Posted by rjk2781 on 8/29/2017 5:42:00 PM (view original):
Cool idea for a league. A couple things:
Joe Torre should absolutely be blacklisted as he was a heck of a player. Very much deserving of the hall of fame based on being a player alone, even if you take our his managerial accomplishments. 9 time all-star, MVP, batting title, gold glover.
Also, by your criteria, Vladimir Guerrero and Edgar Martinez should be on the list as well, as their numbers are more than deserving, especially since Sheffield is on the list.
Something like this definitely lends itself to debates about who should and should not be on the list. I definitely don't claim to have done a perfect job (I'm not sure it is possible to do so since people have differing opinions that have merit).
In the case of Torre, he retired in 1977 and was not elected to the Hall until 2014. The Hall write up of him lists his primary position as Manager. He certainly had an excellent career, but it would have taken election by the Old Timers committee for him to enter as a player and it hadn't happened by the time he was elected as a manager.
Edgar retired in 2004 and seems to have been left out thus far primarily due to some voters downgrading him for being a DH much of the time. Vlady certainly could have been on the blacklist, but it kind of is a moot point for both him and Edgar since between the two of them they played one season on a franchise that is eligible in this league (Vlad played his final season for the Orioles, and that isn't likely to be selected).
Also, the main idea is to get guys in the league who maybe don't get selected as much for franchise leagues and not see the usual suspects everywhere (Ruth, Hornsby, Koufax, Joss, Lajoie, etc.). Even though not perfect, it hopefully will lend itself to some variety.
9/19/2017 11:32 AM (edited)