ACCBoards

Upon the death of Phil Rizzuto, I stuck my nose into a thread on the Maryland board and opined that the answer to the question posed, supra, is a resounding "Yes". Rizzuto's numbers are not, IMO, HOF-worthy, and I said so, but I was shouted down by many Yankee fans who infest that board. I didn't limit my discussion to the Hall of Fame; I went further and indicated that there have been other decent, even excellent, infielders in New York who won ROY/MVP honors only because they were in New York. My examples were second-baseman Joe Gordon, who won the MVP in 1942 by one voting point over Triple Crown winner Ted Williams, and Tony Kubek, a banjo-hitting shortstop who was ROY in 1957 with a BA of only five points better than Frank Malzone, but Malzone had 15 dingers to three for Kubek. Kubek received 23 of the 24 first-place votes in that balloting.

I probably over-stepped my bounds in suggesting that Derek Jeter falls into the category of not being HOF-worthy; the howls of protest from the Bombers' backers were probably heard halfway to the Bronx. I think this proves my point in that Jeter is often accepted as a shoo-in for the HOF, whereas other players who have toiled elsewhere with excellent numbers, e.g., Andre Dawson, have no chance of getting into the HOF except with an admission ticket. I contend that if Jeter and Dawson had worn the other's uni, it would be Jeter about whom we'd be having a heated discussion of whether he would be worthy of a spot with the game's immortals, and Dawson's plaque would already be gathering dust in Cooperstown.

Jeter and A-Rod are going to the Hall as a package deal.


Rizzuto went into the Hall because his pals on the VC put him in, not because of his numbers

Don't big market players do better anyway, pinstripes or not? I'd like to see a statistical analysis.

As far as the Hall of Fame is concerned, I think that players who played on good teams tend to be enshrined more often than players who played for bad teams, especially if the bad teams left their markets. In other words, borderline candidates who played for the Yankees and Cardinals tend to get in; borderline candidates for the Browns and Senators do not.

I'm sure i would vote for players like Dawson, Rice, Gossage & Blyleven if given the vote.

not studied on those old guys, but I (who despise the damnyankees beyond all) have seen Jeter get the hit or make the play way too many times. there's no way i could not see that guy as 1st ballot

i think those of you here know how much that sickens me