Baseball Hall of Fame

Pitchers and Catchers Report.

For many, those four special words signal the beginning of the end of the long winter months and the unofficial start of the new sports calendar. 

In the recent weeks, I have been compelled to think about the current commissioner, Bud Selig, and his impact on the game of baseball.

Originally, the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York was created to honor the best and most important people in the game’s history. The first class of players—Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson and Ty Cobb—are some of the biggest names the game has ever seen (how Cy Young was omitted from selection that first year is baffling, given his credentials). 

In the decades that have passed since 1936 there have been many more entrants elected to the sacred hallways of Cooperstown, most deserving the honor.

Baseball is, for the most part, an exact science.

That is why we can compare Tony Gwynn and Tris Speaker, even though 75 years passed between their respective debuts. We know that Speaker's .345 average is still very comparable to Gwynn's .338.

Of course the game has changed slightly. Speaker averaged 25 stolen bases a season, four more than Gwynn. But 25 steals was less impressive in the 1910s than 21 was 80 years later.

Andy Pettitte will not, and should not, become a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

When Andy Pettitte's name hits the ballot for the Hall of Fame in five years, the Baseball Writers of America Association (BBWAA) will have a very difficult decision on their hands.  His candidacy touches on so much of what has happened in the last 20 years in baseball. 

Michael Jordan, Brett Favre and Roger Clemens have all been indecisive about retirement.  Each has retired, made a comeback, then retired again and made yet another comeback.  It got to be rather annoying.

Hopefully, Jim Edmonds doesn't follow the trend of his fellow athletes. 

When Carl Crawford signed an enormous contract with division rival Boston, the Tampa Bay Rays lost one of it's all-time greatest players. In it's short history, full of consistent losing and doubt (with shades of joy and little success), 'CC' was a nine year force, the Rays true all-star and, so it seemed, the franchise player. Crawford, in the end, will have spent a majority or large chunk of his career with Tampa when all is said and done.

Earlier this offseason, the statistical community rejoiced when the Hall of Fame finally voted Bert Blyleven into the Hall of Fame after 14 years on the ballot.  Blyleven's case is notable because, in his first few years on the ballot, he received less than 20% of the vote.  

Only after a thorough reevaluation of Blyleven's career — and a spirited internet campaign led by blogger Rich Lederer — did Blyleven finally garner the support needed to be inducted.

It's every boy's dream to one day get that call from Cooperstown and become a Hall of Fame ballplayer. Nothing is different for those already in the big leagues, but few of the MLB's players will actually make the cut.

We are getting to watch some future Hall of Famers; some in their prime, others riding into the sunset and others just getting started.

Here are cases for 25 stars to make the Hall of Fame.

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When the new list of inductees to the Hall of Fame came out this year, I couldn't help but wonder why Jeff Bagwell did not make it in.  He seems like a definite Hall of Famer in my eyes, and I just did not understand his omission.

I understand that he played in the steroids era and that anyone playing in that era is immediately tainted.  Despite the fact that Bagwell was never a huge slugger, he made his money on being a consistent hitter that also had some pop when he needed it.