game Five of the World Series, Larsen was perfect for the Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers. And no one will be able to take that from his legacy.
But he's not a Hall of Famer---not by any stretch.
No. 3: Bobby Thomson
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Thomson, who passed away on August 16, 2010---the same month and day as Babe Ruth---authored perhaps the single most famous home run in baseball history.
The "Shot Heard 'Round the World" lifted the New York Giants into the 1951 World Series, coming in the bottom of the ninth of the third game of a best-of-three playoff against the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Thomson certainly had power; he stroked 264 career home runs and was a three-time All-Star outfielder.
But 264 homers and a career .270 BA ain't gonna get you into the Hall of Fame.
Ironic, because there are dozens of HOF players who never did anything remotely as famous as what Thomson did on October 3, 1951.
No. 2: Denny McLain
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Denny belongs in the Hall of Shame, come to think of it.
But his off-the-field troubles aside, McLain was the last man to win 30 games in a single season, and will likely be the last to ever do so.
McLain went 31-6 for the 1968 Tigers, who won the World Series. But the Series hero wasn't McLain---it was lefty Mickey Lolich, who won three games (all complete games), including Game Seven on TWO DAYS rest.
McLain won the 1968 AL Cy Young Award, shared it in 1969, and was out of baseball by 1973.
From there commenced a downward spiral which included multiple arrests and lots of jail time.
No Hall of Famer, he.
No.1: Roger Maris
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Roger Maris was a tormented, sad soul in 1961, the year he chased Babe Ruth's single-season home run mark of 60.
The New York media ate up the Yankee player. The pressure was often unbearable for Maris, who disliked attention to begin with. He was lockstep with teammate Mickey Mantle for most of the summer, as both men took aim at 60 homers.
But where Mantle was a matinee idol, Maris was a crewcut-wearing, less-than-attractive man who looked even worse when compared to Mantle physically.
But it was Mantle who faded, partly due to injury. The pursuit of Ruth would be Maris's and Maris's alone.
On the season's final day, Maris drilled No. 61 into the right field seats at Yankee Stadium.
Then, of course, Commissioner Ford Frick, an old friend of Ruth's, added the most famous asterisk in history, further tormenting Maris. Ford didn't like that Maris accomplished 61 homers in a 162-game schedule, whereas Ruth slammed 60 in a 154-game schedule.
But as Maris said when pestered about breaking the record in 154 games, "WHICH 154 games?"
Maris's career numbers were OK (275 HR, .265 BA), but they belied what he did in 1961, when he broke what was once thought to be Ruth's unbreakable record.
Hank Greenberg of the Tigers came close in 1938 (there's that year again!) when Greenberg slammed 58 homers. But no one really threatened Ruth until Maris in 1961.
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