Back to the original question and jumping in a bit late; I think the qualifications for getting into the hall of fame have been far too relaxed. Thre are too many people in the hall for reasons other than their sports prowess. When I think of the hall of fame, I think of players who were "great" not just "good". There are many good players who've played the game, and a few dozen who were great. I think the hall has lost its allure and meaning because of all of the "good" players who've been elected.
Of course when you go down that road, a player that I thought was GREAT might only be GOOD in your mind, so the whole thing is opinion anyways.
Look at all the players that cheat and lie and bad character guys in the Hall. The Hall is filled with them.
Pete Rose should be in the Hall, in the Baseball Wing, not the Managerial Wing, but because of what he did as a manager he will never be in ....
18 years now, come on ....
No I did not want to turn this into a who's in and who's not thread.
As for Trammel, Yes I think he should have gone in as well, but he was a victim of who he came up with and someones stupid idea (writers) that if you were not THE best player of your era you don't belong in.
He played with Cal Ripken and Ozzie Smith.
Cal was the top and Tram got left off MANY all star teams BECAUSE of the God Cal, there were time when the all star team only carried 1 SS when Tram was playing, because of Cal.
Ozzie was below ave offensively and great defensively.
Tran was ave offensively (over his entire career) and above ave Defensivly.
Cal was above ave Offensively, because he was the first SS to start hitting HR's, that made him great in many minds .....
Personally I hate HR's, I would rather see a triple than a HR.
I would but Cal and Tram on the same level defensivley.
After looking at the career stats of the two defensively, they are nearly the same .
Offensivley Cal was a power hitter, Tram was not and Cal played in a substanial number of more games that Tran did.
I would put Tram in the Hall definatly after comparing the two players, sadly Tram will not make it ....
Cal
The Official Site of Major League Baseball: Stats: Historical Player Stats
Tram
The Official Site of Major League Baseball: Stats: Individual Player Stats
Jimbo