The Hall of Nearly Great ebook

[FedEx227]

This book should be of interest to a lot of posters on this site as we have similar debates. It's an e-book from a lot of the better bloggers/internet baseball writers that cover borderline hall guys.

http://www.hallofnearlygreat.com/

The Hall of Nearly Great is an ebook meant to celebrate the careers of those who are not celebrated. It’s not a book meant to reopen arguments about who does and does not deserve Hall of Fame enshrinement. Rather, it remembers those who, failing entrance into Cooperstown, may unfairly be lost to history. It’s for the players we grew up rooting for, the ones whose best years led to flags and memories that will fly together forever. Players like David Cone, Will Clark, Dwight Evans, Norm Cash, Kenny Lofton, Brad Radke, and many others.

This is not a numbers-driven project (although our contributors lean analytical in their views). Our plan isn’t to be overbearing with stats and spreadsheets to convince you that these players are worth remembering. What we aim to do, instead, is accomplish that same task through stories. Think of your favorite players growing up: they have their moments, games, seasons, quirks, personalities, and legends worth remembering and sharing. Now, combine the best of everyone’s forgotten favorites, and you’ve got a Hall of Nearly Great. Ask the people who have those memories and love for these players to write essays about them, and you have The Hall of Nearly Great ebook.

[Warner2BruceTD]

What I find interesting, is players who get "stuck" in that limbo of not-quite-HOF don't get forgotten, they end up getting beat up far worse than most everybody else because writers have to write columns every year telling everybody why they stink and aren't worthy of enshrinement.

The guys listed in the article are like the A-Team of whipping boys come HOF time every year (David Cone, Will Clark, Dwight Evans, Norm Cash, Kenny Lofton, Brad Radke).

[Senser81]

I remember when Butt Blyleven used to be a "whipping boy". Not enough wins, not enough Cy Youngs, etc. Then when he finally got enshrined, it was "look at his great strikeout total! look at his number of complete games!". It was as if his career completely changed overnight when he was enshrined. Kind of stupid, if you ask me.

On a side note, it seems like positional players can play for bad teams and/or do nothing in the postseason and still be locks for the HOF. But if a pitcher like Blyleven is stuck on bad teams his whole career, then people point to his "low" career win total or get upset when he doesn't win 20+ games a year and then they don't get into Cooperstown. A double-standard if you ask me.

[Warner2BruceTD]

I love how the plastic play by play man stays completely in his fake TV voice the entire time.

"We're lieeve!"

[Warner2BruceTD]

So this book could basically be about the D'Backs coaching staff:

Kirk Gibson
Don Baylor
Charles Nagy
Matt Williams
Alan Trammell
Eric Young

I'd start a team with those guys and take my chances.