NEWBIES FROM NOON: Edgar Martinez @12 Roy Halladay @3 Mario Rivera @6 Mike Mussina @9
Writer Bryan T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle put it very well, even if droves of others find themselves sitting in the same puddle of newly reenforced imagery this morning of what the Hall of Fame has been becoming and unabashedly now reached. ~ The Hall of Fame in Cooperstown is now almost full bore into the practice of inducting famous players who once were “very good, but not great” ballplayers during their careers.
I would have to agree. Of the four men inducted by the BBWAA yesterday, only save king reliever Mariano Rivera was “great”. ~ Pitchers Roy Halladay and Mike Mussina ~ and designated hitter Edgar Martinez were only “very good”, but all were were very famous and also good enough to draw visitor crowds and a large TV audience to Cooperstown, New York for the annual induction celebration on the culturally pastoral lawns of upstate New York.
In earlier times, when there were no inductions due to the absence of any great player candidates, the kind of high dollar event that now stages itself each year would have been impossible. Now, however, inductees are necessary to draw attention and financial aid to the induction event. It is the event that is important now. The importance of the specific players being honored? ~ Not so much.
It’s not just a baseball thing.
This is the era of event importance over what is actually happening. One doesn’t have to be qualified to hold public office today at any level to find themselves elected by the voters to service. They just have to be able to make the voters think that their elections are going to make a difference either way, left or right.
Look at today’s movies, if you can sit through the special effects noise of a battle between two “who cares who wins” foes. Movies no longer have to be great or deep in storyline to win Academy Awards; movies based on video games have a chance to win awards today that once were reserved for great story and acting. Now it seems that they just have to succeed in luring the younger crowds and and all their dollars to the theaters ~ and the Academy Awards night simply becomes the event which celebrates their fame and not their greatness.
Please check out Smith’s column for a much more detailed and interesting look at how this is working in the way very good players now are finding their ways wide open through what we might call the “event window” and into the Hall of Fame.
As for these four 2019 BBWAA-inducted players, Mariano Rivera is the only “no-brainer” great one. The rest are obviously very good and only arguably “great” in the eyes of some ~ but enough to get well past the 75% vote total each needed from some of the voters who supported them ~ not because they were great ~ but because they were “good enough” to go in. That’s my read, anyway.
Rivera, in fact, was no surprise, even if his 100% first ever complete voter support was a little shocking in light of the fact that even Ruth never did that well. On the other hand, who could have honestly not voted for the greatest closer of all time ~ especially in light of the “good enough” names he shared space with on this ballot.
“And I say to myself ~ what a wonderful world!” ~ Louis Armstrong.
********************
Bill McCurdy
Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher
The Pecan Park Eagle
Houston, Baseball, & Other Musings.
The Pecan Park Eagle 