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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
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