Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Quick Hits - Thoughts on Santo and MLB Stuffage

Ron Santo not being elected in the National Hall of Fame is a shame.

Yesterday, the Veterans Committee had a chance to vote on electing new members into the Hall Fame, and they chose no one. The names from the list included, Jim Kaat, Marvin Miller, Gil Hodges, Tony Oliva, Doug Harvey and the aforementioned Ron Santo.

There are far worse players than Santo in the Hall of Fame, and although I am not a Cubs fan at all, there’s something about him that is very endearing. I was not born when he played, but when I visited Chicago’s Wrigley Field solo, chatted and made friends with few fans, I mentioned Santo’s name and all I heard was endless stories of how awesome of a Cub he was.

For those of you not familiar with him, Santo in Chicago has a stature of a Cal Ripken in Baltimore, or a Robin Yount in Milwaukee, or a Tony Gwynn in San Deigo, or a Stan Musial in St. Louis.

Maybe I like him because it’s the fact he still breathes the passion of the game although he’s been through so much health-wise and his body has been so ravaged – mostly due to diabetes.

Perhaps I am empathic, but I know a quality ball player and person when I see one. Santo is it.

The man hit 342 homers, collected 2,254 hits, finished with a .277 batting average and 1,331 RBIs in his career. Although his numbers do not hail in comparison some of the big sluggers of today, they exceed a lot of his peers when he played.

Perhaps the committee is so in love with the bloated and perhaps supplement aided numbers of today, that they don’t see a quality ballplayer any more when it is in front of them.

In the end, I hope Santo does get in. Though I am not a Cubs fan, he’s a good man and is proud example of the heart and soul of Chicago.

* photo from starpulse.com


MLB Stuffage:

No comments:

Proud Partner: Ticket Network

We have top views at Orioles, games, plus a loaded NFL, schedule. Check these tix to Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers, Atlanta Falcons, New England Patriots and Denver Broncos.

Proud Partner - Crisp Ads

CrispAds Blog Ads