Vols Football in BASEBALL HOF!

[Brave Volunteer]

Frank Thomas, auburn

Admittedly, I'm not well versed on FT's stats in the MLB but did he really have HOF worthy numbers? I seem to remember him being a big deal for a handful of years but I always thought his career kind of petered out.

 

[LAVol1]

Welp, in the 1989 All Star game, Bo certainly looked like the best player on the field. Oh wait; he was the MVP ! Then just two years later (age 28) he suffered the devastating injury playing football. So we really have no idea how his baseball career might have gone. 10 more years? 15? One thing we do know, he was electrifying in both sports. And we do know Bo was elected to the Royals Hall of Fame. So we can extrapolate. At least I can. I think your reference to the WAR is a stretch to disqualify Bo , as I doubt the electors factor that stat into their criteria . And since Jackson was really just coming into his own in Pro baseball, I think what we saw from him was a small sample of the kind of player he could have been. Most baseball historians agree with me. From "You don't know Bo, an espn documentary , the Writer Chuck Klosternan's Quote:
"The numbers, though, do lay claim that had Jackson stayed healthy his entire career, he could have made a very good case of making the Hall of Fame.
In 1990, the season before he picked up the injury, Jackson was entering his prime. The previous season he hit 32 home runs and drove in 105 runs. He was the All-Star Game MVP and finished 10th in the MVP voting". But, Bo was much more than stats. He was instant energy and provided excitement and motivation to his entire team. I don't hate Auburn enough to knock on the best 2 sport athlete we have seen since Jim Thorpe.

You make a good argument, but a high percentage of HOF voters do emphasize stats and make statistical comparisons to those great players NOT in the HOF. I would contend that had Bo not played football, he might have made the HOF. But, playing football detracted from his baseball stats and, while, IMO, the greatest athlete of all time, even greater than Thorpe, he would not have had the stats to get 75% of voters to vote him in the HOF. Having said that, if I were a HOF voter, I would vote for him because he was the greatest athlete ever to play the game and could do things no other player could do.

Let's start another debate: Other than Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe, what former MLB player should be in the HOF that has not garnered the votes to get in? I contend its Billy Wagner.

 

[JohnWardForever]

You make a good argument, but a high percentage of HOF voters do emphasize stats and make statistical comparisons to those great players NOT in the HOF. I would contend that had Bo not played football, he might have made the HOF. But, playing football detracted from his baseball stats and, while, IMO, the greatest athlete of all time, even greater than Thorpe, he would not have had the stats to get 75% of voters to vote him in the HOF. Having said that, if I were a HOF voter, I would vote for him because he was the greatest athlete ever to play the game and could do things no other player could do.

Let's start another debate: Other than Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe, what former MLB player should be in the HOF that has not garnered the votes to get in? I contend its Billy Wagner.

I'd definitely agree with Shoeless Joe and really, With the Proliferation of Sports Betting , what's the problem with electing Pete Rose? The Man has paid for his "crime". Sanctimonious MLB.