There’s no fixed formula for being offered eternal membership
into baseball’s Hall of Fame — no minimum number of seasons
playing or All-Star selections or MVP’s for election into the royal
palace situated in Cooperstown, New York.
How else do you excuse a pitcher’s failure to be so honored
despite his falling short of the magic number of 300 victories by a
mere dozen or his lasting and being so valued for 26 seasons (when
the overwhelming number of players in the Hall couldn’t have
dreamed of reaching such zeniths of skill and team value?) Selection
in multiple All-Star games? Check! Fewer career losses than Nolan
Ryan? Check! Pioneering an off-field act that has by now extended
careers of thousands of baseball players (a number which will be
increased exponentially in the future – – – and help many others
enter the Hall permanently (Are you listening, Jacob de Grom?)
Check!!
Say the name Tommy John and the knee-jerk response is “surgery”
when it should be “Hall of Fame pitcher”! He earned the honor based
on his feats on and off the field. There are announcers in the Hall
who never played (or barely played – – – as with Bob Uecker). John
belongs based on his value of a 288 game-winning career and his
part in helping other players influence so many games, so many wins.
He is gone now . . . but Baseball has a debt to pay him for. There are
no reservations about the place reserved for him in that baseball
Palace, for he proved himself baseball royalty more than once.