Committee Chairman

The Cardinals induct their latest HOF Class

Aug 17, 2014

This weekend, the most decorated team in National League history, the St. Louis Cardinals ushers in its second group of inductees to their Hall of Fame. This collection of talent includes Marty Marion, Willie McGee, Jim Edmonds and Mike Shannon.

The Cardinals Hall of Fame inducts people from three categories, the Veteran, Modern and Lifetime Achievement. This year’s Veteran Category inductee is Mary Marion, the 1944 National League Most Valuable Player.

Marion was considered the finest defensive Shortstop in his day and even with advanced metrics he would lead the National League in Defensive bWAR three times. Marion was selected to seven All Star Games, and though he was not regarded for his offense, he still had a respectable 1,402 Hits over his Cardinals career. In regards to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Marion received as high as 40 percent support for the Hall, but failed to get in.

Willie McGee and Jim Edmonds are this year’s Modern Inductees. Both were voted in by Cardinals fans whom were given a ballot of eight former redbirds to choose from. Like Marion, McGee is a former National League MVP winning his coveted award in 1985 and winning a World Series Ring in 1982. He was a four time All Star and two time Gold Glove recipient and had 1,683 Hits with St. Louis and collected a bWAR of 25.5.

Edmonds also won a World Series Ring, his coming in 2006. Edmonds, who played in the Outfield for St. Louis from 2000 to 2007, had three All Star appearances and six Gold Gloves and belted 241 Home Runs with a .555 Slugging Percentage as a Cardinal. Edmonds also had a very good bWAR of 37.8 during his St. Louis tenure.

Mike Shannon earned the Cardinals Lifetime Achievement slot. Shannon played with St. Louis (his only Major League team) from 1962 to 1970, collecting 710 Hits and two World Series Rings in 1964 and 1967. Shannon would work for the promotional department for the Cards the year after he retired in 1971, but the following season he would enter the broadcast booth covering St. Louis, a position he still holds today.

We would like to congratulate these four men, and the St. Louis Cardinals organization for what appears to be the start of a great franchise Hall of Fame.

Red Sox officially induct their latest HOF Class

Aug 16, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

Before last night’s game at Fenway Park, the Boston Red Sox officially inducted their franchise’s Hall of Fame. The Red Sox Hall of Fame began in 1995, and has more members than any other Baseball team’s Hall of Fame by a wide margin. That said this could be the most exciting group that the Red Sox have ever inducted.

The highest profile name (and most controversial) is “Rocket” Roger Clemens who holds the record for the most Cy Young Awards. Clemens was with the team from 1984 to 1996 and in ’86 he won his first Cy Young going 24 and 4 leading the American League in Wins, WHIP and ERA. He would also win the AL Most Valuable Player Award that season. Clemens would win the Cy Young again the following season and again in 1990.

As a member of the Boston Red Sox, Clemens would statistically post a 192 and 111 record, 2,590 Strikeouts, four ERA titles and a bWAR of 81.3; numbers that would have been enough to get him into Cooperstown had he never played after 1996. As we know, Clemens continued to play Baseball many years after he left Boston.

The Red Sox were not able to resign the flamethrower and the Red Sox General Manager, Dan Duquette infamously stated that he wanted Clemens to finish the “twilight” of his career in Boston, which irked Clemens who felt he still had a lot left in the tank. He signed with Toronto and regained his status as a dominating Pitcher, though that is widely believed to have come with the aid of Performance Enhancing Drugs. He would later anchor a staff of Boston’s hated rival, the New York Yankees and win two World Series rings there.

Pedro Martinez, who did win a World Series in Boston, joins Clemens in the Red Sox Hall of Fame. Pedro joined the Red Sox in 1998, two years removed from winning the National League Cy Young in Montreal. Pedro actually improved in Montreal, winning two more Cy Youngs and recording a spectacular record of 117 and 37 with 1,683 Strikeouts as a member of the Red Sox franchise. Perhaps even more impressive was his five WHIP Titles and three ERA Titles in Boston and looking at his Red Sox tenure he had anemic numbers of a 2.52 Earned Run Average and a WHIP of 0.978. He had a bWAR of 53.8 in Boston and is eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame next year.

The third player entered was the very popular Nomar Garicaparra, who was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1997. The Shortstop would win two Batting Titles, earn five All Star appearances and a Silver Slugger as a Red Sox player and collected a bWAR of 41.1. Garciaparra’s career was derailed by injuries, but for a time he was as good as he was popular.

Joe Castiglione is the fourth and final inductee. He took over the radio broadcasts in 1983, and has been in that role ever since.

As much as the Boston Red Sox can be criticized (justly) for some of their entries to their Hall of fame, but this is a stellar class that can not be questioned by anyone.

As you know, we will soon be unveiling a look at how each major North American sports franchise recognizes their past competitors.

Kings to retire Rob Blake's number 4

Aug 13, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

The Los Angeles Kings have announced that they will retire the number 4 of Rob Blake, marking the sixth time that the organization has retired a number. Blake joins a group that includes Marcel Dionne (#16), Dave Taylor (#18), Luc Robitaille (#20), Rogie Vachon (#30) and Wayne Gretzky (#99).

Blake was drafted by Los Angeles in 1988, Blake worked his way up the ranks to become one of the top Defenceman in the National Hockey League. He would have his breakout campaign in the 1997/98 season where he won the Norris Trophy Award as the NHL’s top Defenceman and earned First Team All Star honors. Blake would earn another two Second Team All Star selections as a King before being traded to the Colorado Avalanche, where he would later win his only Stanley Cup Trophy. Blake would return to Los Angeles as a Free Agent in 2006.

This year, Rob Blake entered the Hockey Hall of Fame on his second year of eligibility. He also returned to the Kings as the Assistant General Manager last year, which gave him his second Stanley Cup Ring with Los Angeles winning the championship.

The ceremony will take place this upcoming season against a home game with the Anaheim Ducks.

We will be unveiling a look at each major North American Franchise and their respective retired numbers and Halls of Fame/Rings of Honor soon. Blake’s addition to the Staples Centre rafters is a well earned one, and should slightly improve the rankings once we publish that new section.

Two in ring WWE Retirements

Aug 13, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

With the whirlwind of cuts stemming from the WWE Network not generating the expected revenue, two wrestlers have quietly announced they are ending their in-ring career. Santino Marella and Tensai, both former Intercontinental Champions have had interesting runs in the biggest wrestling promotion in the World, and we thought it would be fun to look back at the careers of these two men.

Born Anthony Carelli in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, the future Santino Marella got his start in the early 2000’s in Ontario based independents and also competed in various forms of mixed martial arts. He would get attention from the WWE, and was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling where he would get a push as a Russian martial arts grappler named Boris Alexiev. Carelli was able to channel the accent, but when he was called up to the main roster, he was asked to revert back to his Italian heritage.

Now known as Santino Marella, he debuted on Monday Night Raw when they were in Italy and was a surprise opponent of WWE Intercontinental Champion, Umaga. With the assistance of Bobby Lashley (with whom Umaga was feuding with), Marella became the new Intercontinental Champion. Marella did not get over, but following a loss of the Title and a slow heel turn, he would become a good mid-card heel, who would add comedic elements to his persona to the point where for the past few years that you knew a Santino Marella segment was usually good for a laugh or two. This would become especially important, as the WWE would constantly force feed bad comedy down viewer’s throats, and Marella was had far more comedic hits than misses.

As much fun as Santino was, we never really saw the entire scope of his in-ring wrestling ability. Marella’s character did not lend itself to lengthy matches or serious angles, though we do remember specifically at the Elimination Chamber in 2013 when he was Randy Orton’s surprise replacement and lasted until the end, to the delight of the fans.

Citing a neck injury, Marella announced that his in-ring career appeared to be over, though this has received little to no mention on WWE programming or even their own website. Should Santino Marella never again appear on WWE TV again, did he do enough to be in the Hall of Fame, and if so (or even if not) what rank should he have on our list when we set out to do our revisions?

Marella will definitely be ranked on our list, though we are not sure about Matt Bloom who quietly announced that he was also done wrestling.

Bloom first entered the then named World Wrestling Federation as Prince Albert, playing off his numerous body piercings. He would go through numerous name changes and tag team partners in his five year run, though never really escaped the mid-card. His arguable high point was a brief run with Intercontinental Title and going against the Undertaker on a handicap match at Wrestlemania.

Following his release from the WWE in 2004, Bloom would go to Japan, and it was there that the handcuffs were released and he did the best work of his career. As “Giant Bernard” he would win multiple tournaments and championships and with his hairy torso replaced with tattoos, he looked more menacing than ever.

Still as an American, he looked to return to the United States in 2012 and he resigned with the WWE, this time playing off his past as a wrestler in Japan. Now named Lord Tensai, Bloom was booked as a monster, but the fans recognized him immediately as the former “Albert” despite the eight year gap, was perceived as a mid-card talent despite the huge push he received upon his return.

Within eight months, Lord Tensai, became “Sweet T” one half of a tag team with Brodus Clay, another large man whose star had fizzled and the now named “Tons of Funk” were nothing more than a dancing comedy act. Bloom would go through another name change and become Jason Albert, a commentator on NXT.

Although his combined tenure was long in the WWE, it is difficult to place him very high on our Notinhalloffame WWE list, if we place him at all.

Regardless, we would like to thank both Anthony Carelli and Matt Bloom for their work in the ring.