3,000

I love baseball-reference.com but you have to take their most similar players comparisons with a grain of salt. For instance - take a look at who they say is most similar to Albert Pujols:

Yeah I can see how Pujols would be more similar to Matt Stairs than Joe DiMaggio

 

Good point, Chris. I just want to see how the rest of Schill's career plays out before I call him a shoo-in. I hate the rush to proclaim someone a HOFer before his career is over. Hitting 3,000 would definitely put a nice mark on his resume.

 

Pujols is an anamoly. They do their comparisons based on age, & Pujols is doing things no one else has. Plus, they factor in the era, though I concede that that's a strange list. Schilling is good, but the reason there are no HOFers in his list is not because he stumped the system, it's because unless you want to factor in things like a bloody sock or SOSH, he doesn't belong there.

 

Guy - Schilling will have 3,000 k's with his next strikeout and yet none of the players on the baseball-reference.com list are in the 3,000 k club. Don't you find that in the least strange? That's why I say take those comparisons with a grain of salt.

All the members of the 3,000 k club (with the possible exception of Blyleven) either are in or will be in the Hall of Fame.

 

Blyleven is the only member of the 3,000 K Club not in the Hall that is eligible.

 

Does anybody think there should be career statistical benchmarks, the passing of which guarantees a guy a spot in the Hall of Fame?

I mean, for years and years and years the unofficial targets were 500 homers or 3,000 hits or 300 wins. Reach one of those numbers, you're a shoo-in. Should these or some other numbers be made official? Or could there be a point system similar to the one now used by the LPGA for its own Hall?

 

Absolutely not. It would encourage too many stat compilers to stick around way past their prime to get in.

In the past, 400 homers definitely got you in. Imagine if we had that benchmark now ... we'd have the Fred McGriffs and Jose Cansecos of the world clogging up the hall.

 

And someone might have let Harold Baines hang on another 10 years to get the 150-odd hits he needed for 3,000. [/shudder]

And Zeke, Schilling's bloody sock is indeed in Cooperstown. Along with the pen he used to mark it up. [/theory floating around baseball and espoused by people who don't like Schilling]

 

Which needs to happen more than one day, BTW. Talk about addition by subtraction.

Threadjack over. Carry on.

 

Interesting that Blyleven is credited with being on two WS winners; the past argument in his favor has been that he labored on too many bad teams.

He was the No. 3 starter on the '79 Pirates behind Candelaria and Kison. He made only one start in the WS while Candelaria and Bibby made two.

On the '87 Twins, he was No. 2 to Viola.

 

And Smasher, dear Smasher, how old was he when he helped that Twins team win a WS?

Somehow, there's shame in being a No. 2 at that age?

 

No but if you want to get in the HOF, you should probably be the ace of a good team at one point in your career, with exceptions for obvious reasons for guys like Drysdale, Glavine, Smoltz, Schilling, Hurst etc. who happened to pitch with all-time greats.