Congratulations are in order for Goose Gossage. Despite being a Yankee, I enjoyed watching Gossage pitch. To me, Gossage was the start of the way relief pitching changed in baseball (for good or for bad). Before the Goose came to New York (when he was still pitching in Pittsburgh and Chicago), the Yankees premier reliever was Sparky Lyle. Lyle was good but he is what I think of in terms of the old school relievers; someone who could give you three innings if necessary and came in when a starter was in trouble. Gossage seemed to come in not only when the starter was in trouble but when the team had a lead as well and he was more of a one inning (possibly two inning) pitcher. Still he was dominant and deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.
What bothers me is not who made it into the hall of fame but rather who did not. Both Jim Rice and Dave Parker were on the ballot. Both were feared hitters. Both were considered yardsticks against whom other players would compare themselves. Both deserve to be in the Hall.
There is another person who I believe should be there but probably will not get in, that is Cincinnati Red’s shortstop Dave Concepcion. Concepcion had good numbers, although never great numbers. Still, during the time he played, he was the shortstop all others were compared against. When it comes to shortstops of the 1960’2 and 1970’s, they were not the offensive type hitters they are today. They need to be viewed in the context of what they meant to the team, what their numbers were in the proper context, how they played defensively and if they were the players others were compared against. If we use that standard than Concepcion is a lock.
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2 comments:
I'm with you on Jim Rice and Dave Parker. Man, I remember sitting at Shea and just being in awe of Parker as he'd stride to the plate. He was like a giant, and his swings were maybe the closest I've ever seen to the mythical "Casey at the Bat". People today talk about Manny and Big Papi but I'll take Stargell and Parker any day.
As I said in an earlier comment, Parker and Rice can't be defined by just their numbers, but by the fact that they were at the top of the "feared" list for so long. Which brings me to Jack Clark, who popped into my head when I was thinking of monster hitters and whether they are HOF worthy. For a several year period he was certainly as good as it got, except to us Mets fans who would cringe just to see him step into the on deck circle, but did he have the hall longevity required? Personally, I don't think so. Others may disagree. That's one to ponder on these cold winter nights as we wait for Spring Training
Texmet out
Dave Concepcion? Let's compare him to Buddy Harrelson and see how close they were offensively. Both had great range defensively. Put Buddy on the Big Red Machine and they don't miss a beat.
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