Could Griffey be first unanimous vote getter?

[ma1926]

Without much doubt Griffey would've been in the rare 700 home-run club had the last half of his career been filled with unfortunate injuries. He won 10 gold-glove and without injury would've probably had a .290 or higher batting average to finish his career.

With that being said, does he deserve to be a unanymous vote getter for the hall of fame? I honestly believe he deserves it because his numbers speak for themselves. It isn't fair to assume he took any performance enhancers since his name was never linked to them at any point, so just going by his numbers I believe he deserves it. He stood alone in his prime before McGuire and Sosa, followed by Bonds and A-rod decided that they wanted to be the best hitters through performance enhancing. I realize Sosa probably didn't get accused of taking them, but his massive increase in size and sudden outburst of power after several barely average years makes it somewhat obvious that he was using.

 

[The Fallen Angel]

i think he really could be, he definitly deserves it

 

[FlockOfSeagulls]

I don`t believe it will ever happen . There is an unwritten rule by the sportswriters that they only want the greatest of the greats to even have 90 % of the votes.

Plus there is a voter in Baltimore or close to there that is on record saying he won`t vote for any of the guys from the '' steroid- era ''

 

[ma1926]

I don`t believe it will ever happen . There is an unwritten rule by the sportswriters that they only want the greatest of the greats to even have 90 % of the votes.

Plus there is a voter in Baltimore or close to there that is on record saying he won`t vote for any of the guys from the '' steroid- era ''

That writer is ignorant then. Griffey declined with age like a normal athlete does. The only players that were hitting 50 home-runs in their 30's were McGuire, Sosa, and Bonds, and I think we all know the reason for that.

 

[Cy/MiG]

He probably should be and it would be nice if he was, but he won't be.

Here's why:

1. There will always be some jackass voter who says 'nay' (usually an ignorant middle aged man or a crotchety old curmudgeon of a man).
2. The second 1/2 of his career was an abortion. When he wasn't injured his age began to show and he was just an average at best player.
3. He didn't win or go to any World Series', which hurts his cause.
4. He played for franchises that are not revered (the M's and Reds are not exactly the Yanks, Sox or Dodgers).

Now, despite those reasons, I hope he does get the unanimous vote. Because anybody who watched Jr. from 1989-2000 knows that he was the best in the game and he deserves respect.

 

[ma1926]

He probably should be and it would be nice if he was, but he won't be.

Here's why:

1. There will always be some jackass voter who says 'nay' (usually an ignorant middle aged man or a crotchety old curmudgeon of a man).
2. The second 1/2 of his career was an abortion. When he wasn't injured his age began to show and he was just an average at best player.
3. He didn't win or go to any World Series', which hurts his cause.
4. He played for franchises that are not revered (the M's and Reds are not exactly the Yanks, Sox or Dodgers).

Now, despite those reasons, I hope he does get the unanimous vote. Because anybody who watched Jr. from 1989-2000 knows that he was the best in the game and he deserves respect.

I agree, but winning a championship should literally have nothing to do with the caliber player he was. Championships should be more focused on in sports like football with a QB or in basketball with the big time superstar players that teams are built around. Also, no player who is playing the game the right way (not juicing) would continue to be strong in their 30's, and all the greats from the past declined a great deal in their second half of their careers. Only the Bonds' and McGwires and Clemens' of the world hit and pitched like 20 somethings while over 35 years old.

I actually just reemed out some sports writer on his web page for having the audacity on the day that Griffey retried for crying out loud, to write a story saying we shouldn't exclude him from the steroid talk. He made all these bullshit accusations claiming Griffey fit the prototype of a steroid user with the injuries and big numbers. That is just ridiculous to accuse him of not being clean when his name has never been mentioned in the steroid scandal. He got injured a lot because he played center field and spent the early part of his career diving and crashing into walls. Believe it or not, your body can only take so much before it can't take anymore, and after 10 years or so of playing the game balls to the wall your body begins to break down.

 

[obama666]

He won't be but in his favor the majority of sportswriters exclude him from the steroid list, but who really knows?

 

[ma1926]

He won't be but in his favor the majority of sportswriters exclude him from the steroid list, but who really knows?

Well I agree that his numbers could get easily mixed up in the steroid scandal but I think people tend to forget two things:

1. His swing was literally "perfect" in his prime. He's not exactly a small guy to begin with and he was never "jacked" so I credit his swing for much of his success.

2. He played in a dome for the first part of his career. The ball carries much better inside a dome than outside in Cincinattie in the months of April and May.

 

[Cy/MiG]

Also, no player who is playing the game the right way (not juicing) would continue to be strong in their 30's, and all the greats from the past declined a great deal in their second half of their careers. Only the Bonds' and McGwires and Clemens' of the world hit and pitched like 20 somethings while over 35 years old.

Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Rickey Henderson, Cal Ripken Jr., Edgar Martinez, Harold Baines, Eddie Murray, Julio Franco, Omar Visquel...

Would disagree.

But I do get your point about the obvious roiders like Sosa and Rocket playing @ a questionable peak levels so late in their careers (and both post injury and out of nowhere).

Well I agree that his numbers could get easily mixed up in the steroid scandal but I think people tend to forget two things:

1. His swing was literally "perfect" in his prime. He's not exactly a small guy to begin with and he was never "jacked" so I credit his swing for much of his success.

2. He played in a dome for the first part of his career. The ball carries much better inside a dome than outside in Cincinattie in the months of April and May.

Or @ SafeCo... which is 1/2 the reason why he wanted out of Seattle... *sigh*

Also, on the topic of Jr. Roiding, I'm with you there: no way.

He was notorious for not working out and conditioning, that's why he broke down into his 30's (and also because of his 'crash' style of play, which you previously mentioned).

Jr. relied on his natural talent and didn't have the discipline to become a 'workout warrior' to extend his career ala Rickey Henderson or other greats.

 

[ma1926]

Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Rickey Henderson, Cal Ripken Jr., Edgar Martinez, Harold Baines, Eddie Murray, Julio Franco, Omar Visquel...

Would disagree.

But I do get your point about the obvious roiders like Sosa and Rocket playing @ a questionable peak levels so late in their careers (and both post injury and out of nowhere).



Or @ SafeCo... which is 1/2 the reason why he wanted out of Seattle... *sigh*

Also, on the topic of Jr. Roiding, I'm with you there: no way.

He was notorious for not working out and conditioning, that's why he broke down into his 30's (and also because of his 'crash' style of play, which you previously mentioned).

Jr. relied on his natural talent and didn't have the discipline to become a 'workout warrior' to extend his career ala Rickey Henderson or other greats.

I am glad you are on my side on the juicing thing, but even the "Iron Man" wasn't putting up stellar numbers in his mid to late 30's, and Visquel was never a superstar hitter. My point was that no player is hitting like 40 plus homers per season into their mid or late 30's without juicing, unless they are a freak of nature. Griffey was known for the long ball and he declined when a power hitter would normally start declining.

 

[ticklingfeet4fu]

Without much doubt Griffey would've been in the rare 700 home-run club had the last half of his career been filled with unfortunate injuries. He won 10 gold-glove and without injury would've probably had a .290 or higher batting average to finish his career.

With that being said, does he deserve to be a unanymous vote getter for the hall of fame? I honestly believe he deserves it because his numbers speak for themselves. It isn't fair to assume he took any performance enhancers since his name was never linked to them at any point, so just going by his numbers I believe he deserves it. He stood alone in his prime before McGuire and Sosa, followed by Bonds and A-rod decided that they wanted to be the best hitters through performance enhancing. I realize Sosa probably didn't get accused of taking them, but his massive increase in size and sudden outburst of power after several barely average years makes it somewhat obvious that he was using.

Babe Ruth had better numbers and he didn't get 100% of the votes. That being said, I happen to agree with you that if there is someone deserving of 100% of the votes...Ken Griffey Jr is that player.

 

[ma1926]

Babe Ruth had better numbers and he didn't get 100% of the votes. That being said, I happen to agree with you that if there is someone deserving of 100% of the votes...Ken Griffey Jr is that player.

It makes literally no sense what-so-ever how some moron of Biblical proportions could not vote for Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Lou Gherig and Ted Williams. How they were not 100% selections makes me wonder how legit the people are that vote for these things. I guess if they didn't get 100% than Griffey has no chance to either, but if anyone from the modern era deserves close to 100% it is him.

I had it out with a sports writer for putting out an article literally the day after he announced retirement, exclaiming that we can not flat out call him a "clean" player. The guy went on to compare him to the characteristics of a steroid abuser and tried to basically ruin a moment in baseball where a Great player was walking away from the game. I hate people like that.

 

[storm7400]

No one will get an unanimous vote into Hall and there are far too many examples that should have been to list. Every player that does get in has something about his career that someone will debate or use as an excuse for not voting.

All that being said, it would be an injustice and crime if "The Kid" did get 100% of the votes when so many before him did not.

I mean personally you can make the argument that he did juice because he did have a few eye popping statistical seasons followed by injury plagued seasons. That seems to be the benchmark for juicing. Not to mention his style of playing the outfield made him an injury concern. Add in he had problems being "the Guy" in lineups because the Mariners' best run was when there were other established threats in the lineup.

I don't doubt he's a HOF'er for sure, but I expect anywhere in the range of 88% - 93% of the votes when its his turn.

 

[FlockOfSeagulls]

Babe Ruth had better numbers and he didn't get 100% of the votes. That being said, I happen to agree with you that if there is someone deserving of 100% of the votes...Ken Griffey Jr is that player.

Couldn`t this same argument be said about Greg Maddux . The only difference being he didn`t rely on the sort of natural gifts that Griffey Jr. had ? He was the ultimate cerebral baseball player .

 

[50greg]

Griffey will be a first ballot HOFer, but not a unanimous selection. If Ruth, Ted Williams, Willie Mays, and guys like that weren't unaniimously elected, as someone said earlier, Griffey won't be. Plus, his career batting average is .284. That's very good, and down from what it could've been because of injury, etc., but it's nowhere close to the really elite players, some of whom hit for power, as well.

 

[ma1926]

Griffey will be a first ballot HOFer, but not a unanimous selection. If Ruth, Ted Williams, Willie Mays, and guys like that weren't unaniimously elected, as someone said earlier, Griffey won't be. Plus, his career batting average is .284. That's very good, and down from what it could've been because of injury, etc., but it's nowhere close to the really elite players, some of whom hit for power, as well.

I agree with what you said, but Griffey should be classified as an Elite player. In the past 20 years there hasn't been a bigger superstar in the game (this is excluding the Roid heads) aside from maybe Pujols. However, Griffey shined with the glove in the field so I give him an edge over Pujols when he was in his prime before injuries.

 

[Skinfan87]

Bottom line is that if Cal Ripken Jr. couldn't get a unanimous HOF vote when he was up, I doubt there are many other players that could get one also.

 

[giantfan121262]

Whay percentage of votes did Nolan Ryan get when he was inducted? I could have sworn he was unanimous

 

[ticklingfeet4fu]

Whay percentage of votes did Nolan Ryan get when he was inducted? I could have sworn he was unanimous

Tom Seaver holds the record with 92% plus for Hall of Fame induction. So no...Nolan Ryan was not unanimous.

 

[AmishTickler]

How do you know Griffey never took PED's? He never got caught, but how do you know for sure he never took steroids? If I had to guess, I'd say he didn't use but we will never know for sure. Unfortunately everyone who played in the so-called "Steroid Era" of baseball will always have a bit of a cloud over their head. It's not fair to those who didn't use but life's not fair sometimes. Is Albert Pujols clean? He's never been caught but who really knows for sure?

But to answer your question, no, Griffey will not be a unanimous vote getter for many of the reasons already mentioned. And you can't really say, welllll if he was never injured he would have put up monster numbers. That's like saying, well if Ted Williams hadn't served in the war his numbers would have been much better. Or, well if Tony Conigliaro wasn't beaned in the head, he would have been a surefire HOF'er. It don't work like that. Injuries as well as other circumstances are a part of baseball and history. But they all make for great discussions.

 

[ma1926]

How do you know Griffey never took PED's? He never got caught, but how do you know for sure he never took steroids? If I had to guess, I'd say he didn't use but we will never know for sure. Unfortunately everyone who played in the so-called "Steroid Era" of baseball will always have a bit of a cloud over their head. It's not fair to those who didn't use but life's not fair sometimes. Is Albert Pujols clean? He's never been caught but who really knows for sure?

But to answer your question, no, Griffey will not be a unanimous vote getter for many of the reasons already mentioned. And you can't really say, welllll if he was never injured he would have put up monster numbers. That's like saying, well if Ted Williams hadn't served in the war his numbers would have been much better. Or, well if Tony Conigliaro wasn't beaned in the head, he would have been a surefire HOF'er. It don't work like that. Injuries as well as other circumstances are a part of baseball and history. But they all make for great discussions.

You're 100% right!! In fact, I don't know Griffey didn't take steroids anymore than I don't know that you are not some pervert sexual predator. After all, if Griffey is caught up in the steroid era, you are caught up in the age of Online Sexual Prowling.

Suck on that you self-righteous know-it-all douche bag.

 

[AmishTickler]

You're 100% right!! In fact, I don't know Griffey didn't take steroids anymore than I don't know that you are not some pervert sexual predator. After all, if Griffey is caught up in the steroid era, you are caught up in the age of Online Sexual Prowling.

Suck on that you self-righteous know-it-all douche bag.

Very classy.

If you didn't want to hear other people's opinions, why post the question at all? And yeah, Griffey taking steroids equates with me being a sexual predator. You're spot on with that one. Great correlation. Is that how you react to anyone who disagrees with your opinion? What a way to go through life. Good luck with that. Hostile much?

Maybe it's time to go back to not posting on here much at all.

 

[Laffy Daffy]

No one will get an unanimous vote into Hall and there are far too many examples that should have been to list. Every player that does get in has something about his career that someone will debate or use as an excuse for not voting.

All that being said, it would be an injustice and crime if "The Kid" did get 100% of the votes when so many before him did not.

That's the kind of thinking that makes it possible for this to continue. "Well... if Babe Ruth didn't get in, then this kid damn sure shouldn't cause he's no Ruth." Someone has to be first, and it shouldn't come from judging him against other Hall of Famers, but instead against that player's HOF class.

Personally, I think it would be a great gesture to put Griffey in unanimously, and shun the 'roid era guys for one or five or maybe even ten year before letting them in. Send a message about what people believe about that era.

However, as its been said, there's always someone who will try to argue or accuse or dampen the shine, so I won't be getting my hopes up for anything other than what's deserved: Junior as a first ballot hall of famer.

 

[Cy/MiG]

That's the kind of thinking that makes it possible for this to continue. "Well... if Babe Ruth didn't get in, then this kid damn sure shouldn't cause he's no Ruth." Someone has to be first, and it shouldn't come from judging him against other Hall of Famers, but instead against that player's HOF class.

Very well said.

You should get a vote now.

Seriously.

 

[giantfan121262]

No doubt Griffey deserves to be considered for unanimious selection but I don't think it will happen. There are a slew of sportswriters who are all humans and with that you are going to get different opinions. It just seems like there are too many sports writers for all of them to harbor the same opinion. As it was mentioned before, if deserving players from different eras didn't get unanimous selection, like Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron, then I doubt Griffey will get unanimous selection.