RY YES
Honor great player stuck on bad teams
By Jimmy Greenfield.
If there were ever a baseball player whose statistics determined whether he should be inducted into the Hall of Fame, it’s Ryne Sandberg, a combination of dazzling and dull baseball we won’t soon see again.
Lord knows he’s not getting in because he played on great teams or because of his personality, which was never more fun to witness when set against Harry Caray. But Sandberg should get in, and rightly so.
He’s not as great as Joe Morgan or Roberto Alomar, but he’s one of the five best second basemen ever. There’s no reason to make him wait any more than Gary Carter should have had to wait to get in.
If Sandberg doesn’t receive enshrinement immediately it will be because of his ill-advised first retirement. Young voters saw him when his fielding was merely good and his hitting was barely mediocre.
The truth is that there are enough admirers of Sandberg who have long given him credit for his greatness as a fielder, even before he started hitting 30 homers a season. Sandberg’s lone MVP season in 1984 came when he only had 19 homers and 84 RBIs but committed just six errors.
The argument against Sandberg for having never played in a World Series is a ridiculous standard to hold any player to, especially one whose career is in Chicago. Besides, in his only two playoff series–against San Diego in 1984 and San Francisco in 1989–Sandberg hit .368 and .400.
The argument that Sandberg’s offensive numbers would have made him an above-average outfielder obtusely dismisses the importance of playing the field, which he did as well as almost anybody.
If Ryne Sandberg doesn’t get in the Hall of Fame on the first ballot it won’t be a shame, it will just be a mistake.
RY NO
If he sticks at third, he isn’t scoring in Hall
By Joe Knowles.
Maybe I missed it, but I don’t remember much Hall of Fame hullabaloo for Lou Whitaker or Bobby Grich. They were second basemen of Ryne Sandberg’s era, and pretty good ones. In fact, if you check the stats, you’ll see that their numbers stack up quite nicely against Ryno’s, though he’s arguably the best player of the three.
So why is it that Cubs fans consider Ryno a first-ballot Hall of Famer? The only second basemen to earn that honor are Jackie Robinson, Joe Morgan and Rod Carew, and if you think Sandberg is their equal, I’ve got some Everglades real estate and a used car you might be interested in.
Every first-ballot Hall-of-Famer–except one–played in a World Series. The lone exception? Ernie Banks, Mr. Cub himself. But unlike Sandberg, Banks had indisputable Hall credentials, including 512 home runs and back-to-back MVP awards.
Sandberg was a very good player, granted. But if he had played the position he should have played–third base–he wouldn’t be getting serious Hall of Fame consideration. Second basemen are generally light in the stick and long in the glove, which is why Sandberg stood out. His 282 homers are a lot for a second baseman, but that’s like being the slam-dunk champion in a pygmy colony. Simply put, if Sandberg had played third, he would have to take his place in line behind Ron Santo, who was a better player for a longer amount of time.
Based on today’s watered-down standards, Sandberg is probably going to Cooperstown sooner or later.
I say make it later. He should have to wait his turn. Like Nellie Fox did. Like Santo is doing.
