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View Full Version : Santo finally makes the HOF



emann
12-05-2011, 12:11 PM
http://napervillesun.suntimes.com/sports/9260039-419/cubs-great-ron-santo-elected-to-baseball-hall-of-fame.html

both-teams-played-hard
12-05-2011, 12:39 PM
http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/9827/santoq.jpg
http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/756/santo1960.jpg

Only 2 years late. I'm sure Dave M. is happy.:)

freddiefreeman5
12-05-2011, 01:33 PM
Just another reason the Hall of Fame has lost all credibility.

Santo is not a hall of famer, sorry.

freddiefreeman5
12-05-2011, 01:45 PM
On the bright side though, I now know that Dale Murphy will get in one day by some "commitee". ;)

both-teams-played-hard
12-05-2011, 02:58 PM
Just another reason the Hall of Fame has lost all credibility.

Santo is not a hall of famer, sorry.
Nice. Poo poo on a collective birthday cake. Have you seen Santo play? In person or on TV ? If you have, then my sincere apologies.

frikativ54
12-05-2011, 02:58 PM
I now feel better about Jeff Bagwell's chances...

ahuff
12-05-2011, 03:07 PM
Being a Cubbie fan, I am really glad he got in. I thought he was a great Cub player, but a fringe HOFer. However, I like what he did after his playing days were over...diabetes awareness, fundraising, broadcasting, promoting the Cubs/baseball. It just makes me sick that he is a HOFer today but not in previous years when he would have been able to enjoy the honor. If I was his family it would be more a slap in the face than the honor I'm sure the voters intended it to be.

It is amazing, though, that people are complaining about his induction when I felt the heat for saying similar things about Rice getting in. I personally believe Santo deserves in more than Rice...at least he was a GOOD bat and a GREAT glove (5 gold gloves).

frikativ54
12-05-2011, 03:19 PM
I now feel better about Jeff Bagwell's chances...

By saying this, my goal was not to diminish Ron Santo's achievements. While he was a little before my time, he did excellent work both on and off the field. It's just sad that he won't be there to enjoy his induction. :(

sox83cubs84
12-05-2011, 03:36 PM
By saying this, my goal was not to diminish Ron Santo's achievements. While he was a little before my time, he did excellent work both on and off the field. It's just sad that he won't be there to enjoy his induction. :(

He would have if not for Joe Morgan and his pals on the old living HoFer Veterans Committee that went out of their way to ensure that no one joined "their" club. Santo deserves it, he's now got it; his ability to enjoy it was taken away by Morgan and his elitist cronies already enshrined.

Dave Miedema

Danny899
12-05-2011, 03:50 PM
http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/9827/santoq.jpg
http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/756/santo1960.jpg

Only 2 years late. I'm sure Dave M. is happy.:)

Dave, Is that your house out there in the left field foul ground? :D

gingi79
12-05-2011, 04:40 PM
On the bright side though, I now know that Dale Murphy will get in one day by some "commitee". ;)

I had this exact thought. Now that Santo is on, how far behind can Dale be? Frankly, being the best player in the NL for 5 straight seasons and 2 batting crowns should have got him in. Shame on the HOF committee for using the fact he wasn't a stat compiler as a reason. He played way past his prime because of his value as a leader and a professional which tanked his BA. If he retired in 1986, I have no doubt he's in the Hall by now.

earlywynnfan
12-05-2011, 05:20 PM
One thing that nobody seems to bring up is position!?! Santo played 3B, the most under-represented position in the Hall.

Quick: think of a good-hitting and great-fielding 3B, all time. Can you name 8 better than Santo? 5?

What about slugging 1B? How many before you come to Bagwell?

Quality OF, does lots of things very well, but not one better than anyone? You can list for half an hour before Murphy.


Ken
earlywynnfan5@hotmail.com

SkubeBats
12-05-2011, 05:27 PM
Ted Simmons should be in the Hall Of Fame before Santo or Rice!

sylbry
12-05-2011, 06:23 PM
He would have if not for Joe Morgan and his pals on the old living HoFer Veterans Committee that went out of their way to ensure that no one joined "their" club. Santo deserves it, he's now got it; his ability to enjoy it was taken away by Morgan and his elitist cronies already enshrined.

Dave Miedema

How many times was a ballot cast and he wasn't elected, 18? 20? 22? Can't blame all of those strike outs on Morgan.

This certain appears to be nothing more than a rigged election. Wouldn't be surprised if one of the selection criteria questions (if there was one that is) was "would you vote for Ron Santo?"

I don't see why the Veterans Committee even still exists. These players have been well vetted by the Writers. The original purpose of the Veterans Committee was to enshrine players the Writers never saw play. Not the case any longer.

freddiefreeman5
12-05-2011, 07:02 PM
Nice. Poo poo on a collective birthday cake. Have you seen Santo play? In person or on TV ? If you have, then my sincere apologies.
Do you think Santo knows that he got in?

both-teams-played-hard
12-05-2011, 08:55 PM
Do you think Santo knows that he got in?
Of course. I'm sure he just played a game of catch with John Kinsella.

emann
12-05-2011, 09:50 PM
I think people take the Hall of Fame's qualifications too seriously. Basically, they need to add players to continue to make it interesting... It'd be nice to walk into a gallery with 30 plaques limited to the true legends of the game, frankly, it'd be kind of boring. Who's going to make that pilgrimage with their family more than once either? "Look, there's Babe Ruth's plaque... again."

I like the idea of breaking the HOF into the best players of each era. In that sense, Santo deserves to be enshrined. It's also called the Hall of FAME: growing up near Boston, there was almost nobody in New England sports from the late 70's thru mid-80's as famous as Jim Rice. I'm sure it was the same in Chicago for Ron Santo, I'm sure it was the same in Minnesota for Puckett, Gossage in NYC, etc. That's "fame". These guys were great players and became famous, either in certain regions or throughout the country, as a result. Were they the greatest the game had ever seen—no—but that totals about 35 guys and leaves a pretty short Hall to wander through. You'd only need to visit about once every 20 years or so to see who the new inductee was...

When you're an athlete and become well-known enough that a large number of people who don't even follow sports know your name for decades over a large region, you deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.

Side note: They really need to decide to either drop the steroid era players off the ballot or just allow them in. The ballot is going to get messy in the next decade and alot of great players will be lost to the McGwires or Palmeiros who linger on the writer's ballots in some sort of purgatory. Either ban them outright, vote them off or vote them in. Again, Hall of FAME to me, I think McGwire deserves to be in (ill-gotten fame though it may be).

[Not a Cubs/Santo fan BTW... just thought he deserved it and sad to see it come posthumously for him.]

frikativ54
12-05-2011, 09:59 PM
Again, Hall of FAME to me, I think McGwire deserves to be in (ill-gotten fame though it may be).

I don't think McGwire would be a HOFer, putting the whole PED issue aside. He was a one-dimensional player; he could hit home runs. But could he do anything else?

trsent
12-05-2011, 10:14 PM
Do you think Santo knows that he got in?

Is this going to become a debate about life after death?

emann
12-05-2011, 10:21 PM
I don't think McGwire would be a HOFer, putting the whole PED issue aside. He was a one-dimensional player; he could hit home runs. But could he do anything else?

No, I agree with his limited skills, he wasn't a top tier player... but I'm stating that his level of "fame" should probably qualify him for a spot in the Hall of Fame.

Same with Jim Rice et al, who were not exactly Babe Ruth but achieved that upper tier of fame. I think Dale Murphy is also long overlooked and for the same reason, he deserves to be in the HOF.

Maybe they need to break it up by that top tier of 35 or so absolute greats and then the rest.

freddiefreeman5
12-05-2011, 10:25 PM
Is this going to become a debate about life after death?
I hope not.
I just think that if he deserved to be in that he should have gotten in while he was alive and could have enjoyed it.
What purpose does it serve now except to make a few die hard Cubbie fans all warm and fuzzy inside.

both-teams-played-hard
12-05-2011, 10:45 PM
I think people take the Hall of Fame's qualifications too seriously. Basically, they need to add players to continue to make it interesting... It'd be nice to walk into a gallery with 30 plaques limited to the true legends of the game, frankly, it'd be kind of boring. Who's going to make that pilgrimage with their family more than once either? "Look, there's Babe Ruth's plaque... again."


See. This guy gets it.

trsent
12-05-2011, 10:59 PM
I hope not.
I just think that if he deserved to be in that he should have gotten in while he was alive and could have enjoyed it.
What purpose does it serve now except to make a few die hard Cubbie fans all warm and fuzzy inside.

Yes, it is a shame they waited until he passed to elect him.

I posted this before and I'll post it again - I got to spend the past few years working with Ron Santo at various autograph appearances and before I met him I didn't think he qualified to be in the Hall of Fame.

After seeing him with the public who adored him, I realized he belonged in the Hall of Fame, not solely based on his career on the playing field but also for his contributions off the field after he retired.

Ernie Bank and Ryne Sandberg may have been career Chicago Cubs, but Ron Santo lived and died a Chicago Cubs fan and dedicated his life to that organization, their fans and the sport of baseball.

A true class individual who deserved to enjoy being elected to The Hall of Fame but in the end only his fans and family will be able to enjoy his well deserved enrichment.

trsent
12-05-2011, 11:01 PM
http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=39793

sox83cubs84
12-05-2011, 11:32 PM
Dave, Is that your house out there in the left field foul ground? :D

No, but I wish it was.;)

The small house in the center of the three buildings was rebuilt in the early 2000s. The light colored structure at the right edge of the photo has long been referred to by the Ballhawks as the "yellow apartment building". It's the building that Glenallen Hill launched a game home run caught by a fan at a rooftop party there during Hill's second go-round with the Cubs. Windows on the building have been broken more than once by game home run blasts.

Dave Miedema

sox83cubs84
12-06-2011, 03:33 PM
http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/9827/santoq.jpg
http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/756/santo1960.jpg

Only 2 years late. I'm sure Dave M. is happy.:)


You're right, Warren.:D :D :D

Anyway, I rarely quote pictures in my responses (a pet peeve I know irritates many of you), but I made this exception for reference purposes.

Notice the short, solid wall separating the park from the street. Back in those days the area between the park's outisde wall and the outfield wall was a catwalk entrance to the bleachers. Some of the Wrigley ballhawks of the era would buy bleacher tickets (much cheaper and less in demand than today) and would stand next to the guard at the top of the ramp. When a home run landed on either catwalk (left or right field), the ballhawk, if he was lucky and had an "in" with the guard, would have the guard lift the restraint rope so he could run down and grab the home run.

Also...the high chain link fence behind that solid wall behind the catwalk appeared suddenly and without warning during an early 60s road trip (this photo is before the high fence was added). The existing 2-3 foot high fence was extended during the season to 10 or so feet high, apparently the response to the landady of the yellow apartment building after having a building window busted by a home run ball. Most of this information came from 50+ year Ballhawk Rich Buhrke, who was in school during that era.

Dave Miedema