I loved Orel Hershiser’s approach to the game.
Mark Mcguire:
Not this year. I reserve the right to change my mind later if I learn something new about the rampant use of steriods among the pros. I’m just not that impressed with the home run numbers with the short fences and juiced balls. He’ll probably make it eventually after all McGuire made MLB a ton of money and they made some for him too!
yeah i can see that maybe in years time but idk steroids was not a wise decision obviously…im going to have to give it to cal ripken and tony gwynn they pretty much stole the show, to bad they werent pitchers
Ripken is in no way deserving to be a first ballot hall of famer.
A .276 lifetime hitter does not deserve to be a first ballot hall of famer.
As a fan watching him, I never got the feeling of, oh this is Cal Ripken, look out… He was mediocre as a ball player.
As far as the streak, yeah, that’s nice, can’t diminish that… though I propose that the pioneering that Tommy John brought to the game with his against-all-odds, ground breaking rehab has had a much more positive, real, and long-lasting impact on the game.
I didnt see much of Ripken but I get that same feeling, like he was good but not great and without all those games and his streak his stats wouldn’t be that impresive. If he misses even 5-10 games per year I dont think he would be in the hall. Year by year his stats arent amazing but added up over all those games they look pretty good. He did change the shortstop position and the way people look at SS’s but could anyone ever say “wow he was a dominet player each year, somone that could change games with his bat and glove” I know I wouldnt.
ripken didn’t look that great because of all that steroid era he played in. looking back in his early years, he wouldn’t scare me as a batter but more as a don’t hit the ball too low because you won’t get a hit, kind of guy. His career is a lot more about defensive then offensive, even though he could hit homeruns and they were usually clutch.