If Santo is in the Hall..

[Takatsufan]

Is Ron Santo is elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Comitee, I will from that moment refuse to accept Cooperstown as a place for basebal greatness. Santo doesn't even deserve to set foot in the hall. Now Barry Rozner or some idiot from the Daily Herald is saying that he has a good chance to get in. The thought just blows me away.

[SOXintheBURGH]

Originally Posted by Takatsufan

Is Ron Santo is elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Comitee, I will from that moment refuse to accept Cooperstown as a place for basebal greatness. Santo doesn't even deserve to set foot in the hall. Now Barry Rozner or some idiot from the Daily Herald is saying that he has a good chance to get in. The thought just blows me away.

I've never been to Cooperstown, but plan on going when Frank is enshrined. If Santo gets in, though, I will have to vomit/urinate upon the building.

[MUsoxfan]

I despise Santo with all my heart. He's an overrated loudmouthed showboat that deserves to sweep the floor in Cooperstown.

[MRKARNO]

He was a pretty darned good player, but I dont think he has the numbers to be taken seriously as a hall of fame candidate.

[SOXintheBURGH]

Originally Posted by MRKARNO

He was a pretty darned good player, but I dont think he has the numbers to be taken seriously as a hall of fame candidate.

Exactly, its the Hall of Fame, not the hall of "pretty darned good." If Santo gets in that institution loses all credibility. Besides, baseball wasn't even invented there, it was invented in New Jersey. Pish-posh!

[HebrewHammer]

If he makes it(very BIG if), that would make 4 players and 1 manager from a team that won NOTHING, not even a division. It's amazing what a little blue and red kool-aid can do.

[TommyJohn]

Minnie Minoso belongs in before Ron Santo. Let's hear from the members of
the Chicago media who will campaign for him.





















*SILENCE*

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/NASApp/m..._chc&fext=.jsp

I don't know what's more pathetic- the possibility that Santo might make the HOF as a player or as a broadcaster. Either way, if he makes it the prestige and credibility of the HOF will be severely weakened.

[Banix12]

I'm young and never really got a chance to see the man play so I'm not going to get all huffy about his status. However i'm not going angry at cubs players just for the fact that they are cubs players. I don't like the cubs as a team but there are players who have played for them who I respected for the way they played the game. From those players I personally saw, guys like Sandberg and Grace are guys who I respect they way the played.

From what I understand, he was a good player for a number of years and was rightfully a guy on the bubble of the hall. Certainly though he would be better than many other Veterans Comittee votes who got in. How about Bill Mazeroski who basically got in on the basis of one at bat. A viable case can be made for his hall induction and he wouldn't be a black spot upon the hall.

[Fredsox]

Originally Posted by SOXintheBURGH

Exactly, its the Hall of Fame, not the hall of "pretty darned good." If Santo gets in that institution loses all credibility. Besides, baseball wasn't even invented there, it was invented in New Jersey. Pish-posh!

I will tell you that when the man played he was considered near the defensive equal of Brooks Robinson and his offensive statistics are clearly superior. Santo is not in the HOF because he is associated with being a loser from 1969 (IMO). Robinson is in the HOF because he played well in the World Series, something Santo never had the chance to do.

Here's a quick comparison of the 2 players
Robinson Santo
Years 23 15
HR 268 342
RBI 1357 1331
Avg 267 277
Field % 971 954


As much as I can't stand the Cubs I believe that Santo deserves to be in the HOF. He's no Mike Schmidt but his contributions are as good as any third baseman from his era.

[vance]

Regardless of how one may feel about a team or a player, there is little doubt that Santo belongs in the HOF. When comparing his numbers to other thirdbasemen of his generation, he should have been inducted a long time ago. The only true knock I can find against him is that he didn't play long enough.

Santo won 5 gold gloves which indicates he certainly wasn't a hack in the filed. He finished in the top five in MVP voting five times. (Highest finish was 4 in 1967). Had sabermatrics been around in Santo's day, there is no doubt that he'd be in by now. In a 15 year career, he was top 10 in OBP 7 times, leading the league twice in 1964 and 1966. He was top ten in OPS five times, his highest being second in 1966.

Going beyond league rankings and comparing Santo to his contemporary Brooks Robinson, Santo stacks up pretty well. Santo played 15 seasons, while Robinson played 23.

Here's the comparison.
Batting Average
Santo: 277
Robinson: 267

SLG %
Santo: 464
Robinson: 401

On Base %
Santo: 362
Robinson: 322

HR
Santo: 342
Robinson: 268

RBI
Santo: 1331
Robinson: 1357

Hits
Santo: 2254
Robinson: 2848

With the exception of hits and RBI, Santo has the lead in all categories. Given that Robinson played 8 more seasons, his RBI and hits aren't that much greater (if at all) than Santo.

Granted Robinson likely gets in the HOF based on his defense, but if Robinson was the best thirdbaseman of his day, there is little doubt Santo was the second best. Robinson's fielding percentage is 971, Santo was no slouch in the filed follows him with a 954. Based on numbers alone, Santo belongs, but if you add to the mere statistics the fact he played his entire career with diabetes, there is little doubt that he belongs in the HOF. I would hope any true baseball fan could look beyond their bias and see that.

[Jabroni]

Don't forget about Santo's moronic heel-clicking and that his own teammates hated his guts.

[vance]

Originally Posted by Jabroni

Don't forget about Santo's moronic heel-clicking and that his own teammates hated his guts.

If teammates feelings toward someone is part of the equation, there's a lot of guys we need to un-enshrine, beginning with Ty Cobb.

[Jabroni]

Originally Posted by vance

If teammates feelings toward someone is part of the equation, there's a lot of guys we need to un-enshrine, beginning with Ty Cobb.

Well, I'd rather see Ron Santo make the Hall of Fame than a joke like Sosa who used roids and corked his bat.

[vance]

Originally Posted by Jabroni

Well, I'd rather see Ron Santo make the Hall of Fame than a joke like Sosa who used roids and corked his bat.

I'd rather see Santo in than Sosa, too. But the truth is that both belong. While Sosa may or may not have done roids, it won't keep him out. Just like it won't keep McGwire out, and he likely did roids too, or it won't likely keep Pudge out and he has been named as a roid user, or Palmeiro, and the list goes on.