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© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
5,326 comments Add your comment
Lew
December 10th, 2012
5:58 pm
Yes Shaun – all of your hard work. Give us a freaking break.
TennBravesFan
December 10th, 2012
6:00 pm
I get extremely annoyed when people (like Ken Rosenthal) say that “statistically Murphy’s numbers just dont add up. Are these people really looking at his numbers?
_ The National League began in 1876, meaning there had been about 12 decades of NL baseball when Murphy retired. A strong case can be made that in one of those decades (the 80″S) Murphy was the NL’s best player. That means he was the NL’s best player for 1/12 of its existence when he retired. Thats what the numbers say Mr. Rosenthal, look at his son’s letter.
- Next when Murphy retired, roughly 14,500 people had played Major League Baseball. Murphy was 19th all-time in Homeruns. NINETEENTH!!!! out of 14,500
JasonInFL
December 10th, 2012
6:01 pm
Yikes. Sounding more like a LF platoon with each passing day, blog, article. Shouldn’t be surprising…it has been a couple of years since we have had a true platoon…must be driving some of the Braves’ brass crazy.
David O'Brien
December 10th, 2012
6:03 pm
If Dale Murphy make the HOF, can Tim Tebow be far behind? — Disgusta Fan
Yes, in the College Football Hall of Fame. He was one of the best college players ever.
But if you’re talking about the Pro Football Hall of Fame and somehow making a ridiculous comparison to Murphy and the baseball Hall of Fame, please explain. I’d like to hear the correlation.
Murphy was a two-time National League MVP. Tebow has done exactly what in the NFL?
Quack Quack
December 10th, 2012
6:06 pm
Thanks DOB for the all grouped together information. I hope Dale Murphy gains his well earned, and well deserved place in the HOF.
I think we will all be amazed with the performance of a “daily playing” Juan Francisco at 3rd base.
GO BRAVES!!!
David O'Brien
December 10th, 2012
6:07 pm
At least with PED’s the point is to be the best baseball player possible. That’s certainly not the case with alcohol or cocaine abuse or staying out all night with women who are not the player’s spouse. — Shaun
Quite possibly the worst excuse I’ve ever heard for turning one’s head and ignoring the obvious fact that performance-enhancing drugs do just that — enhance performance. They do so by allowing athletes to work out harder, recover quicker, build more strength and explosiveness. And by the way, if they didn’t work and athletes weren’t certain they do work, they wouldn’t risk their livelihood and reputation to take them.
abeeeewright
December 10th, 2012
6:07 pm
“Assuming he [Simmons] doesn’t start forgetting to take his glove to the field.”
Then, he’d just be a 5 bWARj player.
Murph
December 10th, 2012
6:10 pm
Shaun is a man of the cloth… it’s the only way to explain his ways.
Heath
December 10th, 2012
6:13 pm
I understand Murphy’s son pining for his day’s inclusion… Some of the folks on this blog toeing the line the way they are act as if they’re his son lol.
BravoRedLeg
December 10th, 2012
6:18 pm
hey front office, mark reynolds just signed a 1 yr deal, wake the f up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BravoRedLeg
December 10th, 2012
6:18 pm
hey front office, mark reynolds just signed a 1 yr deal, wake the f up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Warren Spahn
December 10th, 2012
6:22 pm
———-mike a. is wrong about protection– it does matter. Murphy missed horner. based on Rice’s numbers– murph should go in
Jeff R
December 10th, 2012
6:27 pm
Which is my long-winded way of making a point: If integrity and character are seriously taken into consideration when 10-year BBWAA members fill out their ballots for the National Baseball Hall of Fame – it says on the ballot I got in my mailbox last week: “Voting shall be based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportstmanship, character and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played” – then Dale Murphy belongs in the HOF.
In today’s era where integrity and character are lacking on all fronts (and not just in sports), Murphy does standout.
Thing about Murphy is he never really had eye-popping stats. He had very, very good stats over that six-year run, but he essentially flamed out at 31. Had he kept that run going into his mid-thirties, I think Murphy would have made the Hall on a vote eventually.
Heath
December 10th, 2012
6:27 pm
BravoRedLeg:
I take it the inactivity frustrates you?
old man
December 10th, 2012
6:27 pm
Mark Reynolds????
BA past three years .198, .221, .221.
What about Mark Reynolds? Am I missing something?
Shaun
December 10th, 2012
6:27 pm
DOB, it’s not about turning one’s head, whether PED’s work, etc. It’s about integrity and character. My point is that in some odd way PED’s are less horrible, when it comes to a player’s character and integrity, than staying out all night drinking, partying, using drugs, sleeping with all sorts of women, etc.
A player has to know when he’s hanging out at a bar with his buds, maybe doing a line of coke and a few women that that is not something a player with integrity, a player that should be giving his all on the ball field the next day, should be doing. In some ways I’m sure that’s no worse than PED’s but in some ways PED’s are less worse when it comes to integrity and character of a baseball player.
Now it’s up to the voters whether they want to be consistent and dig up every thing that a player did that might have made him less of a player and consider PED use or if they want to be inconsistent and ignore all those other things that may have affected performance and focus on PED use.
old man
December 10th, 2012
6:30 pm
Oh, Reynolds was a joke.
Sorry.
Murph
December 10th, 2012
6:33 pm
My point is that in some odd way PED’s are less horrible, when it comes to a player’s character and integrity, than staying out all night drinking, partying, using drugs, sleeping with all sorts of women, etc.
I know you’re trolling here, trying to get people riled up, so all I’ll say is this: One offense does harm to an individual player’s integrity, the other does harm to the integrity of the game. If you can’t see the difference and how PEDs are so horrible, then I don’t know what to tell you.
TennesseePaul
December 10th, 2012
6:34 pm
My point is that in some odd way PED’s are less horrible, when it comes to a player’s character and integrity, than staying out all night drinking, partying, using drugs, sleeping with all sorts of women, etc.
So you are quantifying the lack of integrity for a player and weighing that score against other players score. Just about as lame as it can be Payne. Worst. Argument. Ever.
Jeff R
December 10th, 2012
6:35 pm
My point is that in some odd way PED’s are less horrible, when it comes to a player’s character and integrity, than staying out all night drinking, partying, using drugs, sleeping with all sorts of women, etc.
Less horrible to the vices your comparing PEDs to? Perhaps, but 1) PEDs are drugs; 2) PEDs are drugs designed to give athletes a competitive advantage over and above what players can do through effort to enhance physical strength and skills. 3) PEDS in baseball are cheating, plain and simple. Dishonesty is dishonesty. I suppose you can argue the relativity of the dishonesty versus other actions, but I don’t consider a player juicing his body to be a minor offense. Put it this why: PED use may not be first degree murder, but it is manslaughter. A felony.
David O'Brien
December 10th, 2012
6:39 pm
My point is that in some odd way PED’s are less horrible, when it comes to a player’s character and integrity, than staying out all night drinking, partying, using drugs, sleeping with all sorts of women, etc. — Shaun
So in your view, cheating at the game itself is worse than cheating on one’s wife, in terms of Baseball Hall of Fame eligibility?
brian
December 10th, 2012
6:44 pm
Injuries slowed Murphy’s career and led to an abrupt fall off. If he didn’t have the knee injury,etc., he would be in theHall of Fame. Staying healthy and putting up the numbers is part of it. Sad thing is murph could easily have taken the dark road, used PEDs to extend his career, then retire. No one would have known back then.
Murphy did things the right way. If it costs him the HOF so be it. Murph was as good as anyone during his peak years, was/is a great guy, and always did things the right way. great legacy to have with or without the HOF
Not Disgusted
December 10th, 2012
6:44 pm
“Sabermetrics and math nerds ruined baseball”
@Billy Mays — they are trying for sure. The one good thing that has come out of the sabermetric stuff is the attention given to OBP. It never was paid attention too in the 60’s and 70’s.
Its not all useless but the arrogance of rendering RBI’s useless is not right. When you get an RBI, you helped your team complete the cycle in scoring a run. So OBP and RBI’s both have their place.
The WAR stat is ficticious and no one really knows how to calculate it. Most baseball fans do not want most of those stats — FO types have a need to know but I do not need to know someone’s WAR to determine if he is a decent ballplayer.
The game lived without WAR for a century plus and got by fine without it.
Wilt the Stilt
December 10th, 2012
6:47 pm
What’s wrong with “sleeping with all sorts of women”?
O.M.G.
December 10th, 2012
6:47 pm
I think Shaun has finally gone completely over the edge.
Not Disgusted
December 10th, 2012
6:47 pm
What about Mark Reynolds? Am I missing something?
Old Man — with that HR probability some teams will always be intrigued.
He actually hit .260 one year but SO over 200 times. Had a .350 OPB or close to it twice too.
Has not come close in BA since.
ChattTownBrian
December 10th, 2012
6:47 pm
Shaun is very arrogant. Just what I read from him and I get a clear sense of this.
brian
December 10th, 2012
6:49 pm
DOB- how would you rank our top 10 prospects? I agree with Teheran 1 and Graham 1B but would move bethancourt down
Not Disgusted
December 10th, 2012
6:52 pm
Had Murphy had three more good yrs he would be a lock. Two more Murph type of yrs he would be in close consideration.
Its a tough one — He was totally dominant for six yrs but like Mattingley, he falls short.
The lower carer BA was a product of him falling off so sharply after 1987. It was strange how he fell off so bad from 88 on.
Murph was an in shape clean living guy. I never got it. Maybe not enough around him and he began to have injuries once he got to that turf in Philly.
Tough breaks.
Not Disgusted
December 10th, 2012
6:55 pm
I agree Chat Town — but that is a characteristic of most of those sabermetric people
They want to shove something down your throat you may or may not want.
Like Keith Olbermann — who has been a guest on Clubhouse Confidential. He is a big sabermetric person. There are few as elitist and arrogant as him both in news and sports.
I don;t like Clubhouse Confidential — prefer the other MLB programs.
Shaun
December 10th, 2012
6:58 pm
DOB, staying out all night doing god knows what is in some ways worse, in regards to integrity and character, than PED use.
Brave New World
December 10th, 2012
7:07 pm
DOB: I completely agree with the counter argument for Murph. His stats alone will not get him the HOF, but his character should also be considered. Dale was everything that is good about baseball. If the players with ties to steroids are kept out despite HOF stats, then Murph must be let in. Thanks, DOB for a great article!
Mixxo
December 10th, 2012
7:09 pm
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m46/mixineer/smileys/snacks.gif
Gone Viral
December 10th, 2012
7:13 pm
“If Charlie Liebrandt had spent the last 20 years working for Make A Wish does that make him HoF worthy?”
He was invaluable to the Braves so let’s not be slandering him in hypotheticals.
cabravesfan
December 10th, 2012
7:15 pm
Still trying to figure out how a 20 something person staying out all night, even if they are drinking or picking up women that are not their significant other, could be considered worse than taking illegal drugs that undermine the integrity of an entire sport. PEDs cheat the player, the team, clean athletes that miss out because of the cheater, the fans, and the very game. Drinking and staying out late gives you a massive hangover and bloodshot eyes. Also, drinking, clubbing, and cheating on your wife, while not ideal, are not against the law.
Jeff R
December 10th, 2012
7:19 pm
DOB, staying out all night doing god knows what is in some ways worse, in regards to integrity and character, than PED use.
Even if I conceded your point, so what? PEDs use meets the threshold for cheating. It violates the rules of the game. It is an offense, and grave.
MikeInFl
December 10th, 2012
7:26 pm
When I drank and womanized in college, I was still allowed to attend. But when they caught me cheating, they threw me out. I tried to tell them that cheating wasn’t as bad as staying out late, but they didn’t buy it.
David O'Brien
December 10th, 2012
7:27 pm
cabravesfan: well said at 7:15 p.m.
playmeortrademe
December 10th, 2012
7:33 pm
Agree completely DOB, Murph deserves consideration, but the Hall of Fame has been turned into the “Hall of Stats” by most of the folks that cast the ballots. It’s a shame that one of the best and most popular players of a generation will be excluded because the numbers can’t stack up to those put up after expansion, steroids, and smaller parks. If only Murph could have gone to an AL team as a DH instead of playing on that knee-killing carpet in Philly and milked out a couple of more decent years.
JasonInFL
December 10th, 2012
7:33 pm
I think cheating on your wife is actually illegal in 18 states. But, your point remains the same CAB and is a good one.
George_George
December 10th, 2012
7:38 pm
Good evening all
DOB thank you for new blog. good story on DALE. DALE is a great guy and in his personal life has showen great charactor. However I must say no to HOF, to me the stat numbers are just not there. I may have higher standereds than others but I just don’t think a .265 hitter should be in HOF. I think there are to many players in HOF,some of my faverate players who were on the DODGERS in the 1950s are in the HALL and sadly I don’t think they should be. I think the HOF should be exclusively for the truely great players.
richbrave
December 10th, 2012
7:40 pm
“…….Half Empty
December 10th, 2012
4:45 pm
Baseball America once claimed that Bruce Chen was the #4 prospect in all baseball. and as the above list of #3 prospects shows, they, like most, are wrong more often than right………”
Heh! But like my old Uncle Ben………never in doubt.
ncgary
December 10th, 2012
7:40 pm
pete rrose may not be the best person, but he was one great baseball player
keyLargo
December 10th, 2012
7:44 pm
cabravesfan: well said at 7:15 p.m.
Yeah, the only thing she left out is that possession of any amount of cocaine is a felony.
abeeewright
December 10th, 2012
7:46 pm
” I believe he [Cunningham] needs to refine his small-ball skills in order to become a true candidate to be a leadoff man in the big leagues.”
Wish they would say “on base skills” or “out avoidance skills” in preference to “small ball skills.”
richbrave
December 10th, 2012
7:46 pm
“……Wilt the Stilt
December 10th, 2012
6:47 pm
What’s wrong with “sleeping with all sorts of women”?…….”
Communicable disease comes immediately to mind.
Ethnicity a distant second.
George_George
December 10th, 2012
7:48 pm
Shaun
December 10th, 2012
6:58 pm
DOB, staying out all night doing god knows what is in some ways worse, in regards to integrity and character, than PED use.
***********************************************
But Shaun doesn’t the use of PEDs make some of your stat numbers invalid?
cabravesfan
December 10th, 2012
7:50 pm
keyLargo-
In fact, I did not mention recreational drugs at all.
keyLargo
December 10th, 2012
7:59 pm
Still trying to figure out how a 20 something person staying out all night, even if they are drinking or picking up women that are not their significant other, could be considered worse than taking illegal drugs
Seems you did mention it.
You think having a young player arrested for possession of cocaine, booked into jail for a felony , bonded out with a court date set during the season wouldn’t disrupt a MLB team?
George_George
December 10th, 2012
8:01 pm
keyLargo is being picky now.
cabravesfan
December 10th, 2012
8:03 pm
keyLargo-
I have no idea what you are trying to say. My comments were referring specifically to PEDs vs. drinking and staying out, which seemed to be pretty clear.
George_George
December 10th, 2012
8:16 pm
You were clear cab, your point well taken.
John Murphy
December 10th, 2012
8:17 pm
I loved The Murph (no relation,) and I watched every game on TBS. Life long Braves fanatic, getting cable in 1982 was the hi-lite of my life.
The man did not hit in the clutch. I can’t prove that, I just know it. He hit a lot of late inning HRs when the game was over, but a pitcher could bear down in a crucial situation and burn him.
cabravesfan
December 10th, 2012
8:17 pm
Also, it probably would have helped if the entire sentence had been quoted, instead of just part:
Still trying to figure out how a 20 something person staying out all night, even if they are drinking or picking up women that are not their significant other, could be considered worse than taking illegal drugs that undermine the integrity of an entire sport
Shaun
December 10th, 2012
8:19 pm
So drinking and staying out all night, affecting a player’s performance, does nothing to the game’s integrity and says nothing of the player’s character?
And this points out another problem. Define integrity and character. Who gets to be the integrity and character police, and determine whether this drug matters but that drug doesn’t, and this action matters but that one doesn’t? Greenies don’t matter much but PED matter more.
cabravesfan
December 10th, 2012
8:26 pm
drinking and partying do not, alone, mean someone has questionable character. Neither are designed to cheat the game.
Delbert D.
December 10th, 2012
8:27 pm
I was Phillies fan and season ticket holder (13-game package) in the late ’70s before I moved back to Atlanta. The local press at that time thought more of Garry Maddox as the top centerfielder. He won the Gold Glove all 5 years I lived there. I think a big part of the situation is that the Braves were not contenders every year when Murphy played. Those were the Losersville days. I had a shopkeeper laugh at me and said the “Losersville” thing when I was on a trip in LA in the ’80s.
cabravesfan
December 10th, 2012
8:29 pm
Anyways, I don’t want to spend the rest of my evening discussing this- I know everyone has their own feelings and we could spend days talking about it, which is great and I 100% respect anyone’s right to feel differently than I do. However, this is where I end my part of the current conversation. Y’all have a great evening!
Heath
December 10th, 2012
8:29 pm
cab:
Everyone always picks out the parts that substantiate their own point of view…
“…drinking, clubbing, and cheating on your wife, while not ideal, are not against the law.” —- I’d like to see VJ use that one on ya
cabravesfan
December 10th, 2012
8:31 pm
Heath-
I probably drink more than VJ does, neither of us are club people (most of the good ones are WAY too far away), and we are not married, so…
cabravesfan
December 10th, 2012
8:33 pm
Not to mention that I am significantly younger than he is, so if anyone is going to be cheating, it’s most likely not going to be him
Heath
December 10th, 2012
8:34 pm
cab:
All in good fun, dear.
brian
December 10th, 2012
8:35 pm
With PEDs you are cheating the game of baseball. With adultery, drinking, and other illicit drug use you are cheating yourself
Delbert D.
December 10th, 2012
8:35 pm
Of course, Murphy wasn’t playing CF when I was in Philly.
braveslifer
December 10th, 2012
8:36 pm
Drinking and staying out all night would most likely hurt on-field performance. PEDs are intended to help performance. Someone who cheats on their wife should not be in the Hall of Fame of Husbands just like someone who cheats at their sport should not be in the Hall of Fame of their sport. The fact that a significant part of baseball history is tainted by an asterisk is shameful and people that contributed to that should not be given the greatest honor the sport has to offer. Madoff was a pretty successful hedge fund manager until everyone found out he cheated and his investments were a scam. Now he is forever defamed. Why does Bonds get a pass and is still remembered as a titan?
Braveone
December 10th, 2012
8:37 pm
From the previous blog which had 4,816 comments, Brava led the way with 464 posts. There were 267 different poster names. Here are the Top 25:
Rank Poster Frequency
1 Brava 464
2 TheOnlyBravesFan 289
3 Efrim 285
4 nolie 203
5 JasonInFL 175
6 VaBravesFan 155
7 Lew 151
8 ncscoots 151
9 old man 136
10 richbrave 93
11 Murph 87
12 Trader Jack 70
13 Venice Jim 67
14 Jeff R 66
15 DS1 64
16 TennesseePaul 64
17 Mark 63
18 Ward 63
19 Zing 59
20 Tumbledown 55
21 unbelievable 55
22 Ray 52
23 Disgusted 50
24 BravePack(FreeFan) 46
25 raleighbravefan 45
Brava
December 10th, 2012
8:38 pm
Domination!
Mixxo
December 10th, 2012
8:43 pm
“With PEDs you are cheating the game of baseball. With adultery, drinking, and other illicit drug use you are cheating yourself”
Right on brah!
Mixxo
December 10th, 2012
8:44 pm
Domination! – Brava
Not sure I’m comfortable with that.
J/K
nolie
December 10th, 2012
8:47 pm
It was strange how he fell off so bad from 88 on…Not isgusted
Murph had a long mechanical swing with some holes in it. While he had good bat speed it was workable, as his speed slowed it became less so.
When he was in the minors I remember that a lot of scouts thought that he would be kinda like Bethancourt is today, a very good defensive catcher who might not hit well enough in the bigs.
The yips dealt a deathblow to his catching career, but he surprised a lot of folks with the ability to make his swing work in the bigs for a number of years
BravesFanSince80s
December 10th, 2012
8:51 pm
Dale Murphy was easily, EASILY, in the top 5 best players in all of baseball for the main decade of his career (1980’s). The NUMBERS clearly show this. That in comparison with the exemplary teammate, ambassador of the game, humanitarian, and tremendous family man he’s proven himself to be, time and time again, SHOULD be as far as this discussion goes. He should have been voted in years ago. Any “Braves Fan” who says otherwise can take a long drive off a short cliff. His knee gave out and shortened his career. More than a few have been voted in despite an injury cutting their career short. Murph ACTUALLY toughed it out too long. Had he not suffered through years of pain in that knee and just hung ‘em up when he knew he could no longer perform at a high level, he’d automatically fall into the Sandy Koufax/Kirby Puckett group. Yet the writers continue to penalize someone who CLEARLY proved themselves of HOF caliber when his BODY was healthy. Folks, Clemente would have tailed off badly with a bumb wheel too…
hit a single
December 10th, 2012
8:53 pm
Dale Murphy should be in the Hall of Fame. Yes it is time that pro sports rewards character and integrity. But even with his great character and itegrity his skills should get him in. Yes he was a two time MVP and you don’t see many of those. He played on some really bad teams and many pitched around him but he never complained or tried to get traded or go the free agent route. I remember games where he didn’t see 3 decent pitches in a game. They were either in the dirt or 9 inches outside. So don’t give me that lifetime batting avg. crap. If he have had somebody hit behind him (if Horner could have stayed healthy) his average would have been higher. Bottom line is that true baseball people feel he should be there, but you have guys that never played the game doing alot of the voting. Until he gets in I have no desire to attend the Hall of Fame. He stood for the good of the game, played it the way it should have been played and some are too blind to see it. You will always be a Hall of Famer to me Dale Murphy.
nolie
December 10th, 2012
8:55 pm
he obviously did not clearly prove any such thing to voters who do not have the emotional ties to him that Atlanta fans do or he would have done much better in the voting than he has.
hit a single
December 10th, 2012
8:59 pm
Nolie – you hit the nail on the head. They don’t know enough about Dale Murphy which makes many of them not qualified to vote.
BravesFanSince80s
December 10th, 2012
9:03 pm
good point, hit
brian
December 10th, 2012
9:05 pm
Andruw jones is also not HOF material no matter what his final totals are. He has had some horrific seasons and has been a platoon player for way too long to be HOF
brian
December 10th, 2012
9:09 pm
HOF players are supposed to transcend their city and transcend the sport. Thus the 75%
nolie
December 10th, 2012
9:09 pm
they are the same ones who voted for all the other HoFers, why would they know more about them than about Murph.
Its not like there is some conspiracy to vote against him, most all like him and are very familiar with his behavior both on and off the field.
The truth is that 80+ % look at his production and find it falls short.
We may not agree with that because of our emotional ties to him, but that is how non-Braves fans see him
Perhaps the veterans panel will enshrine him someday
nolie
December 10th, 2012
9:10 pm
I agree about Andruw brian. Too many poor seasons at the end of his career.
Like Murph he will probably be judged as not being great long enough
brian_d
December 10th, 2012
9:13 pm
Great blog Dave. As usual. I appreciate all of you. Murph is in my Hall of Fame. It’s funny but real baseball fans, like me have our own HOFs. Guys we watch and follow. Baseball is so different from other sports.
BravesFanSince80s
December 10th, 2012
9:15 pm
some pretty big differences between Andruw and Murph brian. Murph spent the bulk of his career being the only show in town whereas Andruw played with the likes of Chipper, Galarraga, etc. who would help anyone’s numbers in their prime years. Andruw became a one-dimensional home run hitter and fell off a cliff once the league stopped throwing him ANYTHING he could hit over the fence. Not to mention the fact Andruw can’t point to a knee brace sticking out under his uniform pants either…
Bob the Blogger
December 10th, 2012
9:16 pm
Just over half of the players in the HOF were elected by the writers; the rest were voted in by the veterans committee. Murphy won’t go in by the vote of the writers, but eventually the veterans committee will have their opportunity.
I saw Murphy last year at a Charlotte Knights (AAA) game where he threw out the first pitch. My cousin and I were sitting right behind home plate on the first row, and Murphy spotted us with our Braves hats on. He gave us a big smile and returned my tomahawk chop. It made my day, for sure.
brian_d
December 10th, 2012
9:18 pm
How much will Youkilis command? Team guy with personality and can hit with power. He could be a decent right hander with a little pop until the next one comes along at third. I think he could do ok in Atlanta. You never know how he would react away from Boston or Chicago.
Mark
December 10th, 2012
9:20 pm
Loved Dale Murphy. He seems to be a great man which is much more important than the HOF.
I used to say he should not be a HOF because I just don’t think he was good enough long enough. He was one of the best for a few short years but do you guys remember JR Richards? He was as unhittable for a time as anyone has ever been but not for long enough. Unfortunate he had the stroke and wasn’t dominant long enough.
All that said, it seems the standards for getting in have gotten rather slack over the years. Some of the most recent inductees shouldn’t be in IMO. The HOF should be for the very best players. Some of the guys that get in now would never be considered for anyones all-time team and to me they should be in those conversations to be considered for the HOF.
Again, loved Murph though. He was a credit to the game and his family!
Nowhere man
December 10th, 2012
9:21 pm
If anyone wants to listen to the soundtrack of the Hobbit you can catch on AOL music. It will probably be up for about a week.
brian_d
December 10th, 2012
9:25 pm
In my opinion, Bonds, McGwire, Clemens, et al don’t belong in the Hall of Fame. Murph did it the right way. So does murph. I don’t see them getting in any time soon, if ever.
Efrim
December 10th, 2012
9:28 pm
I know the Pats have the best offense in the NFL, but the Texans defense seems slightly overrated to me.
brian_d
December 10th, 2012
9:28 pm
Nolie, there’s a lot to be said for where and when he played I think most certainly he would be in if he played elsewhere. I am also a Broncos fan and there are some that belong in the Hall of Fame that aren’t because they played in Denver.
AussieBrave
December 10th, 2012
9:31 pm
Shaun: “And this points out another problem. Define integrity and character. Who gets to be the integrity and character police, and determine whether this drug matters but that drug doesn’t, and this action matters but that one doesn’t? Greenies don’t matter much but PED matter more.”
I assume since it is not possible to determine one’s integrity and character with mathematics you may have problems with the concept. Most people, however, do not need a rule book or an equation to get a sense of someone’s character. As a very proud “anti-intellectual”, who still believes that RBIs and AVG have merit, and that there is such a thing as a “clutch” hitter, I do not need a load of numbers to tell me who is a great player. I use my eyes, my “feel” for the game, and that gut feeling I get when a player comes up to the plate or out of the bullpen. That’s what’s beautiful about baseball, sport in general actually, not the numbers. And as for integrity – like the old adage goes, there may be no definition for it, but we all know it when we see it.
Efrim
December 10th, 2012
9:31 pm
J.J. Watt(DPOY) and a bunch of no names now that Mario Williams is a Bill and Brian Cushing is out for the season. Jon Joseph can play CB, but the rest of the defense is suspect from a personnel standpoint.
TheOnlyBravesFan
December 10th, 2012
9:36 pm
I can understand why Murphy should be out of the Hall… that’s my opinion as well (based entirely on his stats, he’s before my time)… but he’s real close to being in. However, if cheaters like Bonds, McGwire, Arod, Clemens, etc. can all get it, then why not let Murphy in too? Not as if the Hall would mean much anymore…
MikeInFl
December 10th, 2012
9:37 pm
How much will Youkilis command?
I thought about him early on, but he’s reportedly been offered $12 mil for one year by the Yankees, and I think 18/2 by Cleveland. A one-year deal for about $8 might make sense for the Braves, but I don’t think we can compete for him at that price.
nolie
December 10th, 2012
9:37 pm
he played in the largest market in America at the time prolly, TBS blanketed the entire country with Braves games. I don’t think you can ascribe his plight to lack of public recognition. Perhaps the cachet of a better team would have upped his totals some, I question that it would have raised it 5 times, but perhaps
cabravesfan
December 10th, 2012
9:37 pm
J.J. Watt(DPOY)…
Gonna have some competition from the kid in San Francisco
TheOnlyBravesFan
December 10th, 2012
9:39 pm
Texans defense seems slightly overrated to me.
Been overrated all year… loss of Cushing hurt though
Sal
December 10th, 2012
9:43 pm
Bob Horner is the best- I ever seen!
TheOnlyBravesFan
December 10th, 2012
9:43 pm
I wish the Falcons could have just 1 good pass rusher… Abe’s old, Biermann is undersized, and Nolan has him play all over the place. Just 1 is all I ask…. the secondary is doing okay, we just need a pass rush…
Surely the 49′ers can spare 1 defensive end?
Mark
December 10th, 2012
9:44 pm
TOBF
If they let those guys you mentioned get in then the whole thing will be tainted IMO. I’ve never been able to go to the Hall but its on my bucket list but if those guys get in it’ll sure dampen it for me.
cabravesfan
December 10th, 2012
9:45 pm
The Niners seem pretty happy with their defensive ends. And the rest of their defense…
nolie
December 10th, 2012
9:48 pm
there are already dozens of cheaters in the Hall. They used speed, if there had been PEDs most would likely have used them. There is no moral difference between cheating based on the efficiency of the way you cheat.