While the NFL is dealing with Lawrence Taylor’s legal issues and Minnesota courts ruling that the Williams wall will have to serve four games in the StarCaps fiasco, Major League Baseball lost another Hall of Famer. At 83 Robin Roberts was a far cry from a Whiz Kid, but still owned the hearts of Phillies fans.

Roberts was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976. He was named to seven consecutive All-Star games and won the 1952 Major League Player of the Year, the 1952 & 1955 TSN NL Pitcher of the Year, and the 1962 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award.

He ranked 28th on the all-time wins list with 286. The workhorse pitcher ranked 21st on the all-time innings pitched list with 4688-2/3 innings, including leading the league five consecutive years (’51-’56). He also ranked 40th in strikeouts (2357), 20th in starts (609), 38th in complete games (305), 29th in shutouts (45), and the dubious distinction of allowing more HRs (505) than any other pitcher.

Even after his retirement he remained one of the most beloved sports figures in Philadelphia. My condolences go out to his family and friends, the Phillies, and all of his fans.

Stats from baseball-reference.com.

The question at hand is “in almost every rookie class you have one or two Hall of Famers. 2009 will probably be no different. So what rookies from last year do you think can be Hall of Famers”?

My response:
I’m going to have to go with Matt Wieters. Not only is he a talented catcher, but the position is ripe for the picking. Obviously Joe Mauer is going to be a top catcher for the next few years barring injury, but there are already rumblings of him moving the first base. Victor Martinez won’t be catching much longer.

Wieters had a nice rookie season, and should blow up this year. Anyone who has been described as Mauer with power raises eyebrows. By season’s end he could be a top two or three offensive catcher, a reign that could last for a decade or more. He will then transition to first base or DH and continue his pursuit.

Tommy Hanson or Rick Porcello are nice options, but take a look at the list of Hall of Famers (http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/hof.shtml). Nolan Ryan was the last full-time starter to make it to Cooperstown.

I’m not sure last year’s rookie class has a HOFer, but if there is one, my guess is it’s Wieters. 

What are your thoughts?

Fergie is quoted as saying “You have yet to apologize to all the pitchers you faced while juiced. You altered pitchers’ lives. You may have shortened pitchers careers because of the advantage you forced over them while juiced. Have you thought about what happened when they couldn’t get you out and lost the confidence of their managers and general managers? You even managed to alter the place some athletes have achieved in record books by making your steroid-fueled run to the season home run record.”

Is he serious? Surely he can’t think that McGwire and the select group of sluggers that have been exposed were the only ones using steroids. Surely he must know that a large portion of those pitchers he feels were victimized were using as well. The problem with this witch hunt is the blame that’s being distributed to such a small percentage of the guilty parties.

While the steroid era is a black eye for the sport, it’s not the only time players used illegal substances to gain an edge. For years amphetamines have ran rampant in MLB clubhouses. These greenies were taken as a pick-me-up to help endure the marathon season that baseball is.

Now I don’t like some of McGwire’s responses, especially when he said he wished he never played in the steroid era. Not exactly taking responsibility. However, if you read between the lines, he’s subtly letting on just how big of a problem this was. You just don’t know who used and who didn’t. So please spare us with the notion that Albert Pujols, Derek Jeter, Cal Ripken, Ken Griffey Jr., and whoever else had a squeaky clean image never used because you just don’t know. Once upon a time they said the same thing about A-Rod.

Roberto Alomar and Bert Byleven came up just short.

Dawson received 420 of the 539 votes.

After dominating hitters for 22 seasons, Randy Johnson has retired. After becoming a member of the 300-win club, this was to be expected. Randy was easily one of the best pitchers of his era, and one of the finest lefties in baseball history.

He won 303 games, struck out 4875 batters, three a pair of no-hitters  and won five Cy Young Awards. The list of accolades is a mile long.

Whoever gets named to the Hall of Fame tomorrow will welcome Randy as a first ballot Hall of Famer in a few years.

Slam Dunk
Roberto Alomar

Let them In Already
Bert Blyleven
Andre Dawson
Jack Morris
Mark McGwire
Lee Smith

In a Couple Years
Barry Larkin
Edgar Martinez
Dale Murphy
Dave Parker
Tim Raines
Don Mattingly
Alan Trammell

Never
Kevin Appier
Harold Baines
Ellis Burks
Andres Galarraga
Pat Hentgen
Mike Jackson
Erik Karros
Ray Lankford
Fred McGriff
Shane Reynolds
David Segui
Robin Ventura
Todd Zeile

Past Chronicles
Dick Allen
Roberto Alomar
Richie Ashburn*
Earl Averill*
Harold Baines
Dan Bancroft*
Jake Beckley*
Albert Belle
Jim Bottomley*
Pete Browning
Jim Bunning *
Bert Byleven
Joe Carter
Orlando Cepeda*
Rocky Colavito
Earle Combs*
Dave Concepcion
David Cone
Roger Connor*
Larry Corcoran
Stan Coveleski*
Mike Cuellar
Kiki Cuyler*
Bill Dahlen
Jim Edmonds
George Davis*
Andre Dawson
Larry Doby*
Bobby Doerr*
Jimmie Dykes (Player/Manager)
Dwight Evans
Rick Ferrell*
Wes Ferrell
Chuck Finley
Steve Finley
Nellie Fox*
John Franco
Gary Gaetti
Steve Garvey
Lefty Gomez*
Luis Gonzalez
Dwight Gooden
Joe Gordon
Mark Grace
Bobby Grich
Charlie Grimm (Player/Manager)
Ron Guidry
Chick Hafey*
Jesse Haines*
Billy Herman*
Keith Hernandez
Orel Hershiser
Whitey Herzog (Manager)
Gil Hodges
Ralph Houk (Manager)
Waite Hoyt*
Shoeless Joe Jackson
Travis Jackson*
Tommy John
Bob Johnson
Addie Joss*
Jim Kaat
George Kell*
Joe Kelley*
George Kelly*
Tom Kelly (Manager)
Chuck Klein*
Jerry Koosman
Bill James & Pete Palmer
Barry Larkin
Tony Lazzeri*
Freddie Lindstrom*
Mickey Lolich
Ernie Lombardi*
Fred Lynn
Sherry Magee
Roger Maris
Rube Marquard*
Billy Martin (Player/Manager)
Dennis Martinez
Edgar Martinez
Bobby Matthews
Don Mattingly
Gene Mauch (Manager)
Carl Mays
Bill Mazeroski*
Fred McGriff
Mark McGwire
Bid McPhee
Johnny Mize*
Paul Molitor*
Jack Morris
Tony Mullane
Dale Murphy
Graig Nettles
Hal Newhouser*
Lefty O’Doul
Tony Oliva
Al Oliver
Buck O’Neill & Minnie Minoso
Dave Parker
Wes Parker
Lance Parrish
Vada Pinson
Boog Powell
Tim Raines
Willie Randolph
Pee Wee Reese*
Allie Reynolds
Jim Rice
Phil Rizzuto*
Brooks Robinson*
Pete Ro$e
Amos Rusie*
Jimmy Ryan
Ron Santo
Curt Schilling
Red Schoendienst* (Player/Manager)
Ted Simmons
Enos Slaughter*
Lee Smith
Rusty Staub
Vern Stephens
Dave Stieb
Mel Stottlemyre
Harry Stovey
Sam Thompson
Luís Tiant
Joe Torre
Alan Trammell
George Van Haltren
Arky Vaughan*
Mo Vaughn
Bobby Veach
Mickey Vernon
Frank Viola
Bucky Walters
Mickey Welch*
Lou Whitaker
Deacon White
Bernie Williams
Vic Willis*
Maury Wills
Hack Wilson*
Ross Youngs*
Veterans Committee Ballot

* Signifies actual Hall of Famers