Debate over who deserves to belong to the various halls of fame in the sports world is great fodder for mediocre talk radio, but it's one of my least favorite topics. Since the very notion of "fame" is subjective -- i.e. there's no statistical litmus test for any hall except that of the LPGA -- you're never going to reach a satisfactory consensus. That makes it a great crutch for talk show hosts looking to kill a segment, but its predictability makes it mind-numbingly boring.
However, there's one aspect of Hall of Fame announcements that I relish every year -- the names at the bottom of the ballot. Lost amid the news that Goose Gossage has been deemed worthy of a plaque at Cooperstown are the following players who each received one Hall of Fame vote:
Shawon Dunston, Chuck Finley, David Justice, Chuck Knoblauch, Todd Stottlemyre
Finley and Justice might qualify for the Hottest Crazy ex-Wife Hall of Fame. Dunston is a shoo-in for the Make Your First Baseman's Hand Sting Hall of Fame (just ask Mark Grace). And Knoblauch can join Dave Engle, Steve Sax, Mackey Sasser and Steve Blass in the Schroeder Hall of Fame (named for the piano-playing catcher in "Peanuts" who walked the ball back to Charlie Brown after every pitch).
But Todd Stottlemyre? Really? I want to talk to that one voter to find out what possibly motivated the checkmark next to Stottlemyre's name on his ballot.
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