Trammell, Morris denied Hall again

January 8th, 2008 · No Comments

The Hall of Fame voting results were announced, with former Tiger greats Alan Trammell and Jack Morris again denied entry. Not that I’m advocating either.

Trammell, to me, is a borderline case. It would be great if he did make it, because he hit well, he fielded well, and he signed a baseball card for your blogger in the late 80s. That last point is especially valid, I feel. But with so much argument both ways, among the statistically minded as well as statistically clueless, I can see how it’s an uphill battle. On the otherhand, I used the words “uphill” and kind of think he should gain some more momentum than he did, but instead, the Baseball Writers of America gave him just 18.2% approval. Certainly, Tram was more deserving of votes than more “famous” but less statistically accomplished Jack Morris, who got 42.9 percent.

I’ve posited in the past I think it really is a Hall of Fame not a hall of statistically excellent players. That’s the only figuring I can come up with for how the voting goes. And Morris did do a lot of winning and was the ace of some good teams. So I think history is kinder to him than Trammell, who failed to really hit any of the benchmarks voters tend to use (3000 hits, 300 wins, etc.)

I don’t know. I don’t have much faith in the voting or the hall myself. But I tend to be a guy who doesn’t see the need for official recognitions or awards either. Whether they be movie, music, TV or sports, awards just never seem to jive with what people see as reality. It’s a bunch of hooey when you get right down to it.

Other opinions:

The Wayne Fontes Experience

I forgot to mention Goose Gossage got in; nobody else did.

Should have done more blog research before posting. Baseball Musings points to Baseball Crank, which has a trend analysis. So we can see Trammell’s 18.2 percent is in fact the high water mark, a year after he received 13.4 percent (and yet, two years after 17.7). Translation: These voters are a confused bunch but it doesn’t seem like Trammell will ever bust through with that group.

Source: Trammell, Morris denied Hall again