Chicago White Sox: Hall of Fame Discussion.

[Easy Mac]

Hey, its back and the same as ever. After taking a break for no obvious reason, lets play this game again.

I'll give a poll of the 3 players I think are most likely to make the Hall of Fame. Of course, some (most) teams won't come close to the criteria for the hall, so most of the time it will be the 3 best career on the team. It should be an interesting discussion for some teams, pretty boring for others (See AZ). Also, as an added bonus, I may occasionally do more than 1 set of 3 players for a team. Very rare, there may be a couple of teams who have more than 3 guys who could be hall-worthy. In that case, I'll think of something. So here we go. The poll choices will hopefully be obvious, but who knows. Go here to see everyone we've voted in and the amended hall criteria.

Frank Thomas: The Big Hurt is just that. He was arguably the best hitter in the 90's and probably the best first baseman in the AL at the time. If we would have asked this question in 1999, I think we all would have agreed he would be a lock. Now, the question is a little tougher to answer. Now he's 37, and it may take a miracle to get to 500 HR. Assuming he comes back, he may play bad enough to drop his average to below .300 for his career. Of course, he drove in 100 runs, scored 100 runs, hit over .300 and walked over 100 times in his first 7 full seasons. I think his best years happened before what we really consider the steroid era (if just barely, and thats debateable), so he may be spared some scrutiny. However, he's no longer that well liked in the media, so who knows. I'll say he's in the Hall, but barely.

Mark Buehrle: Obviously, its too soon to tell with him, but damn if his stats don't look impressive. He's 26 and has 80 wins right now in about 4.75 seasons. Give him at least 5 more this year, and after 5 full seasons he'll be on 85, or 17 a year. Another 10 years, and he'll be around 250. Now in the modern game, that would have to be enough to get in. He's also beginning his prime, so his ERA looks like it could hover around 2.50 to 3.50, which isn't too bad. He has a nice K/BB ratio, but he doesn't strike out too many, kind of a Greg Madduxish pitcher, which may bode well for his longevity (won't break down that those guys on the other side of the city). I'll say yes just to be different, but not a mortal lock.

Paul Konerko: ? Really no other idea for this team. He seemd to be doing well until the weird seasons back to back, but he's still 29. Could get up to 30 HR's this year if not a few more, so around 200 or so for his career by years end. Umm.... Could end up arund 350, which if he had any other discernable skill, he'd be discussed about as much as he is now. No.

[finkenst]

Big Hurt: Depending on how the steroid numbers make his credentials look in a few year.

Buehrle: doubtful.

Konerko: no.

[Swaggs]

I think Thomas will be in easily.

[Barkeep49]

I think Thomas will fare better in retirement. He might take a couple of ballots but he'll make it in the end. If this were football he'd be a lock because I think the Football voting structure would do Thomas good and force the reporters to get past their personal dislike.

Buherle certainly still has a chance but I don't think he'll do it.

[Karlifornia]

Frank Thomas: Yes

Buerhle: No

Konerko: If he gets in, then I don't see why Kirt Manwaring shouldn't.

[Eaglesfan27]

Thomas: yes.

Beuhlre: It is WAY too early to say yes or no, but it is possible if he can continue to improve and hit his stride.

Konerko: No way.

[Crapshoot]

Thomas is one of the 5 best 1b of all time. He's a hell of a lot better than a lot of the mediocre crap in there already. Anyone who doesn't vote for him needs to lose their vote.

[stevew]

He should be in the hall, but the fact that he is primarily a DH, may hurt him. Career wise, less than half of the games he has played in, have been in the field.

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

Thomas: Yes. If he did not have injury problems he would already have the 500 home runs.

Buehrle is quite underrated. He is only 26. He has just as many wins as Maddux did at his age. Obviously he has a long way to go, but the guy knows how to pitch and if he keeps picking up 15-20 wins a year, down the road thats going to get him close to 300.

Konerko. Could be the slowest man in the majors. Thomas who weighs almost 300 pounds and had a foot injury and was limping around the bases was still faster than Konerko.He is a guy who will hit 270 to 280 and will get you 30 to 40 home runs. A solid enough player, but definitely not hall of fame material.

A guy you forgot to mention is Jon Garland. He is only 25 and granted this is his first big year, but he already has about 60 career wins I think. If he truly is for real he also can accumulate a lot of wins and may have a shot at the hall of fame.

[oykib]

I picked the "only Thomas" option.

I think you made a mistake regarding Buehle. Pitchers with high strikeout rates have much longer careers than 'finesse' guys. Basically, every pitcher's career is a battle against two things: a diminishing strikeout rate, and injuries.

I'm picking against him for the second reason. But the first reason might sway me, as well, even if we could be sure about his health.

[MalcPow]

Thomas, yes. When you are the best hitter in baseball for five consecutive years (From 93-97 I'd argue that's what he was) then you are a Hall of Famer. I don't think there should be questions about that. He also averaged about 115 games a year at 1b over that span, so the he's only a dh argument doesn't hold up well there. He's not what he once was, and the downfalls of Griffey and Thomas have really taken the gloss off of their remarkable early careers, but the guy is a Hall of Famer, no question.

I actually like Buehrle's chances a lot. His career track looks a lot like Tom Glavine's at this point and I think he's got better stuff. He also seems to be durable enough to put up the requisite stats.

Konerko just doesn't really have it, but I agree he's probably the best third option for this poll.