Committee Chairman

RIP: Tony Gwynn

Jun 17, 2014

This is a particular sad day for Major League Baseball and for us here at Notinhalloffame.com as it was announced that Tony Gwynn passed away today at the young age of 54 due to cancer. Gwynn is considered to be the best player of all time in the history of the San Diego Padres (he is referred to as Mr. Padre after all), and for many the finest pure hitters of his generation.

Tony Gwynn joined the Padres in 1982, and Southern California would be the only MLB home that he would ever know. By 1984, Gwynn would be a full time starter and would lead the National League in Hits and win the Batting Title for the first time. This would become a regular occurrence as Gwynn would become one of the few players to eclipse the 3,000 Hit Mark and would win seven more Batting Titles. With the exception of his first season where he played only 54 games, Gwynn never had a season where he batted under .300, and his career Batting Average was .338.

It was not a misprint to state that Tony Gwynn was ahead of his time. Nowadays, it is commonplace for franchises to have gigabytes of data and recordings on each baseball player from the majors, minors and leagues throughout the world. In the 80’s, Gwynn was already accumulating film (yes film) on potential pitchers he would face, and his own past At Bats so that he could become an even better hitter. Pardon the pun, but Gwynn always stayed ahead of the curve in that regard.

Although Tony did not win a World Series Ring, (though he led them to the National League Pennant twice in 1984 and 1998) he did fill up his trophy case. Gwynn was selected to represent the NL in the All Star Game fifteen times, won the Silver Slugger seven times and the Gold Glove five times. Considering he was not a power hitter, the Silver Slugger honors was a testament to just how keen his batting eye was. Other notable stats of note from his career, was winning an On Base Percentage Title, stealing 319 bases, and winning five Player of the Month Awards. Gwynn may never have won the National League MVP, but he did finish in the top ten in balloting seven times.

Gwynn was also known for his philanthropic endeavors and was recognized as such in 1995 by MLB with the winning of the Branch Rickey Award, which annually goes to the player in recognition of his outstanding community service. As further evidence of Gwynn being one of the league’s “good guys”, he also won the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award in 1998, which goes to the player who best exemplifies the character and integrity of Gehrig on and off the field. The year later, he was chosen to receive the Roberto Clemente Award. That accolade goes to the player who “best exemplifies the game of Baseball, Sportsmanship, Community Involvement and the individual’s contribution to his team”. Putting Gwynn in the same breath as Clemente and Gehrig seems so normal as he was that good and that well respected in Baseball and in life as a whole.

“Mr. Padre” entered the Baseball Hall of Fame on his first vote, accumulating 97.6 percent of the vote in 2007. At this time we would like to extend our condolences to the friends and family of Tony Gwynn and as for us, we are going to spend some time on YouTube remembering what a great player and great man he was. Tony, you will be missed.

RIP: Chuck Noll

Jun 14, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

It was reported today that the legendary former Head Coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Chuck Noll has passed away today at the age of 82 of natural causes. Noll took over the reigns as the Steelers Head Coach in 1969 and by 1972 had officially turned the franchise around leading them to the playoffs and winning the first post season game in franchise history.

Building his team around his “Steel Curtain” defense, Noll would put together a dominating team that won the Super Bowl four times in the 1970’s, and to this day, he remains the only NFL Head Coach to win the Super Bowl four times. Noll would have a career record of 209-156-1 and a playoff record of 16 and 8, which is also the most of any coach in NFL history.

Noll was also viewed as a trailblazer, giving opportunities to African-Americans in coaching and on the field, basically viewing a man by his ability and not his skin color. This may seem like common sense now, but in the 1970’s, this was not the standard. Chuck Noll would enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com extend our condolences to the family and friends of this coaching legend.

Songwriting HOF Induction Ceremony

Jun 13, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

The Songwriters Hall of Fame had their ceremony last night and although the arguable headliner, Ray Davies, was not present due to the death of his sister, it was a well received affair. Davies was the frontman and songwriter of the popular British band, The Kinks. The band themselves have long since been inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, though it can be argued that this is an overdue induction as Davies was not a songwriter who penned the standard rock tune. He could appeal to the working class, the avant garde and those who just wanted a cheery pop song. Jon Bon Jovi sang a medley of Kinks hits to close out the show.

Donovan, who also was selected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, was also formally inducted to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The Scotsman was a major force on the Folk scene that was labelled as a genius by some and eccentric by others; of which they might both be right. No matter what, he was unique and he is a man of which time has shined a very positive light. He performed last night with Roseanne Cash.

Another man from the United Kingdom, Graham Gouldman, joined them as an inductee. He penned three well known songs that have persevered from the late 60’s, including two made famous by the Yardbirds (Heart Full of Soul & For Your Love) and Bus Stop which was recorded by the Hollies. He was a performer himself and was part of 10cc, which themselves had a decent run. A Great Big World performed 10cc’s hit “I’m Not in Love” at the ceremony.

The fourth inductee is Mark James, from the United States. He wrote “Hooked on a Feeling” which was performed by his friend, B.J. Thomas and “Suspicious Minds” which was arguably Elvis’ last great hit. In our opinion, his greatest songwriting performance was “Always On My Mind” which was executed so well by Willie Nelson, that he often erroneously receives credit for writing it. Martina McBride was on hand to perform “Suspicious Minds”.

Jim Weatherly, also an American was also honored last night. Like everyone else selected this year, he wrote many hits but was known mostly for his work writing the majority of the songs for Gladys Knight and the Pips, including “Midnight Train to Georgia” which was performed by American Idol winner, Candice Glover.

The top award of the night, the Johnny Mercer Award was given to the famed songwriting duo of Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff who are widely given credit to the rise of “Philly Soul”. The Award is given only to past inductees of the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, which they entered in 1995. The duo has also been chosen for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. R&B singer Miguel performed “Me and Mrs. Jones”.

Imagine Dragons were on hand as their frontman received the Hal Davis Starlight Award, which is given annually to the young songwriter who has already made an impact on the music industry.

We would like to congratulate this year’s class, and we are very curious to see how this Hall of Fame grows in the future.

Chubby Checker wants in the RRHOF

Jun 13, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

Recently on the red carpet at the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Chubby Checker expressed his desire to enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, though did so in a way that was money driven as opposed to respect driven.

“I don’t want to get in there when I’m 85-years old. I’ll tell them to drop dead, so you better do it quick while I’m still smiling …If you put me in when I’m too old to make a living, then it’s no good for me to be in there… The Rolling Stones, they’re in there...The Beastie Boys are in there, they’re young. Hall and Oates were just in there and they’re still making money.”

Would it be worth that much more to Chubby Cheker’s wallet to be introduced as a “Rock and Roll Hall of Famer”? We aren’t really sure we know the answer to that one, but based on these comments, Checker seems to think that it would be substantial.

Let’s go to a question that we think we can answer; should Checker be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Currently, he has a pretty low rank on our list as he holds the rank of 333, and a percentage of 28.7 of your votes that he should be inducted. Checker does have a massive hit (“The Twist”), a Grammy Award for “Let’s Twist Again” and was arguably one of the top five musical acts from 1960 to 1962.

Checker’s biggest issue is not that he wasn’t successful, but that he was painted into a dance song artist, and all of his known tracks fall into that category. As someone perceived as one-dimensional, does he really have a Hall of Fame case? Considering that many of his peers are in, and he has never been nominated, it looks unlikely that he will ever “twist” his way into Cleveland.