Whew, that is a tough list to deal with. I LOVE this stuff, although my display of Topps cards of HOFers is almost out of room. My thoughts on each, but I am not using the newly-created Harold Baines standard.
Thurmon Munson - Tough; no death, five more good years, and he's probably in. I'll say no. Barely. Doesn't meet the Campanella standard.
Don Mattingly - Ok, they're all tough. Six or so peak years. MVP. So many gold gloves. THE guy for while. I'm right on the fence. I'm gonna say no, but just barely again. But I think he's in my top two on this list.
Tommy John - All so tough. I think the most wins not in the Hall. But never the dominant guy. No Cy Youngs. Only four seasons with votes. Never led the league in anything significant. Just quite good for the rest of the career. No. Barely. I'm still not offended by any of these making it, though.
Dwight Evan (YES!!!!) - Dude, it's EvanS. Gotta say no. He's not Andre Dawson or Vlad. He's better than Darrell Evans....Straight batting, I'll take Baines. The gold gloves help a lot. But he was never the dominant guy. Or sustained top five. Just very, very good. No. Barely.
Lou Whitaker - Gonna say no. Trammell was slightly better of the two. And he's questionable. A lifetime .276 hitter with "only" three gold gloves in a fielding position. I can't do it. STILL not offended by any of these guys making it.
Steve Garvey - What an awesome list. This is so hard. MVP votes in eight straight seasons, including a win. Four GGs. 2600 hits and led the league twice. But I can't quite do it.
Dale Murphy -- Know what? I'll say yes. Barely. Two MVPs, seven gold gloves, and definitely THE guy for, what, seven years? Led the league in lots of important stuff. I''l give it to him.
Dave Parker -- Did I mention that this is a GREAT list? MVP, two batting titles, gold gloves, 2700 hits. 1500 RBI. Sheesh. No, now. But he gets in as soon as Dick Allen does? This is hard.
Ted Simmons -- Totally underrated. And I thought he'd get my vote. But I can't quite do it. Never really among the very best catchers in the game during his career. Always right around top four, maybe? Bench, Fisk, Munson.
Marvin Miller -- Yes. Huge influence. Just yes.
Wow. I'm really having trouble differentiating these guys from one another. They were all the all-stars of my youth. The biggest stars every year. There's not one who would feel out of place in the Hall of Fame. I could write the plaque for all of them. But there's not one who feels like a it's a glaring error to leave him out. I just don't know.
So much fun.
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