Veterans Committee's HOF slate: is Andruw Jones the new Dick Allen?

All those balls Edmonds and Hunter dove for, resulting in numerous highlight-reel plays and significant injuries, were balls Jones got such a good jump on he got under them so he didn't have to injure himself to make the play. Made it look routine. Call him fat all you want.

 

Can't prove it, but very possible Jones dove ... more, believe it or not. He made a career out of those sinking line drives behind second base that he slid headfirst to grab. But you're right -- it was routine.

 

Yes, you're absolutely right. It just seems to me like he didn't try as many horizontal-body flails going to his sides or diving backward. In other words, limb-contortion dives. His forward dive on those sinking liners was a thing of beauty.

 

Allen and Murray each played for five different ML teams. Allen played 1,749 ML games, and 1,070 (61%) were for the Phillies.

Chuck Tanner, who managed Allen with the White Sox, loves him. In fact, he and Allen drove to Cooperstown together for Gossage's HOF induction.

 

When it comes to the Veterans Committee, I've always wondered why the continue to put up the same people almost every time when they have voted them down time and time again. I understand Kaat getting a chance because he just came off the writers ballot, but how many times does someone like Hodges have to go through the process and continually get turned down? At what point do you just say enough is enough on a guy.

 

Never. Which is why I'm keeping the candle burning for Bob Skube.

 

I was also interested to see the 11 names that didn't make the final 10: Ken Boyer, Bert Campaneris, Rocky Colavito, Mike Cuellar, Steve Garvey, Ted Kluszewski, Mickey Lolich, Roger Maris, Lee May, Minnie Minoso, Thurman Munson.

You can't tell me some of the guys don't deserve a chance at the vote over Maury Wills?

 

I've had this argument so many times it's disgusting, but I'm glad to see buck putting it better than I ever could: Andruw Jones was the best defensive CF I ever saw.

And don't give me anything about Torii Hunter. Hunter is good. Jones was amazing.

 

The thing all of those guys have in common is they're not HoFers. Hall Of Really Good? Sure.

 

A PS on Allen. He hit the LONGEST home runs of any player I've ever seen. I personally saw him hit 500 footers at old Connie Mack Stadium, Fenway Park, and the Oakland Coliseum.
They joke about hitting the Mass Pike at Fenway. Allen did it, with a couple of big bounces, sure, but he went past the parking garage across the street on the fly.

 

Another vote for Andruw. Not only could he track down virtually anything on the field, the guy also made going over the fence to steal away home runs a routine occurrence.

And a good quip about Dick Allen. When Gene Mauch was asked if the high fastball was Dick's weakness, Mauch responded, "No. The fast highball."

 

Still, Murray played 1,884 of his 3,026 MLB games with Baltimore -- more games with the O's than Allen in his entire career across those five teams. And his first stint with Philadelphia was hampered by the boobirds and the racists. I was just trying to compare two guys who might not have been the most pleasant for voters (writers) to deal with and how they might have ended up perceived so differently. And my hunch is, it's easier for the one-team or two-team guys to get Hall of Fame love than the guys who played a bunch of places. Even though I know that's a chicken-or-egg deal.

And regarding Michael Gee's post on Allen's prodigious blasts, didn't he also hit two inside-the-park home runs in a single game up in Minnesota? Ha, couldn't even get them out of the park!