Ichiro, CC and closer Billy Wagner elected to Hall

[stevenash]

Ichiro was a hitting machine, no brainer.
I'm not over the moon with CC and Wags though.

2025 Baseball Hall of Fame announcement: Ichiro, Sabathia, Wagner

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Ichiro was a hitting machine, no brainer.
I'm not over the moon with CC and Wags though.

2025 Baseball Hall of Fame announcement: Ichiro, Sabathia, Wagner

Props to these guys:
*Do we call Ichiro the HIT KING? Surpassed Rose if you include his Japanese hits.
*I wonder if CC is the youngest HOFer ever. Only 44 years old. Props, young-man.

[stevenash]

Personally, I like Billy Wagner, but IMO he was a compiler, never led the league in any relevant pitching category, and was brutal in the playoffs. Butt ugly.

Wagner did stay healthy for 16 years, and pitched in a boatload of games.

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Personally, I like Billy Wagner, but IMO he was a compiler, never led the league in any relevant pitching category, and was brutal in the playoffs. Butt ugly.

Wagner did stay healthy for 16 years, and pitched in a boatload of games.

I hate criticizing freshly-minted HOFers. But Wagner's WAR = 27. That doesn't really qualify.

I have written about all the shortcomings in the MLB Hall of Fame voting. Closers (in general) are over-rated, based on how limited their Inning total is.

[gauchojake]

How is Steve Garvey not in the HOF? That's criminal

[lakerboy]

How is Steve Garvey not in the HOF? That's criminal

Didn't have the numbers. Very low in home runs. Didn't hit. 300( close though) in a time when alot of his fellow players did. He was basically a one tool player. He had a quick burst of a few years.

[ChuckyTheGoat]

How is Steve Garvey not in the HOF? That's criminal

Hi, Jake. I've written about Garvey before. I think he's one of only TWO 10x All Stars not to be in.

Garvey was not known to be a patient hitter, so his OBA is not great. But a more pointed comment:
*I honestly think the paternity suits tainted his reputation.
...The baseball writers back then were very petty.
...They looked down on Garvey for having the lawsuits. Probably b/c THEY couldn't get laid.
...Similar trend back then. The baseball writers evoked this "character" clause. They looked down on Dave Parker and Keith Hernandez for dabbling in the white powder, and at least one of those two should be in.

[gauchojake]

National League Most Valuable Player (MVP): 1974
10× All-Star Selections: 1974–1981, 1984, 1985
4× Gold Glove Awards: 1974–1977
2× National League Championship Series (NLCS) MVP: 1978, 1984
World Series Champion: 1981
National League Record for Consecutive Games Played: 1,207

[gauchojake]

Chuck you are probably right. Garvey was certainly a ladies man even when he was married.

I loved him when I was a kid. When I was maybe 11 I actually met him at a Chuck E Cheese in Simi Valley and he signed an autograph on a napkin for me. Pretty sure it's still at my mom's house somewhere.

[DrunkHorseplayer]

Wagner is a joke, CC probably not and Ichiro is automatic; the Hall of the Very Good gets bigger.

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Chuck you are probably right. Garvey was certainly a ladies man even when he was married.

I loved him when I was a kid. When I was maybe 11 I actually met him at a Chuck E Cheese in Simi Valley and he signed an autograph on a napkin for me. Pretty sure it's still at my mom's house somewhere.

That's cool, Gaucho. If he was nice to a kid when he was at the top, that tells me he is a good guy. I had a few similar incidents when meeting the players I looked up to.

Garvey had the Popeye-forearms. He was a perennial All-Star and seemingly did it with ease. Yes, the info you post in #8 so much lines up with a Hall of Fame resume.

He set the NL Ironman streak which is the parallel to Ripken in the AL. He also won the All Star Game MVP 2x back when that game mattered. Ask Pete Rose and Johnny Bench about that, I think they lost the AS Game only once as Red teammates.

Garvey was good-looking and has success as a TV personality. In some ways it seemed like it was unfair for a top athlete to have it all. History proves that he could get a woman just by snapping his fingers.