THE HALL OF ????

It's that time of year again when I reveal just how much of an old fuddy-duddy I am. It's the Baseball Hall Of Fame voting time. I honestly believe that the voters - or at least some media people - are turning the HOF into the "Hall of the Very-Good" or just "Good" or the "We-Just-Like-This-Guy."

The argument I really don't like is where they compare a candidate to someone who is in the HOF, that doesn't belong there either. The Hall should be a place for the really, really outstanding players. You want Alan Trammel in? Don't tell me his numbers are as good as Luis Aparicio. He doesn't belong there either. Compare his numbers to Rogers Hornsby. Does he match up well there? Nope. Jeff Kent? A lot closer with the numbers, but still not quite.

Fred McGriff is getting a lot of play. His numbers - Almost 2500 hits - Almost 500 home runs - Almost 1600 RBIs. Is he a HOFer? Well...almost. Lou Gehrig's numbers - 2720, 493 and 1995 in those same categories for a career shortened by a hideous disease.

So here is my opinion of each reasonable candidate:
Mike Piazza - Good numbers but not good enough   NO
Jeff Bagwell -   Same                                                NO
Tim Raines -    Same                                                NO
Curt Schilling - Afraid not, but at least his sock made it   MAYBE
Roger Clemens - No, unless we accept his "trainer," too  NO
Barry Bonds - No, even with his trainer.                    NO
Edgar Martinez - Great hitter, but baseball has two sides, offense and defense  NO
Lee Smith -  Absolutely. Why has this taken so long?    YES
Mike Mussina - Perhaps. if he had a bloody sock, too.   MAYBE
Jeff Kent - See above                                                NO
Fred McGriff -  See above                                         NO
Larry Walker -    "                                                     NO
Gary Sheffield -   "                                                     NO
Mark McGwire - We're not here to talk about the past.   NO
Sammy Sosa  -  "I don't understand the question."        NO
Ken Griffey - Do you need to ask?                                 YES
Trevor Hoffman - Only one reliever with better numbers  YES  
There are thirteen more candidates who won't have a big following, if any.

There you have it. 32 candidates, 3 positives, 2 maybes and the rest, sorry. Very good players, just not outstanding superstars. Certainly not as deserving as say, Bill Mazeroski.  No, wait....
I warned you that I was an old Fuddy-Duddy.

***THEY SAID IT***
"I wouldn’t say attendance at the Foster Farms Bowl was not good, but even Foster didn’t show up."  -- Brad Dickson
"The Warriors’ victory over the Hornets was their 35th straight win at home. That’s nine shy of the mark set by the Bulls; 209 short of the mark set by my wife."  -- RJ Currie

"Newborn baby panda Bei Bei immediately fell asleep upon being introduced to the media at Washington’s National Zoo in mid-December. In Bei Bei’s defense, though, there was a 76ers game on TV at the time."  -- Dwight Perry

"My New Year’s resolution for 2016 was to join a gym. My New Year’s resolution next year is to go to that gym."  -- James Corden, CBS

"Eight Ohio State Buckeyes so far are foregoing eligibility to declare early for the NFL draft. Knowing Urban Meyer and his players, have to wonder how many of them might have worn out the patience of the Columbus police?"  -- Janice Hough
"The Philadelphia Eagles fired coach Chip Kelly with one game left in the season. In a year filled with controversy, it’s not clear what made the Chip hit the fan."  -- RJ Currie
 "A Stanford lineman proposed to his girlfriend after his team’s 45-16 Rose Bowl win: “The way things went that day, she was dating an Iowa lineman when the game started."  -- Brad Dickson
" Circle the date for Jan. 23, when it’ll be IUPUI vs. IPFW. Just one question: Is that a basketball schedule or an eye chart?"  -- Dwight Perry

"Triple-Crown-winning rider Victor Espinoza called it “a sham” that SI’s Sportsperson of the Year is Serena Williams instead of American Pharaoh. Not a surprise a jockey has his horse’s back."  --   RJ Currie
"The Mariners acquired lefty pitcher Mike Kickham. I’d suspect their plan is to use Kickham when they’re down."  -- Larry Stone, Seattle Times.

"Mariners icon Ken Griffey Jr. is finally bound for Cooperstown. Just one question: Has a Hall of Fame plaque ever depicted a player with his cap on backwards?"  -- Dwight Perry

"A few hundred people left the Nebraska men’s basketball vs. Northwestern game early. To make it worse, eight of those people played for the Huskers."  -- Brad Dickson

"A report reveals that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie spent over $82,000 on food at NFL games. Christie defended himself, saying, “Hey, both of those games went into overtime."  -- Conan O'Brien

 CP-