the "wizard" is going to Cooperstown
 

All of St. Louis is beaming with pride. Read more below! This article was taken from www.stltoday.com.

Go Crazy, Folks! Ozzie is in the Hall of Fame


Compiled From Post-Dispatch News Services
01/08/2002 12:59 PM

Cardinal great Ozzie Smith, regarded as the finest-fielding shortstop ever, was elected to the Hall of Fame on his first try by an overwhelming margin today.

Smith was the only player picked, with Gary Carter falling just short.

A 13-time Gold Glove winner while with the Cardinals (1982-96) and San Diego Padres (1978-82), Smith was chosen on 91.7 percent of the ballots.

The Wizard of Oz became the 37th player picked in his first year of eligibility.

Smith was selected on 433 of 472 ballots. To be elected, players had to be listed on at least 75 percent of the ballots of 10-year members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

``I never played the game to make it to the Hall of Fame,'' Smith said in a media conference call. ``I played it because I loved it. To get the number of votes I had, I think it speaks to the impact I had at my position.''

Ozzie deserves to get the nod on the first year he could get in to the Hall. He was a great player and was fun to watch when he entered the field.

I would say Ozzie Smith is a good choice. San Diego is smiling too, because he started with the Padres, who traded him for Garry "If I ain't startin, I ain't departin" Templeton. Uggggh.

Among his many, many accomplishments Ozzie was/is always accessible to fans and has been known for his signature back flip. If you have ever seen it, its something!:D

Great!
 

Somewhere out there, my father has tears in his eyes! He'd have been so happy. Always loved the cards and Ozzie was a favorite.

Ozzie Smith indeed deserves to be in Cooperstown. He revolutionized the shortstop position, and although people put down his hitting numbers, during his era, they were better than most shortstops.

Personally, I think Gary Carter, Jack Morris and Goose Gossage deserve more support than they've gotten, but hopefully they'll eventually get in. I have my reasons for each, and will bring them up later on if it comes up.

Does anyone think anyone got slighted in the election? Anyone you would have liked to see receive more support than they did?

Collin

I think ozzie was a great choice, especially on the first ballot. I also think Gary Carter should have gotten more support. 3 golden gloves in the 80s plus he was one of the best hitting catchers ever before the position got redefined in the 90's

Well KSigKid, since you asked . . . ; )

Ozzie deserves it - he was just sick during his time, I don't care if he hit .260 or .110, he was the total trip in the field.

Jack Morris should be in - he was positively dominating, and like Peter Gammons says, "When I watched him play, it never occured to me that he wouldn't be a first-ballot hall-of-famer." Remember the 10-inning masterpiece in the world series?

Gary Carter was nasty - I feel that he's only not in due to the "let's make him wait" corrolary, which i personally hate. Just freaking elect the guy.

Bert Blyleven - he's Nolan Ryan, but w/ a different style of pitching, and has to be a HOFer, in my opinion.

The Goose - totally re-defined the way the game is played, not just at the pro level either. If Mariano Rivera is a 'sure thing' (which i'll agree with), you gotta go to the Goose as well.

Luis Tiant - numbers don't always tell the story, and he was possibly the best pitcher in the game for years, although his actual career was short. There's many examples of him being dominant, including the game he threw over 180 pitches (into extra innings) to get the win when the bullpen was worn down from two straight extra-inning games.

I would agree with this one. Tiant's career was possibly short, however, because he came from Cuba. I remember all sorts of jokes about his actual age, similar to the ones about Orlando "El Duke K" Hernandez.

Good call - I almost forgot about Tiant and Blyleven - they were among the dominant pitchers of their eras, it's a shame that those guys haven't gotten in yet. It seems like that they get put down because of who they weren't - Tiant wasn't Bob Gibson or Jim Palmer, and Blyleven wasn't Roger Clemens, Tom Seaver or Nolan Ryan - rather than people just looking at them for a couple of completely dominant ballplayers.

Carter was a Gold Glover winner who had some of the nastiest offensive numbers of any catcher ever (let alone in his era, when he was head and shoulders above everyone else). He was sick on some awful Expos teams, and then was a big part of why the Mets won in 86.

Morris was THE ACE of the 80s, ask anyone during that time who they'd least like to see in a game 7, and you'll probably hear his name over and over (Game 7 of the 91 series was one of the most dominant clutch performances in SPORTS HISTORY, not just baseball history). His ERA would be the highest in the Hall, but this is a great example of how the numbers don't tell the story.

Gossage redefined the closer role, and he was pitching 120 innings a year doing it - he was his own set-up man, as well as one of the best closers ever. He pitched at least 2-3 innings every time out - for that alone, he may have been the best closer ever. Imagine if he was doing the 1 inning thing that most closers do today? He could have had 75 saves a season. He was ridiculous in the post season, and he scared the crap out of hitters every time he came in the game

If you ask me, sometimes it seems like the Hall voters are going too much the other way - in trying to keep the Hall extremely exclusive, they're keeping out some guys who deserve to be in. It's true that it should be a challenge to get in the Hall, more than it sometimes has been in the past - but they're leaving out some guys who absolutely deserve to be in. You shouldn't be scrapping the careers of some great players to make up for the mistakes of the past.

*steps off soapbox*

Hall of Fame voting is one of the parts of sports that really gets me angry - along with the BCS and Randy Moss's

Collin

Hey Randy Moss actually won the fan voting portion for the pro-bowl squad. But it is divided up into thirds for who actually goes, players and coaches getting the other votes and Moss didn't get to go. So maybe some of the randy moss's can be kept in check.

One thing I kind of like about how tough it is to get into the hall of fame is how does a player stack up against someone who is already there? Is Blyleven just as good as a christy matthewson or walter johnson?

Its pretty debatable and ough to vote who gets in, just as long as being a HOFer doesn't cheapen the HOF in general.

I'll agree with you on that one Ex Greek - Jayson Stark had a really good article on espn.com today about the whole process, and it is a tough one. There have been voting choices made in the past for guys who probably don't deserve to be in the Hall. When it comes down to it, those writers are in a tough spot; no matter who they choose, they're going to get criticism. In my opinion, the guys I mentioned should be in the Hall at some point - if not this year, next year hopefully. It has to be tough for the writers though.

One thing though - yes, the players should be voted in based on how they compare to players already in the Hall. However, the game changes. There are hitters eras and pitchers eras, where batting averages and earned run averages go up and down. The ERAs of guys today don't come close to those of the top pitchers of the late sixties (before the mound was lowered) and the early 1910s (dead ball era). Conversely, the power numbers of today are much greater than those of hitters in those eras. It's important, therefore, to be able to judge the guys in the context of when they played and against their contemporaries.

It's a tough line to draw - do you judge players against guys from all eras, or do you judge mainly within an era? There's good points on both sides of the coin.

Although I think some other guys deserved to be in (as I mentioned earlier), I'll give the voters credit for one thing: I'm happy Ozzie Smith got the high percentage of votes that he did. Nice to see him getting appreciation for the way he played all those years. To get in with over 91% of the vote is a hell of an honor, one he deserved.

Collin