114. Jack Clark
Jack Clark had the nickname of "Jack the Ripper," which was precisely the moniker that befit a lethal power.
142. Al Dark
Alvin Dark had an excellent start in baseball, as he was the Rookie of the Year in 1948 with the Boston Braves. He was a huge part of Boston’s surprise run to the World Series (they lost to Cleveland), but he was traded to the New York Giants two years later, which proved beneficial for both sides.
Willie Mays endorses Barry Bonds for the Baseball HOF
Barry Bonds had his #25 retired by the San Francisco Giants today and while that is news to us, the bigger deal by far is the public endorsement he received for the Baseball Hall of Fame by Willie Mays, who was on hand to honor Bonds had this to say during the ceremony:
“Give somebody honor that deserves to be in the Hall of Fame…When you get there you’ll say ‘Man, how did I get here?’ And I want him to have that honor. On behalf of all the people in San Francisco and the country, vote this guy in!”
His decree was meant by a huge ovation at AT&T Park.
Mays was with the Giants for the best run of his first ballot Hall of Fame career and is the godfather to Bonds. Bonds’ Hall of Fame momentum is gaining as he received 56.4% of the ballot last year, well up from the 36.2% he had on his first year of eligibility, which was in 2013. He has four more years on the ballot.
We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Barry Bonds on receiving this honor and for what it is worth we agree with Willie Mays.
65. Bobby Bonds
It seemed like Bobby Bonds was always in someone’s shadow. As a kid breaking into the Giants he shared an outfield with Willie Mays. In his final years, he remained a talented pro but was regulated to journeyman status bouncing around the league. Currently, he is Barry’s father. We prefer to think of him as one of the early prototypes to the modern baseball athlete.
75. Darrell Evans
Talk about being forgotten. Darrell Evans is one of the few eligible players to hit more than 400 Home Runs and not get elected to the Hall of Fame. He actually never made it past the first ballot. He only made the All-Star Team twice. He was a great fielder but Mike Schmidt won all the Gold Gloves at third. He won a World Series with Detroit but was overshadowed by Whitaker, Trammell, Morris, and Hernandez. A lot of this may have happened because he had a lifetime Batting Average of .248.
42. Will Clark
Will Clark is a justifiable member of the Mississippi Sports and College Baseball Hall of Fame but it looks like the big one in Cooperstown will elude him as he failed to get past his first year of eligibility. A look at his career makes you wonder why he couldn’t get past that elusive first ballot.
Barry Zito officially retires
"My baseball career has been a mirror to my life off the field, full of euphoric highs and devastating lows. I've been at the top of a rotation and the 25th man on a roster. I've started Game 1 of a World Series in one year, and I've been left off of a postseason roster in another. I've been labeled as both drastically underpaid and severely overpaid. I've been praised as a savior and deemed a curse."
Pretty self-aware wouldn’t you say?
Over his fourteen year career, Zito spent it all in the Bay Area dividing his time between the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants. Zito was a three time All Star who won the American League Cy Young Award in 2002. He finishes his career with a 165 and 143 record with 1,885 Strikeouts and a bWAR of 33.5.
Early in his career, Zito seemed to be on a Hall of Fame path, but realistically he will struggle to get more than ten votes and will be a one and done player.
Still, anytime a former Cy Young winner announces his retirement it is big news and we here at Notinhalloffame.com wish Barry Zito the best in his post-baseball career.
Jeremy Affeldt retires
Saying that, San Francisco Giants Relief Pitcher, Jeremy Affeldt has announced his retirement after fourteen seasons in Major League Baseball.
Over his career, Affeldt excelled in the middle relief position, and while he was never an All Star, as a member of the San Francisco Giants, the team in which he spent the last half of his career with, he would win three World Series Rings, as he helped San Francisco to a title in 2010, 2012 and 2014.
It should be noted that Affeldt’s post season record over eleven series’ shows him with a ERA of 0.86, and a WHIIP of 0.702 over 31.1 Innings; an indicator of his skills when the lights shone brightest.
While he is unlikely to get a single vote five years from now on his first Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, Giants fans will remember his work to get them three championships. Those three rings area lot better than most of the Baseball Hall of Famers have!
Tim Hudson to retire. HOFer?
The 40 year old San Francisco Giants Pitcher cited that “it was time” and he is currently holds the most Wins (222) of any active Pitcher. Hudson balances that out with only 132 Losses and currently has well over 2,000 career Strikeouts with a healthy 57.4 career bWAR.
Hudson broke in with the Oakland Athletics in 1999 and would have a very productive year in 2000 where he went 20 and 6, leading the American League in Wins and was the runner up for the Cy Young. He would continue to be a large part of the A’s success for the next few years and while he was not necessarily considered the elite, he was considered consistent and a high level second tier Pitcher.
Following his run in Oakland, he was traded to the Atlanta Braves prior to the 2005 season. Hudson would have some injury issues, but would rebound in 2009 and make his third All Star game.
Two years ago, Hudson signed with the San Francisco Giants and would make history as the oldest Pitcher to start a game in the World Series. He would also earn his first and only World Series Ring.
The impending retirement of Hudson raises the usual Hall of Fame question and if he is to get inducted it would have to be based on his strong bWAR, which is currently 66th overall for Pitchers and is higher than many existing Hall of Famers.
Hudson will be eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2021 and will be added when he add that section on Notinhalloffame.com.
In our eyes, Tim Hudson is a borderline Hall of Famer (perhaps closer to the wrong side) but will likely be on the Notinhalloffame Baseball list.
We here at Notinhalloffame.com look forward to see what will be next in the career of Tim Hudson.
44. Jeff Kent
1. Barry Bonds
It is not that our baseball list has not been controversial in the past. We have already put it through serious revisions when we initially created a “1a” and a “1b” to accommodate the fact that both Pete Rose and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson are ineligible for the Hall due to gambling. A thought crossed our mind to create a list of eligible players who were caught (or suspected) of using PEDs, but there is one fact that cannot be ignored: these players ARE eligible for the Hall of Fame, and as such we have elected to treat as an “era” of the sport.
It has been often said that Barry Bonds would have been a Hall of Famer before the period it is believed that he started taking Performance Enhancing Drugs. With excellent career numbers (both traditional and sabermetric) and three National League MVP Awards under his belt, the Cooperstown resume was already there. What has been speculated is that Bonds grew frustrated at the attention that Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire received during their famous chase of Roger Maris’ single-season Home Run record and that had he done the same things (PED) that they did, he could have surpassed their levels. Whether or not that history is correct, Bonds’ already impressive numbers reached stratospheric levels, and he completely dominated the Steroid Era.
We don’t have to tell you all the statistics. A first look shows seven MVPs, the career Homer Run and Walks mark, and the top five career tallies in Runs, RBIs, WAR, and OPS, and that is without going into great depth. We also don’t have to tell you that Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro (others tainted with PEDs) have colossally failed to get the writer’s support for the Hall, and there is no evidence to show they will change their minds. However, the fact is that Barry Bonds was a better player than those two superstars and if any player from that era deserves to get in, it is Barry Bonds.
We would have no problem casting a vote for Bonds for the Hall of Fame if we were ever granted a ballot, as evidenced by his selection to the top of our list. We would however understand if you wouldn’t.