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1999 Hall of Fame Voting

© Greg Spira

Last month, the Baseball Writers Association elected three no-brainers to the Hall of Fame: George Brett, Robin Yount, and Nolan Ryan. Brett, of course, was one of the great hitters of his generation, while Yount was a dominant all-around player at two key defensive positions, and Ryan a deservedly legendary, if a bit overrated, pitcher who did most of his best pitching in his forties. Meanwhile, though, the Hall did not vote in several players who clearly deserve entrance.

Gary Carter and Carlton Fisk are two of the 10 greatest catchers ever, without question. Carter was the dominant catcher in the National League for a decade. Unfortunately, most of those years were spent with the Montreal Expos, a team ignored by most of the American press except when pieces of the roof of Olympic Stadium fall down. While in Montreal, his combination of offense and defense made him one of the dominant players in the game. By the time he was traded to the Mets and got to occupy the national stage during the fabled 1986 postseason, his skills had already started to diminish significantly. But a decade as the best all around catcher in the game earns Carter the right to be enshrined in the Hall. Meanwhile, Carlton Fisk played much of his career in the spotlight, as a result of his legendary home run in the 6th game of the World Series. Fisk was not as strong defensively as Carter, but he still performed ably as catcher during a 20 year career in which he caught more games than any other player in baseball history. He remained a prodigious hitter through most of his career, and clearly deserves entrance into the Hall. It seems that the BBWAA is holding the catching position to higher standards than is reasonable. Catching is the toughest, most physically demanding position on the field. Catchers do not hit the career achievements of other everyday players, such as 3000 hits. Voters should adjust and vote in Fisk and Carter, two of the greats.

The other player on the ballot who clearly deserves entry into the Hall is far less heralded than Fisk or Carter. That player is pitcher Bert Blyleven. Blyleven toiled for bad teams in mostly hitters' parks for over two decades, rarely getting the recognition he deserved. Despite these obstacles, Blyleven still finished with a better career winning percentage than Nolan Ryan, who was easily elected. Blyleven never had the pizzazz or extras that Ryan had, but over the course of their careers Blyleven was the better pitcher, if you define better as more effective at preventing runs and thus giving your team an opportunity to win. Blyleven was also a much better pitcher than 1998 inductee Don Sutton, who, unlike Blyleven, had the good fortune to have great teams behind him for almost his entire career.

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