It's sad that this guy is taking away attention from a real deserving Hall of Famer (Frank Thomas.)There are a lot of really nice team players,and most aren't going in the Hall(Scioscia for instance.)You need to be able to reserve the Hall for the top talent(not just somebody who has a long and decent career.)Here are the main reasons why a very average player with typical stats (for anybody who has had a very long career would have)is getting into the Hall......
1)a good caucasian boy
2)good citizen
3)looks more like joe the plumber than a modern day athlete
4)been with same team for almost 20 years
5) a true team player
Every reason given tonite (for his being worthy of going into the Hall ) is time-based.This is no superstar.This is simply a good team player that ground out a long career,and played long enough to get a lot of hits.If ya get a decent amount of hits each year.then what do you expect will happen? I'll tell you what will happen.You do it for about 19 years,and you'll get 3000 hits.Simple math.See,this is a unique situation.His batting average has been slipping.Most would have retired,or more likely....he would have lost his job to a better younger player.This is a very conservative city,and they don't like change.That's why they ain't doing a damn thing to win.They would rather have an old player get 3000 hits than go young with some young hitters.
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