It’s just about a week until the Veterans Committee selections are announced for 2009 induction. Here’s the ballot going in (which was put together back in September or maybe even a little earlier). Bolded are people who should probably have been put in the Hall a long while ago in my extremely humble opinion.
| Post 1943 | Pre 1943 |
|---|---|
| Dick Allen | Bill Dahlen |
| Gil Hodges | Wes Ferrell |
| Jim Kaat | Joe Gordon |
| Tony Oliva | Sherry Magee |
| Al Oliver | Carl Mays |
| Ron Santo | Allie Reynolds |
| Joe Torre | Vern Stephens |
| Vada Pinson | Mickey Vernon |
| Maury Wills | Bucky Walters |
| Deacon White |
I don’t know much about the Pre-1943 characters except for Allie Reynolds, who isn’t a Hall of Fame pitcher. I always think of him as being the Andy Pettitte of the Yankees teams he played for. He was good, sometimes just average and sometimes very excellent and important to his team but not someone you put into the Hall.
There’s been some crazy put Maury Wills into the Hall of Fame rumblings, but those are pretty insane. He wasn’t even an average offensive player, he is the prototypical guy who could steal bases but could never figure out how to get on base. He’s remembered with a fondness because of the teams that he played for but it’s clear that while he may belong in the Dodgers Hall of Fame (just like Allie Reynolds is in Monument Park) that he is not in any way a Hall of Fame caliber player. Especially when Dick Allen, Joe Torre and Ron Santo–all who played during the same era as him–have not yet been inducted.
Speaking of, I (and a lot of people) am a huge advocate of finally putting Dick Allen into the Hall. He is a huge pariah because of the perceived attitude he had and relationship with what was quite frankly a barbaric Philadelphia media. Even Bill James downgrades him because of these “attitude problems”.
But you know what, lots of guys who are much bigger jerks than Dick Allen who didn’t play in the same kind of hostile environment that he did are in the Hall so that is a terrible argument. Some people in agreement with me put together a Dick Allen for the Hall of Fame page that features articles from both sides written, including ones that debunk the idea that he actively caused his team to lose and examine the situation with the Phillies. You can’t look at what he did as a baseball player and say he doesn’t deserve to be in Cooperstown.
