Tag: Hall Of Fame

St. Louis Cardinals’ Hall of Fame grows by four

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Before the St. Louis Cardinals battled the Miami Marlins Saturday night, there was some history to take care of during the afternoon. The Cards were inducting four new members into their Hall of Fame. This year’s inductee’s included Ted Simmons, Curt Flood, Bob Forsch and George Kissell. Each person had a unique effect on the organization and each got a spotlight this weekend. They may never be able to join the greats in Cooperstown, but the four will always be remembered in St. Louis. Through sheer tenacity and dedication, the team has created their own baseball heaven here, making the official Hall of Fame a little less cool.

Simmons addressed this in his speech, poking fun at a famous golfer, saying Phil Mickelson(owner of the green jacket from the Masters) will never get to put on the sleek shiny red jacket the inductees got. Simmons is one of the most popular HOF snubs, hitting 172 home runs in his 13 years in St. Louis, including six All Star game selections and four seasons of 20+ home runs. He could slice a triple or crank a home run. His 248 career home runs, 2472 hits and .285 average along with the teams he played for makes a strong case for Cooperstown, but he will always be remembered for his offensive firepower behind home plate in St. Louis. He started his career with Bob Gibson as a teammate and ended it on Atlanta over 20 years later. His ability to hit home runs from each side of the plate marks his sweet spot as a Cardinal.

Forsch was one of the legendary pitchers to ever climb the hill for the Birds, a righthander who broke into the league in 1974 and fired 5 complete games in his first season, winning 7 games. When it came to Bob and pitching, durability was his strong suit. Forsch threw a pair of no hitters for the Cards in his 15 years but he also compiled 8 different seasons where he threw at least 5 complete games. He won 15 games for the 1982 World Series team and never depended on the strikeout during his career. Forsch passed away at the age of 61 right after throwing out the first pitch at a Cardinals-Rangers World Series game in 2011. He is still missed by ex-Cards like Ricky Horton, who remembered the pitcher fondly in the Fox Sports Midwest booth this week.

Flood won seven consecutive gold gloves in center field, won a pair of World Series titles and hit .293 in his 12 years as a Cardinal. His effect also lies off the field, where he paved the way for free agency by rejecting a trade from the Cardinals to the Phillies. Before that, players had little to no control in where they played, and Flood changed that. Players today who choose to sign a monstrous contract for over a hundred million dollars can thank Curt Flood for that. He put choice and control into the players hands when the games were over.

Kissell’s effect didn’t come with a bat in his hands wearing the birds on the bat, but across the field and in the dugout in a number of ways. “The Cardinal Way” stemmed from George’s visceral knowledge of the game and his ability to transport it into young players minds as they dealt with the rigors of the game. I’m pretty sure Kissell wasn’t a Twitter guy. He taught many baseball players what was expected of them outside of what we find on a baseball card. Jose Oquendo gives a lot of credit to Kissell for making him want to become a coach and learning how to push the right buttons.

Every Cardinal that goes into their Hall of Fame had their own special impact on the game. One guy may have hit a lot of home runs while another could do it from multiple sides of the plate. Another may have changed the game off the field while another taught rookies how to bear it. What makes the Cardinals organization special is that they never ever forget where they came from.

What are your special memories and thoughts on this year’s inductees?

Is Mark Buehrle Hall of Fame worthy?

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(In case you missed it at KSDK) At the ripe age of 36 years old, Toronto Blue Jays lefthander Mark Buehrle is having a career season. The St. Charles, Missouri native is 13-5 with a 3.31 ERA in one of the toughest divisions when it comes to power bats and high scoring in the Major Leagues. The stat that has marked the time for Buehrle in this league over his 15 year career is durability. Since his first full season as a starter in 2001, he has won at least 10 games every season since and 11 seasons of 13 or more wins. Buehrle has also pitched 200 innings or more in every full season as a starter. All of this considered begs the question. Is Buehrle a future Hall of Famer?

He won a World Series with the Chicago White Sox in 2005. He threw a perfect game on July 23rd, 2009 against the Tampa Bay Rays, which holds a lot more weight than a no hitter these days with the lack of frequency. Buehrle also has 212 wins and counting with 3-4 years left on his career. If he averages 12-13 wins the rest of his career, he’ll end up with around 245-250 wins. His career earned run average is 3.79 with a decent overall WHIP of 1.28. Once again, with the exception of 2012 with the Miami Marlins, Buehrle has amassed these numbers in the tough American League Central and East divisions.

He’s also done it without a power arm. In 155 innings this year, he only has 73 strikeouts. For his career, 3,239.2 innings pitched, Buehrle has 1,852 strikeouts. His strikeouts to walks ratio is around 2.5/1, which is solid and consistent. He has 33 complete games for his career. He doesn’t strike out a lot of guys or allow many walks. He pitches to contact, which may hurt him with the voters who love them some K’s. Efficiency shouldn’t be graded on a curve that supports pitching mound fascism though, right? Over 15 years, Buehrle has gotten the job done. But is it HOF worthy?

Let’s compare it to the latest Hall of Fame inductee, John Smoltz. Some were baffled Smoltz got in but let’s take a look. Over 21 years, Smoltz amassed 215 wins and an earned run average of 3.13 with a WHIP of 1.18 and 3,084 strikeouts in 3,473 innings. Smoltz put together 53 complete games. However, in 6 of those seasons, Smoltz wasn’t a full time starter. He saved 55, 45, 44 games from 2002-04 for the Braves. In the other three, Smoltz only started a combined 25 games. A wrinkle, if a successful interesting one, to a very long career that included a World Series appearance against The Minnesota Twins in 1991 that included a Game 7 duel with Tigers ace Jack Morris. Smoltz flirted with a no-hitter in 2007 but lost it in the 9th inning. Smoltz also won a Cy Young award in 1996.

While Smoltz has the dual sided career as a starter and great yet brief closer with the strikeouts to back it up, Buehrle has been a durable arm with the big career highlights(including four Gold Gloves and five All Star appearances to boot) that has stretched over multiple teams in a tough hitter’s league over 14 seasons. Smoltz was part of the outstanding 1990’s Atlanta dynamo with Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine(also inducted this year), and Steve Avery. Buehrle has anchored many pitching staffs himself.

When Buehrle reached his end, he will have a lot more wins and maybe another World Series title. While he isn’t a lock to be inducted today, if he keeps up this work, Mark Buehrle will demand a fair look at the end. The argument is there.

One more thing. Over his 16 seasons, Buehrle’s WAR(wins above replacement) is 60.8, which comes out to an average of 4.05 per season, an above average mark for a pitcher. Smoltz’s WAR over his 21 seasons is 66.5(an average of 3.16). If you just take Smoltz’s 15 full starter seasons, his average is up to 3.9. If you go old school or new school sabermetric, the numbers don’t put Smoltz too far in front of Buehrle, and it must be pointed out once again. The southpaw isn’t finished yet.

Is Mark Buehrle a Hall of Fame Candidate? Yes he is, especially if he remains consistent. Is he a lock? No.

What do you think?

Stan Musial: The Epitome of Greatness

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Stan-Musial-in-the-Cardinal-clubhouse-1963-Associated-Press-Photo

Wednesday marked The Hall of Fame induction day in the world of baseball and that always gets this Cardinal fan thinking about one man in particular.   Stan Musial.   The legendary Cardinal passed away nearly a year ago and that makes this particular January(or the eve of Spring Training reporting) especially nostalgic.  He was and always will be the epitome of greatness and what a baseball player and general athlete should strive to achieve.   In my opinion, The Cardinal Way started with a player like Musial.

These days, when people talk about inductions, all I hear is who should have made it and who still isn’t in the Hall.   Fair enough, but every January I remember what the benchmark for induction should be.   If basketball players and fans wanted to be like Mike, baseball players should want to be like Stan The Man.   In a sport with a dirty history of cheaters, suspect role models and crazy dirty players, Musial was the greatest because he exceeded his amazing ability on the field when he was off.  What is so hard about being a good man while you are famous?

Athletes can be larger than life these days, and young kids far too often chase the wrong ideals in being a great player and form bad habits in the process.  It’s classic human nature to miss the point behind what being great and Hall of Fame worthy is all about.   They think large muscles will get them fame and legendary status.  Benching 300 pounds doesn’t buy you a fine earned run average or batting average folks.  It’s about skill, perseverance and character.    This is where young athletes in high school and college chase performance enhancing drugs and damage their careers and reputations forever.   They forget what is most important in being a good ballplayer.    For that benchmark, they need to look no further than Stan Musial.

I don’t have to bore you with all of Musial’s stats.  To St. Louis Cardinal fans, his numbers and achievements are like oxygen and water intake.    However, let’s roll over the highlights because they truly never get old.  .331 batting average, 24 All Star games, 3 World Series rings, 3 MVPs, 475 home runs, 3,630 hits, and a .417 on base percentage.  Lifetime.  He hit 6 home runs in All Star games.  He hit 5 home runs in a doubleheader.  He hits a ton of triples, scored a ton of runs and didn’t strike out.  He got his 3,000th hit at Wrigley Field.

Unlike Ty Cobb, he didn’t play dirty.   Unlike Mickey Mantle, he took care of himself.  He fought for his country and retired with 11 Cardinals franchise records.   This is my favorite stat line.  When he retired in 1963, he held 17 Major League Baseball records, 29 National League marks and 9 All Star Game marks.  That’s greatness.   Off the field, he was a fan favorite, didn’t shun the media and respected other baseball players.

If there is a perfect athlete, it’s Stan Musial.  Plain and simple.

As I made my way through my office yesterday, I found my son Vincent playing with Musial’s bobblehead statue.    Instead of grabbing it from him and polishing it with a wet wipe, I sat down and let him toy around with the prized piece of memorabilia.  I wanted to see where this encounter went.   After shaking it incessantly, Vin looked at it and back up at me.  For a split second, he was curious.  As in, tell me a story dad.   10 seconds later, he left the room but here’s the thing to remember.  It’s important for fathers and mothers to teach their kids what greatness in an athlete is and how to achieve it.   When Vin gets old enough, he will get the full story on Stan The Man Musial.

Today, I remember Musial.   He passed away a year ago this January at the tender age of 92 and while he had lived a full life and went peacefully, something tells me if someone deserve to hit 100 and beyond, it was Stan.   In some way, I am glad Pujols left because that allowed Stan Musial to remain the #1 Cardinal of all time.   Sure, Albert Pujols would have never cleanly approached Stan, but at least it is unanimous today and when he passed.

Outside the 3rd base gate, facing west, stands the statue of Stan Musial.   It is the biggest statue around the venue and rightfully so.   If anyone wants to know what it means to be a Cardinal, look no further than Musial.

Photo Credit-Associated Press

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Dan Buffa is the co-creator, administrator and writer for the movie website, film-addict.com. He also writes for the local blog United Cardinal Bloggers in addition to Arch City Sports and also writes for his personal blog, http://www.doseofbuffa.com.   He is a STL born and raised writer with a need to inform and the ability to pound out 1,000-1,500 word pieces with ease.  When he isn’t writing or drinking coffee, he is spending time with his wife and son in South City.  Follow him at @buffa82 on Twitter and reach him for thoughts, comments and general feedback at buffa82@gmail.com.