Mark McGwire may have set the single-season Home Run record when he was with the St. Louis Cardinals, but it was in Oakland where he first became a star and would have his greatest overall success.

Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB. Once that is done, we intend to look at how each team honor their past players and executive.  As such it is news to us that the Oakland Athletics have announced their franchise Hall of Fame Class of 2019.

The six-member class is:

Ron Bergman:  Bergman becomes the first journalist to enter the Hall and going forward there will be the Ron Bergman Award, which will be given annually to the journalist for “contributions to the coverage of Athletics”.

Vida Blue:  Blue was a member of the A’s three straight World Series wins in the 70s where he was a three-time All-Star.  Blue would win the MVP and Cy Young in 1971 when he went 24 and 8 with a 1.82 ERA and 0.952 WHIP.  He would win 124 Games with 1,315 Strikeouts.

Bert Campaneris:  The Shortstop played for the Athletics from 1964 to 1976 and like Blue was part of A’s dynasty of the early 70s.  As an Athletic, Campaneris went to five All-Star Games, would lead the AL in Stolen Bases six times and would accumulate 1,882 Hits.

Walter Hass:  Haas bought the team in 1980 and is credited with keeping the team in Oakland.  Under his watch, Oakland won the World Series in 1989.

Tony La Russa:  La Russa managed Oakland from 1986 to 1995 and had a record of 798 and 673.  He would win three American League Pennants (1988-90) with a World Series Title in 1989.

Mark McGwire:  McGwire won the Rookie of the Year in 1987 and he would go to nine All-Star Games as an Athletic.  He would win the Home Run title twice with Oakland and blasted 363 with an OPS of .931 for the team.

This group joins Dennis Eckersley, Rollie Fingers, Charlie Finlay, Rickey Henderson, Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson and Dave Stewart who were in the inaugural class.

The 2019 class will be honored in a pregame ceremony on September 21.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to newest members of Oakland Athletics Hall of Fame.

The accomplishments of Mark McGwire are not as distinguished as they used to be but make no mistake what an impact he had when he was smacking Home Runs at will and chasing the single season Home Run record when he was a St. Louis Cardinal.  For the younger readers, please understand that everybody was paying attention and it was what got many people back into Baseball.

We have said before that the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame has quickly become one of our favorite franchise Halls.

Today they added to it as three former St. Louis Cardinals, Mark McGwire, Pepper Martin and Tim McCarver have been chosen.

Traded from the Oakland Athletics midway through 1997, Mark McGwire brought an even bigger bat to the Midwest.  In 1998, McGwire would set the new single season Home Run Record with 70, and followed it up with 65 the year after.  In his four and a half seasons with St. Louis, he tallied 220 Home Runs with a 1.111 OPS.

Achieving more fame as a broadcaster, Tim McCarver was a Cardinal for twelve seasons.  An All Star twice, McCarver helped St. Louis win the World Series in 1964 an d 1967 and would accumulate 1,029 Hits over his career with the Red Birds.

Like McCarver, Pepper Martin also helped St. Louis win two World Series Championships (1931 & 1934).  A member of the famed “Gashouse Gang”, Martin was an All Star four times and led the National League in Stolen Bases three times.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the newest members of the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame.

Yes we know this is taking a long time!

Regular visitors to Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly (or glacier like) working on our top 50 players for each major North American Franchise.  After that is done, our intention is to look at how each one of those teams honor their past players and executives. 

As such, it is news to us that the St. Louis Cardinals have announced seven finalists for their franchise Hall of Fame Class of 2017.

To become eligible for the Cardinals HOF, a player must have at least played for the team for three seasons and have been retired for three years. 


Here are this year’s nominees:

Steve Carlton, Pitcher.

Carlton is far better known for winning the Cy Young Award four times with the Philadelphia Phillies it was in St. Louis where “Lefty” first became a star.  Carlton rose to prominence in 1967, joining a rotation that would take the Cards to back-to-back World Series appearances in ’67 and ’68.  As a Cardinal, Carlton would post a 77 and 62 record with a 3.10 ERA and 951 Strikeouts.  The Hall of Fame Pitcher would be traded from St. Louis following a salary dispute, which was a deal that did not exactly fall in the Cardinals favor.

Keith Hernandez, First Base.

Hernandez would with the National League co-MVP in 1979 in a season where he also won the NL Batting Title.  Hernandez was thought of us as the best defensive First Baseman in his era and overall would have 1,217 Hits with a Slash Line of .299/.385/.448 over 1,165 games as a Cardinal.  Hernandez would be traded to the New York Mets in 1983 after falling out of favor with St. Louis Manager, Whitey Herzog.  Still, Hernandez did help the Cards win the 1982 World Series.

Jason Isringhausen, Pitcher.

The Cardinals closer from 2002 to 2008, Isringhausen recorded 217 Saves with a 2.98 ERA.  The Cards closer was an All Star in 2005 and led the NL in Saves in 2004.  He would help St. Louis win the World Series in 2006.

Tim McCarver, Catcher.

Playing 1,181 Games for St. Louis, the Catcher turned broadcaster was a two time All Star for the Cardinals.  McCarver would finish 2nd in MVP voting in 1967, the same season he helped St. Louis win the World Series.  He would smack 1,029 Hits as a Cardinal. 

Mark McGwire, First Base.

McGwire famously chased (and took) the single season home run record as a Cardinal.  He was only with the Cardinals for four and a half seasons but he belted 220 Home Runs with a .420 On Base Percentage while he played there.  He was also named to three All Star Games, earned a Silver Slugger and had two top five finishes in National League MVP voting while he was a Cardinal.

Edgar Renteria, Shortstop.

A member of the St. Louis Cardinals from 1999 to 2004, Renteria was skilled with his bat (973 Hits with a .290 Batting Average) and with his glove (two Gold Gloves).  The fleet footed infielder would also swipe 148 bases and earn two Silver Sluggers in St. Louis.

Scott Rolen, Third Base.

Rolen was traded to the Cardinals during the 200 season and from 2003 to 2006 was named a National League All Star.  Rolen dominated third base, winning three Gold Gloves and also producing good power numbers, belting 111 Home Runs as a Cardinal.  He would help St. Louis win the 2006 World Series.


Voting is available online at cardinals.com/HOF.  The top two vote getters (voting concludes on April, 14) will be officially inducted into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame this August.

We would like to congratulate the St. Louis Cardinals who in a short time has made their franchise’s Hall of Fame one of the most respected in team sports.

Other teams, take note!

We know for sure that the Baseball Hall of Fame will be adding at least two people to their institution next summer.

The 16 Man “Today’s Game Era” Committee has selected former Commissioner, Bud Selig and Executive, John Schuerholz to Cooperstown, the latter of which received a full 100 percent of the vote. 

To get elected, a candidate needed 75 percent (12 votes) to gain induction.

Bud Selig received all but one of the 16 votes.  A former owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, Selig is either widely praised or panned depending on your point of view.  Work stoppages and PED growth happened under his watch, but so did substantial revenue growth, interleague play and revenue sharing.  He becomes the fifth former commissioner to get elected.

Schuerholz was considered a lock and based on his record how could he not be?  He was the first General Manager to win the World Series in both leagues (Kansas City in ’85 and Atlnata in ’95) and while Atlanta only one World Series, it was a powerhouse team that won 14 consecutive divisions.

Former player and Manager, Lou Piniella received seven votes.

The other candidates received five for less and as per the rule (though we find that absurd) their exact vote count was not released. 

Those who received five votes or less are George Steinbrenner (Owner), Mark McGwire, Albert Belle, Davey Johnson (Manager), Harold Baines, Orel Hershiser and Will Clark.  They could possibly be nominated again in four years, the next time that the “Today’s Game Era” is scheduled to meet.

Of note, the 16 man committee are owners Bill DeWitt Jr. (Cardinals) and David Glass (Royals), executives Andy MacPhail (Phillies), Kevin Towers (Reds) and Paul Beeston (formerly of the Blue Jays), media members Bill Center, Steve Hirdt and Tim Kurkjian, and Hall of Famers Roberto Alomar, Bobby Cox Andre Dawson, Dennis Eckersley, Pat Gillick, Frank Thomas, Ozzie Smith and Don Sutton.

We would like to congratulate the two new entries to the Baseball Hall of Fame and are curious to see who will join Bud Selig and John Schuerholz.

With the second revamping of its veterans committee structure in the last six years, the Baseball Hall of Fame seems ready to address the twin challenges of the logjam on the writers' ballot and of an evaluation process that until now has given scant attention to candidates from the last few decades of the game.

The Baseball Hall of Fame has officially debuted the “Today’s Game Ballot”, which focuses on players/managers/executives from 1986-2016.  This will now be on a four year rotation with Modern Baseball (1970-1987), Golden Days (1950-1969) and Early Baseball (1871-1949).

The Today’s Game Ballot is designed to focus on more contemporary players, many of which have dropped off the ballot in recent years.

10 men have been chosen for this ballot:

Harold Baines: Ranked #40 on Notinhalloffame.com.  Baines blasted 384 Home Runs and 1,628 RBIs over a career that was mostly spent as a Designated Hitter.  Baines is known mostly for his work with the Chicago White Sox and is a six time All Star. 

Albert Belle: Ranked #51 on Notinhalloffame.com.  Belle finished in the top three in American League MVP voting three times and is a five time All Star and five time Silver Slugger.  He was on the ballot for two years. 

Will Clark: Ranked #61 on Notinhalloffame.com.  Clark is a six time All Star with four top five National League MVP finishes.  He led the NL in bWAR in 1989 and won the NLCS MVP that same year.

Orel Hershiser: Ranked #79 on Notinhalloffamecom.  Hershiser would win the Cy Young, MVP and World Series in 1988.  Three times he would lead the NL in bWAR for Pitchers.

Davey Johnson: Managed the New York Mets to the 1986 World Series and has a 1,372-1,071 Record.

Mark McGwire: Ranked #15 on Notinhalloffame.com.  McGwire is a member of the 500 Home Run Club and is a 12 Time All Star. 

Lou Piniella: A Manager for 23 years with a record of 1,835-1,712 and a World Series win with the Cincinnati Reds in 1990.

John Schuerholz: The First General Manager to win the World Series in both leagues, Kansas City in 1985 and Atlanta in 1995.

Bud Seilig: The Commissioner of MLB from 1992 to 2015.

George Steinbrenner: The infamous owner of the New York Yankees won seven World Series Titles.



The focus for many is on McGwire who just left the ballot after ten years and never finished above 25 percent on the ballot. 

The 16 man Modern Baseball Committee will be meeting on December 5 on the winter meetings.  To be inducted, a candidate require 75% of the vote.

Last year, we did our first ever debate on Notinhalloffame.com where we tackled the Hall of Fame merit of twenty-four men who are on the Hall of Fame ballot, in what was in our opinion the most loaded ballot in our lifetime.

Since it was so much fun last time, we thought we would do it again!

One thing that has not changed is the number.  We will again debate twenty-four men who are on the ballot.

What has changed are the ones debating.  Last year I had the pleasure of having DDT, the curator of DDT’s Pop Flies blog and D.K. of the Phillies Archivist blog.  This year, Spheniscus, who has participated in past Rock and Roll discussions, will be joining me.

As we gear up for the 2016 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting and announcements, the overriding question is: Have we returned to normal?

To put that into perspective, how's this for abnormal? In 2013, with a ballot overstuffed with Hall of Fame-caliber candidates (I counted 14), not one candidate was elected to the Hall. Adding to the debacle was the first appearance on a Hall of Fame ballot by Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, both of whom brought the bubbling issue of players suspected or confirmed of having used performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) to an apoplectic, moralistic boil.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com thought it would be fun to take a look at the major awards in North American team sports and see how it translates into Hall of Fame potential.

Needless to say, different awards in different sports yield hall of fame potential.  In basketball, the team sport with the least amount of players on a roster, the dividend for greatness much higher.  In baseball, it is not as much as a great individual season does not have the same impact.

While the Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot for this year was already known, it is worth noting that the names on the ballot have been made official and have been sent out to prospective voters.

Let’s go through the ballot and take a quick look shall we?

It is possible that this candidate is shrouded with more controversy than our 1A and 1B candidates combined?

The vote for the candidates on the 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot is without a doubt historical because of two salient and unavoidable facts: One is that this year's ballot is overstuffed with potential Hall of Fame candidates—presenting an even bigger logjam to entrance to the Hall—and the other is that this year's vote is an inescapable referendum on the stance toward the "Steroids Era" as even more players active during the period of the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s implicated with performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) are newly eligible.

Note: Part 1 of this two-part series goes into detail—considerable detail—to examine both the overstuffed ballot and, more comprehensively, the atmosphere of moral dudgeon surrounding the suspected and admitted usage of PEDs by players on previous ballots and especially by players eligible for the Hall for the first time this year. If you want only to read the players' evaluations, skip to Part 2.