Thurmon Munson- He is probably the most tricky of the players on this list to me, because I believe if he had not died he would have been a sure fire HOFer but as it stands he is borderline for me.
Don Mattingly- As a person that dislikes the Yankees I want to say no but when you look at his overall game and that he was definitely the face of a team for most of his career, I believe he should be in.
Tommy John- As a player I would say no, and even as a person that had an experimental surgery performed on them I would say no. It should be the doctor, not the patient.
Dwight Evan- No. He wasn't the face of his franchise for most of his career. He was very good in his career but never was in what I saw, an elite player.
Lou Whitaker- No. Every time I see him, I look at at his stats and he doesn't look like he should be even be in the conversation. I don't get it, at all.
Steve Garvey- Another curious one for me. I would lean towards no. He had 7 great years and a few other good years but not enough counting stats and too many mediocre years.
Dale Murphy- Dale is similar to Garvey, with several great years and several mediocre and even 2 awful years that killed his lifetime averages. That has always been the hit against him when I hear people talk about him, is that his lifetime averages are low for a HOFer. With him I will always go back to a chart I saw after one of his first years missing out. It showed two players with almost exactly the same stats, one was a first ballot HOF and the other was Dale. The difference is both had injuries at their 13th year, Kirby Puckett was forced to retire due to glaucoma, Dale Murphy played on for 7 years with back issues, as a mediocre player. Should he be docked for sticking around? I say no, and think he should be and should've been in a long time ago.
Dave Parker- I have leaned against him over the years, as one that was right on the bubble. Last year, adding Harold Baines into the Hall puts Dave over the top in my eyes. As we look at the movement of the line that defines where a Hall of Famer is, with that addition of each new person the line moves and the line moved to where I think Dave has to be in.
Ted Simmons- As a life long Braves fan, I never even thought of Ted Simmons. He was average when we had him and I never had put any thought up till now about him being a Hall of Famer. Upon looking at his stats I would say a hesitant yes. He was one of the best hitting catchers ever, but his poor defense should way against him.
Marvin Miller- I honestly don't know how he isn't in. He was one of the most influential people in baseball history. Whether your opinion is that it is for the positive or the negative shouldn't matter. Did he have a major historical impact on the game of baseball? Yes.
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