Jose for the Hall? No way!

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msherwin
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Jose for the Hall? No way!

Post by msherwin »

Jose Canseco is not a Hall of Famer. He is not for the same reasons that Daryl Strawberry, Tim Raines and Rueben Sierra will never be.

Canseco had a special talent that could have put him in a elite class of baseball players. But he let success go to his head. After a 5 year run of success where he blew away his peers, he became uncommited to the game. In his prime Jose was probably on par with Willie Mays or Henry Aaron in terms of speed and power. But baseball is a marathon not a sprint. What you have with Jose on a career level is a one dimensional slugger ala Dave Kingman. In his early years he was the complete package, but he let his off-field distractions affect his performance.

I feel bad for Jose because he has just realized in the past couple of years the error of his ways. Much like some other stars from late eighties have. If guys like him, Straw, Raines and Sierra had kept their heads on straight during the offensive explosion in the ninties, we wouldn't be discussing why they are falling short of HOF careers. If it was just the injuries, maybe I could see Canseco and some of these guys in the Hall. Instead it was factors they controlled like drugs, failed marriages, training and ego that ultimatley cost them hundereds of games and a Hall of Fame career.

Home run hitting has become fairly common and we expect more out of future HOFers these days. Comparing Jose to his peers I find the following. Some players had great stats and also had a positive influence on the game, like Ripken, Gwynn, McGwire and Ozzie Smith. Some guys just blow you away with numbers and winning like Rickey Henderson. Barry Bonds is almost the same age as Jose and he has decided to eliminate all doubt about his own HOF credentials, by dominating the game late in his career. Unfortunetly Canseco posses none of these qualities and the only thing that stands out is his 40-40 year, which shows you what a waste of talent he became.

Eric
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Post by Eric »

After thinking about it, I have to agree. My first reaction was Jose belongs – not his fault injuries deprived him of the chance to fatten up during the long tater torrent of the nineties. So I went over to Baseball-Reference.com figuring to find something to suppot this. I didn’t.

McGwire came up a year after and was just as injury hampered, finished with at least a full season less at bats. Basically, after Canseco’s call up year he played pretty well full time for 5 of 6 years. After that he played as many as 120 games once!

So he piled up a lot of homers for playing so little, I thought. But compare Jose’s last two years with Mark’s when both played about half-time each year. Jose 585 abs 31 HR/Mark 635 abs 61 HR. And what about 1998, the only year after 1991 he played full time? 46 HRs. Nothing to sniff at but that’s not even 50. A one dimensional HR hitter who played through the whole decade of the 1990s and never hit 50 homers doesn’t sound like a Hall of Famer to me.

Hey,but if yer readin’ this Board, Jose, it wasn’t me started this thread.

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Ice Cream Jonsey
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Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

Yeah, I think recently the HoF has shown that being "that guy" in the following way ain't gonna get you in: A dominating player for 6 years whose career takes a severe nosedive in quality but still hangs around (as opposed to being dominating for six years and having to hang it up like Kofax did due to injury, and never letting anyone see you play as just "OK"). Dale Murphy was that guy, and Jose was as well.

The best thing that could have happened to either of those guys would be someone chopping one of their arms off with a chainsaw right before they started to become human. (Best thing in terms of their HoF legacy, I mean, not the best thing in terms of the quality of their life or being able to play the cymbals or whatever.)


Joe Carter isn't going to get in either, I realize. Maybe if dude had added 30 points to his average or played or had some more post-season appearances earlier in his career (like Reggie Jackson did) it'd be different, but alas... ain't gonna happen.

Jose throwing his arm out on the hill that one game didn't exactly cinch things for him either.
the dark and gritty...Ice Cream Jonsey!

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Da King
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Post by Da King »

I think that if a ball bounces off your head, and over the wall for a HR, you should be automatically disqualified from HOF consideration.

Jack Straw
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Post by Jack Straw »

Sherwin SQUARED!!!!

Lex
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Post by Lex »

Goddamnit; the first post I ever see from this alleged "brother", and it's about sports. Thusly, I can't read more than one sentence before it beggins to blur.
Damnation & Black Chicks!
WHOOA!

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Ice Cream Jonsey
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Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

I think Mike was planning on pasting the e-mails he sends to the "Sports Bahr" guy on the Sportingnews.com page here. I'm not sure if he'll be back to read comments and post replies, though. He sends a mail to the aforementioed Bahr guy just about every other day, so I'd imagine that there will be rather fresh content in that respect.
the dark and gritty...Ice Cream Jonsey!

Eric
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Post by Eric »

Da King wrote:I think that if a ball bounces off your head, and over the wall for a HR, you should be automatically disqualified from HOF consideration.
Roger Maris isn’t in the Hall but his bat is –- so maybe Jose can donate his head?

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