Baseball's Hall of Fame or Hall of Shame by Robert Cohen Read Free Book Online Page B

great deal of influence over the other members in his years on the Veterans Committee. He argued extensively for his former Giants and Cardinals teammates, and was successful in getting many of them elected. However, Kelly, while a very solid player, really did not deserve to be inducted into the Hall of Fame any more than Camilli, Hal Trosky, Ted Kluszewski, Gil Hodges, Steve Garvey, Don Mattingly, Keith Hernandez, or about a half dozen other first basemen.
    Speaking of Hodges, over the years there has been much clamoring for his election to the Hall of Fame. His supporters point to his 370 home runs, 1,274 runs batted in, six seasons with more than 30 homers, two 40-homer campaigns, seven seasons with more than 100 RBIs, eight All-Star game appearances, and integral role on those great Dodger teams of the 1950s, and wonder why he has yet to be elected. The fact is, while Hodges was a fine player and a good man, he simply does not deserve to be enshrined into Cooperstown.
    Hodges never led the league in any major offensive category. In spite of the fact that the Dodger teams for which he played were always in contention, winning six pennants in his years with the team, he never finished any higher than eighth in the league MVP voting, placing in the top 10 only three times. While Hodges had seasons in which he was the National League’s top first baseman, he was not generally regarded as the league’s dominant player at his position during his era (Ted Kluszewski, Joe Adcock, and, later, after he was shifted from leftfield, Stan Musial were all perceived as being on his level). More importantly, Hodges was generally considered to be only the fifth, or sixth, best player on his own team, behind Roy Campanella, Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, and, perhaps, Don Newcombe. A look at Hodges’ career numbers, compared to two other first basemen not in the Hall of Fame, seems to support the theory that he wasn’t quite good enough to be included among the game’s elite:

     
    Joe Adcock was a contemporary of Hodges who spent most of his career with the Milwaukee Braves. Although Hodges’ numbers were slightly better, the two players were actually quite comparable. Yet there has been virtually no support for Adcock’s election to the Hall of Fame.
    The same could be said for Norm Cash, who played for the Detroit Tigers during the 1960s and early 1970s, in much more of a pitcher’s era than when Hodges played. In slightly fewer at-bats, Cash put up virtually the same numbers as Hodges. While it could be said that Tiger Stadium was a great ballpark for hitters, the same was true of Ebbetts Field, Hodges’ home ballpark.
    It is quite possible, especially with the politics that always seem to surround these elections, that Gil Hodges will be elected to the Hall of Fame at some point in the future. Why not? He was better than 20 or 30 other players already in. But, in all honesty, he should not be voted in.
    SECOND BASEMEN (20)
    SECOND BASEMEN (20)
     

     
    Rogers Hornsby/Charlie Gehringer/Napoleon Lajoie/ Eddie Collins/Joe Morgan
    These five men have been grouped together because they were not only the finest second basemen of their respective eras, but were also among the very greatest players of their time. They are clearly deserving of their places in Cooperstown.
    Rogers Hornsby is considered by many to have been the greatest righthanded hitter in baseball history. His .358 lifetime batting average is second only to Ty Cobb’s mark of .367, and he was the National League’s most dominant player, and among the two or three best players in the game, for much of the 1920s. During that decade, he won seven batting titles, including six consecutively from 1920 to 1925. Over that six-year stretch, Hornsby batted .400 or better three times, reaching a career-best .424 in 1924. From 1921 to 1925, his combined average was over .400.
    Hornsby was the best player in the game in at least three seasons. In 1922, he won the