Baseball Hall of Fame, Class of '08

I see Lefty Gomez. Is anyone else a Hall of Famer?

 

Nope.

 

He's the only one.

Wes Ferrell's brother, Rick, is in the Hall of Fame, though.

Bobo Newsom holds the distinction of being the only pitcher with 200 career wins ... and a winning percentage under .500. Charlie Hough had exactly 216 wins and 216 losses, so he's close.

 

And he is without a doubt the worst player in the Hall of Fame

 

1A

 

Rick Farrell makes Jason Varitek look like Johnny fucking Bench.

 

Beat me to it, Spnited, although Ray Schalk probably deserves some votes as well.

 

Bad, but not even the worst catcher. Ray Schalk had a .253 average and played much of his career in the 1920s, which was somewhat of an offensive era. His big claim to fame seemed to be he was on the 1919 White Sox and didn't throw the World Series. He was supposed to be a good defensive catcher, but using that scale Steve Yeager should be in the Hall of Fame.

 

Thank you for proving my point, Gold.

The only reason Ray Schalk has a plaque in Cooperstown and not his home town is because he didn't throw the 1919 Series. Period. End of Discussion. There is no other compelling, rational reason known in the annals of baseball, logic or any other measuring stick you care to use.

Bill James had this interesting comparison between Schalk and Wally Schang, one of his contemporaries, who played for the Red Sox and A's. Schang's numbers are superior nearly across the board and he's on the outside looking in because he had the misfortune to not be Sir Galahad amid a bunch of rogues.

 

Not that I think Ray Schalk should be in the Hall of Fame, but he played more games before 1920 than after ('25 was really his last full season in the majors, and he missed most of '24).

Anyway, I found this interesting:
- Schalk caught four no-hitters (one a perfect game). According to baseball-reference.com's bullpen wiki, "Up until his death, Schalk would send congratulations to every no-hit catcher."
- Schalk holds the record for DPs by a catcher (226). Three times he was a part of 20 or more DPs in a season.