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Hey, a little respect for some of these players even though they aren't expected to be on the ballot next year!
Bronson Arroyo - "16 stellar seasons that included an All-Star selection, a Gold Glove and a World Series title."
Matt Cain - "he threw the only perfect game in [Giants] franchise history ... his stalwart effort in the 2010 postseason (21 1/3 innings, no earned runs) helped the Giants win their first title in San Francisco, and he never threw a pitch for another team."
R.A. Dickey - "The knuckleball is a sorcerer’s trick, a mystical misfit in an era of predictive data. Nobody knows where the pitch is going — though, sadly, all signs point to extinction. Last season, only position players moonlighting on the mound tried the knuckler, the pitch R.A. Dickey used to win the National League Cy Young Award for the Mets in 2012."
Jacoby Ellsbury - [definitely reaching here] "had only four or five good seasons, but his career stolen base total — 343 — would lead all active players today."
Andre Ethier - "a 12-year career as a dependable right fielder for the Dodgers."
J.J. Hardy - "won three Gold Gloves as the Orioles’ shortstop and was known as the best table tennis player in baseball."
John Lackey - "the first rookie to win a [2002 World Series] Game 7 since the Pirates’ Babe Adams in 1909 ... went on to help the Red Sox and the Cubs reach the top, joining Bullet Joe Bush, Jack Morris and Dave Stewart as the only pitchers on championship-winning rosters for three franchises."
Mike Napoli - "would have been MVP of the 2011 had the Cardinals not rallied to beat the Rangers ... the Rangers have never returned to the World Series, but Napoli went twice more, winning in 2013 with Boston and losing in 2016 with Cleveland."
Jhonny Peralta - "Before the Astros regularly bounced the Yankees from the playoffs, it was Jhonny Peralta’s job. He did it three times in a short span, with Cleveland in 2007 and Detroit in 2011 and 2012, batting .353 with 18 hits."
Francisco Rodriguez - "What do you remember most about Francisco Rodriguez: the brilliance on the mound or the violence off it? He had 437 saves, including a single-season record 62 for the Angels in 2008. He was also arrested on assault charges at Citi Field in August 2010 after punching his girlfriend’s father outside the family room near the Mets’ clubhouse."
Huston Street - "324 saves in Major League Baseball, all in three- or four-year stints for West Division teams: Oakland, Colorado, San Diego and the Angels."
Jered Weaver - "In his first nine seasons with the Angels, through 2014, only Justin Verlander and C.C. Sabathia earned more victories."
Jayson Werth - "When Werth signed a seven-year, $126 million contract with Washington in December 2010, it flummoxed the sport: Here was a solid player for the powerhouse Phillies being paid like a star to move to the struggling Nationals ... for most of his deal, the teams’ fortunes were indeed flipped."
You may chuckle at the inclusion of some of these guys but seriously, there is something to be said for just having appeared on a Baseball Hall of Fame ballot.
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- Bru
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