2013 MLB Hall of Fame Screechfest

The evidence gets you on the ballot. Therefore, its absence would certainly be disqualifying.

Let me simplify the argument by throwing another grenade: There's been plenty of controversy on the thread about first-ballot inductees. In my perfect universe, there'd be a longer wait until a player appeared on the ballot, which would happen once. If people have to think about whether you belong, you don't. And, yeah, I know this is the antithesis of how you operate. That's OK. It's a big world.

 

My one recollection of my only Cedar Rapids trip was that it smelled...really bad.

I, however, cannot honestly answer if the same can be said for Ms. Heche, with or without girlfriend.

 

How does one determine "excitement"? Why does it matter? Isn't it just a by-product of stellar performance?

 

Just to corroborate the 'tart, as I've said many times, all things being equal it's a much harder climb into the Hall for players who don't capture the imagination.

 

I for one have no problem with "excitement" or some other intangible being a part of the equation. It is, after all, called the "Hall of Fame," not "Hall of Excellence" or "Hall of Players Who Meet a High Statistical Standard."

I certainly wouldn't make it my first criteria, but it's ok to be in there when you are dealing with players whose statistical case can go either way.

 

Thank you both for explaining my position better than I apparently was.

 

How does one "capture the imagination"?

 

Why is DiMaggio more famous than Musial?

 

What about "excitement" would not produce, as a byproduct, a track record of said player's performance?

One big problem with the "excitement" criteria: It essentially legitimizes media hype.

 

I wonder if it had anything to do with where they plied their respective trades.

 

Certainly part of it. New York was and is a bigger stage than St. Louis.

But St. Louis was a bigger stage than Boston in 1950.

Who became the bigger star, Ted Williams, or Stan Musial?

 

I wonder if that was because Ted Williams was a lot better than Stan Musial.