The ballots for the Hall of Fame voting went out in the mail last week. I'm not eligible to vote yet, because you have to be a member of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (the BBWAA) for ten years. All I have to do to get a ballot is to wait for ten more years. Also, I'd have to quit my job and become a sportswriter so I could join the organization first.
This year's ballot has Phil Niekro, Don Sutton, Tony Perez and, a few slots down, names like Ken Griffey Sr. and Steve Garvey. We're all going to hear the same discussion we've heard since about 1985. Do Niekro and Sutton belong in the Hall of Fame?
I'd like to add my two cents before the vote is held. I'd answer the question of whether or not Niekro and Sutton belong as follows:
OF COURSE THEY BELONG! WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH THE VOTERS ANYWAY? NIEKRO WON 318 GAMES AND SUTTON WON 324! HOW MANY DID THEY NEED TO WIN? A THOUSAND? AAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHH!
Sorry about the shouting, but I can't understand why they're still on the outside.
Look at it this way. I know that we're not supposed to use the "least common denominator" argument, but Rube Waddell is in the Hall with 191 wins, and Rube Marquard is in with 201. Phil Niekro's 318 wins beats Waddell all to pieces, and I dare say that Phil's brother Joe Niekro (221 wins) was a far better pitcher than Marquard. And if Waddell is in, where's Mickey Lolich's plaque? Why not elect Milt Pappas or Vida Blue?
I think 300 wins is more than enough to get in the Hall, among the best pitchers of all time. Sutton won 20 in a season only once, but regularly won 17 or 18 a year from the mid 1960s to the late 1980s. Longevity should count for something. And Niekro was the greatest knuckleball pitcher of all. For heaven's sake, they put a statue of him outside the ballpark in Atlanta. He belongs in the Hall. This year's inductees should be Sutton, Niekro, and Nellie Fox, who will be elected by the Veteran's Committee.