[Carlton]

Why Whiskey Allen, Raymond Gindler and Flaky Arsneault are NOT HOFers and WHO should belong
Danny "Doubleheader" Tripoli
New York Times

As I sit and look at the inaugral HOF class, one conspiracy is that Whiskey Allen was not there. Well there is a good reason.

Whiskey, although the 1st man to have 3000 hits, a .400 average, was a cancer on his team. Yes he won two WS rings, but was it due to his anemic .230 WS average?

I think not

In fact one of his rings, came courtesy of him...not playing!!

He could hit the ball, no one can deny that, but unlike his contemporary Harry Cohan, he was terrible defensively. Cohan was the amrk of greatness behind the plate, and shares the Majors record of two no hitters caught and the ML leader in assists, putouts and range factor. As great as Cohan was behind the plate that's how bad Whiskey Allen was...

Whiskey still holds the ML record for catchers in Passed Balls, errors and worst fielding %...and his antics, drinking and demanding of trades, as early as his 2nd season caused distraction on a talented ball club that should have won many more rings.

I sat down with what I consider the more talented of the early Cleveland tams "Frenchie" Fournier and posed a question on how Whiskey Allen was around the early part of his career.

"Well" stated Frenchie, "Whiskey was a hard man to become friends wit, ya know? He couldn't understand why no one was as talented as he was, and it frustrated him...plus from what I heard from dem pitchers, he would walk out and tell them if they couldn't pitch then get the hell out of Cleveland...right in the middle of the game! He was fiery, but I think maybe too much. He was mad when he didn't win Roookie of the Year, and he told dem writers to shove it...and it cost him Batter of the Year, the next year...well that was it...he wanted to be admired, but the way he acted dem writers hated his guts...after that year, sometimes we had to send the mascot ball to the local tavern 20 minutes 'fore the game...cause he was drinking shot after shot, trading game balls for more drinks."

And the alcohol not only affect his already surly attitude, but affected his health, always when Cleveland needed him the most.

As for the second man, I will go to the grave KNOWING...that Flaky Arsneault threw that 1919 World Series, and to top it off, he made terrible plays in the '20 World Series to boot. Why Abe Attell never pointed the finger at Flaky is beyond me, but I was at both World Series and it was obvious...he was not on the up and up. Yet he will get in and it will be a tarnish to the HOF.

Raymond Gindler, another player who for some reason, like Whiskey, was great when it didn't matter, but was hurt or for some reason faltered when the rumors of gamblers was around, and as Frenchie told me...it was the St. Louis defense that was feared and not Gindler.

"I 'member," recalls Fournier "Dem Browns teams had 3 great guys on defense, (Edmund) Dordan at 1st, he would try and git ya wit that hidden ball trick...and he got Whiskey 'bout 4 times one year, plus he and Turley, when he was wit the Browns would run a pickoff throw and Dordan would pretend it got by him, then easy throw it to 2nd and you were a dead duck...guy named (Fabian) White at 2nd...he was a vacuum, ya couldn't pull the ball if you was a lefty, cause he played almost in RF and would leap and rob ya...and if you tried and spike 'em to break up the double play, he'd smack the teeth outta ya mouth and then pour tabasco right on the dugout steps in full view of ya, just to shows ya, he didn't care...that itimidated some of the young guys...and that guy on 3rd Ralph Nida...man...he took away the bunt, no way you could bunt wit a guy on 3rd cause he'd smack the guy in the gut and with that arm, would rope it to 1st wit a double play...and Ray Gindler, well thats why his ERA was always low...he'd just throw it low and let the defense take you out!"

That leads me to WHO should be in the next class, let's talk about some of the guys who aren't eligible for some reason...well "Frenchie Fournier is one...the leader of those early Cleveland teams, and a;ways overshadowed by the defense wizardry of Nida, he was always 2nd best defensivly, but unlike Nida, he won multiple POTM awards and drove the Cleveland team, especially the year Whiskey for whatever reason decided to skip.

Another man is "Dark Horse" Allen, most of his great seasons came before the AL came about, but he was the driving force behind the 1st 3 Philly pennant winners, and as many state, they became baseball players...because they wanted to be "Dark Horse Allen.

"Shepard" McBean...no one was more feared in his prime than McBean, who is still the only man to strike out 15 in a game. He still holds the Senators ERA and wins record. However, arm troubles and a terrible head fracture made his career short and the head shot in particular, forced his decline. He had constant dizzy spells on the mound and sometimes seizures.

"Shepard," Fornier states, "That Senators team for the most part was an easy 3 games, unless Shepard was pitching. He would stare ya down and if you crowded the plate would throw 3 inside pitches, then pop 3 outside after you backed off, and you'd just let 'em go, cause you were off the plate so much, you couldn't reach 'em if ya tried. Then the next time, he'd knew if you figured it out, then he'd throw 3 right over the plate with that spitter and you'd never even have a chance. After his terrible accident, he wasn't as fast or dominant, but he'd always out thinks ya...he was a smart man...and he was the only reason dem bums won the 1913 World Series...I think he still holds that record for 3 wins. As far as I am concerned, Shepard was the 2nd best pitcher I ever faced, right behind (Andrew) Murphy. That 1913 year, well McBean carried that team...no one thought they could beat the Cubs...no one except Shepard"

In fact, Frenchie is right, no other pitcher has matched the dominance of Shepard McBean taking the hapless Senators from 7th to 1st and what many thought would be an easy sweep for the way more talented Cubs team...McBean shut down the power and speed of the Cubs. It is still is considered the biggest World Series upset ever.

As for Washington they had another great player, Catcher Tom Turley, whom many consider the second best cather ever after Harry Cohan...

"Turley," Founrier says, "He had a great arm, and he did some many things to help his team win, he'd talk to you make you off balance when yous was batting, and he was the first to wear shinguards, and man, he'd pick you off at first if you were paying attention. As for stealing, well, no one ever tried to steal on Turley...unless you had a slow pitcher on the mound, cause he could throw from his knees, and hit a perfect striek down to second. Plus he was quick on the bases, I think he hit so many triples for a catcher."

and last but not least, another guy who dominated in the pre 1900 era..."Evil" Gary Archer...he nickname was well earned, he still has the ML record for hits batsmen, wild pitches and career ending headshots. Frenchie remembers him quite well

"Archer? He was the reson I jumped to the AL, he tried to take my head off on more than one occasion, no one wanted to face him, and when you did, you tried to hit singles, cause if you hit a HR or a triple, next time you were up, you knew you were getting one between the eyes...the man was just plain nasty and a jerk. He'd hit his own mother if he would have won a game."

As for the last guy...John "Pops" Falise?

"Pops" Fournier says, "Even before the new ball came into play, he was a slugger, I saw him in Pittsburgh, which was a HUGE park and he almost hit 'em out...and then he could walk to 3rd...with all these HRS now, many don't realize in my time, it was the triple that made you a slugger, and Pops was the best, he never stole alot of bases, but thats cause he was on 2nd or 3rd most of the time...I still remember calling a game in Brooklyn when he hit his 3 homeruns, I think one of those pitches bounced on home plate and he still hit it 500 feet...that guy was amazing"

So that is why my vote goes to these guys for the HOF

Harry Cohan
Dave "Shepard" McBean
"Dark Horse" Allen
"Frenchie" Fournier
"Evil" Gary Archer
John "Pops" Falise

The heck with HOF standards...the HOF is for the best of the best...the guys who never gave up, who always hustled...who gave it all on the field and none were better than these men!