Did the HOF Really Reject the 10th Best Lefty Ever?

Is it really possible that the tenth greatest lefthander in the modern history of the game was rejected by the Hall of Fame? Is it really possible the Hall rejected the fourth greatest leftie in modern American League history? Put together your list of the premier southpaws in baseball history - mine's on the next page. Just click below to see my ranking of the 15 greatest lefthanders of all time. I'll tell you right now that the five guys pictured above - Hubbell, Spahn, Grove, Johnson and Carlton - all rank near the top.

Here's my list.

I found it difficult to rank pitchers from the pre-1920, "dead ball" era - it was just such a different game before Ruth revolutionized it. But Eddie Plank and Rube Waddell are definitely my top two from the pre-1920 era.

I rate Guidry ahead of three Hall of Fame lefties: Hal Newhouser, Herb Pennock and Eppa Rixey (who is not on my list at all). Had two of Newhouser's great years not occurred during the war years I probably would have rated him ahead of Guidry. Pennock's claim to Fame rests on his great six-year stretch with the Yankees in the 1920's ('23 to '28), which I judged comparable to, but exceeded by, Guidry's nine-year stretch from '77 to '85. As for Rixey, I'm not really sure why he is in the Hall of Fame.

Where the Veterans Committee Gets It Right and the BBWAA Gets It Wrong

Joe Gordon, Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr and Bill Dickey

The Veterans Committee's selections over the last 30 years fall into two main groups: middle infielders (i.e., catchers, 2nd basemen and shortstops) and players with relatively brief careers or brief primes.

Joe Gordon, the pre-1943 Veterans Committee selection from last year, clearly fits in the "brief career" category. Ron Santo and Tony Oliva, two of the top three votegetters in last year's post-1943 Veterans Committee election, fit squarely into the latter category. Neither had huge career totals but each was considered one of the premier hitters in his league for a period of seven or eight years. Neither had a very long or distinguished career following his prime (in each case about five years).

The following are Hall Famers selected by the Veterans Committee since 1979, in reverse order of induction: Joe Gordon, Bill Mazeroski, Orlando Cepeda, George Davis, Lary Doby, Nellie Fox, Jim Bunning, Richie Ashburn, Vic Willis, Phil Rizzuto, Hal Newhouser, Tony Lazzeri, Red Schoendienst, Bobby Doerr, Ernie Lombardi, Enos Slaughter, Arky Vaughan, Rick Ferrell, Pee Wee Reese, George Kell, Travis Jackson, Johnny Mize, Chuck Klein, Hack Wilson, Addie Joss.

I've italicized the middle-infielders and bolded those who had relatively brief careers or brief primes. A reasonable inference from the foregoing roster of inductees is that the Veterans Committee apparently believes the BBWAA gives short shrift to (i) players who played positions generally considered more defensive in nature and (ii) players who were great for a relatively brief period and consequently did not compile particularly impressive career statistical totals. Of the remaining VC inductees - Bunning, Ashburn and Cepeda - it's pretty clear that the VC felt Ashburn's reputation as a great defensive centerfielder didn't receive sufficient consideration from the BBWAA (making Ashburn an outfield variant of the "middle infielder" phenomenon in VC voting).

Happy 84th, Yogi

Happy birthday to the greatest living Yankee.

That's Yogi, Ron and Derek at the original Yankee Stadium in 2008. Yogi's already in the Hall, of course, and Derek is certain to join him. I think Ron belongs there, too.

It's Up To The Veterans Committee

Phil Rizzuto, Nellie Fox, Bill Mazeroski, Tony Lazzeri and Red Schoendienst

Guidry is eligible for inclusion on the 2010 Veterans Committee ballot (the VC votes only every other year and won't vote in 2009). There's no assurance he'll be on it, but he'll be eligible. There is a winnowing process that reduces the number of candidates to ten.

The Veterans Committee consists of 65 Hall of Famers appointed by the Hall's Board of Directors. A list of the Veterans Committee members can be found at the bottom of this page at the HOF website.

As we all know, baseball Hall of Fame elections are controversial and hotly debated among fans. The Veterans Committee has come in for some heavy fan criticism for selecting players like Phil Rizzuto and Bill Mazeroski. Middle infielders in particular attract controversy, probably because they tend to have weaker offensive statistics. Joe Gordon, the great Yankees 2nd baseman from the '30's and '40's, is the most recent VC inductee. Other notable middle infielders who've been inducted by the VC over the last 30 years are Red Schoendienst, Nellie Fox, Tony Lazzeri and Bobby Doerr.

How Could HOF Voters Have Been So Misguided?

The apparent disregard for Guidry by the sportswriters who cast the ballots for the Hall of Fame is not wholly inexplicable. There are reasons why HOF voters may have missed what seems so obvious. Some of the reasons are specific to Guidry and some are not. Let's take a look at them.