2017 Hall of Fame - Baseball

Congratulations to the newest inductees into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.  John Schuerholz, Bud Selig, Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines and Ivan Rodriguez are the newest members of the Hall.  I was fortunate to have seen this class play in person or see the game they had touched.

I saw several Schuerholz teams in person namely the 1985 Kansas City Royals and the Atlanta Braves of the 1990s.  As a St. Louis Cardinal fan I was disappointed in 1985 when the Royals came back from a three to one World Series game deficit to beat the Cardinals.  I lived in Central Missouri at the time and the Royals were my favorite American League team and I had seen them play five or six games that season at Kauffman Stadium.  But, when the Royals beat the Cards, especially in game six, it was a tough day.

I also saw Schuerholz teams that knocked the Cardinals out of the playoffs on several occasions in the late 90s. The thing I remember about those Braves teams was the pitching of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz.  All three of them are now enshrined in the Hall at Cooperstown.

I was never a fan of Bud Selig but ultimately he does belong in the Hall of Fame because of the labor peace that existed after the strike of 1994.  He told those in attendance at his induction speech that was the toughest fall he has ever had.  I am still critical of Selig for letting the greed of owners and players cancel something that neither World War One or Two could terminate.  Selig will also be remembered and have to bear the responsibility for presiding over the games PED scandals of the late 90s and early 2000s.

Jeff  Bagwell was always a thorn in the side of the Cardinals.  It seemed as if each time the Houston Astros had runners in scoring position, Bagwell was coming to the plate at Busch Stadium.  There was a period in the mid 2000's when the Cards and Astros were rivals and seemed to run into each other each post season.  And one of the reasons the Astros were there was because of Bagwell.

I consider myself fortunate to have seen Tim Raines play against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium II on many occasions when the Montreal Expos came to town.  Having watched Lou Brock in his prime I always enjoyed seeing the role that speed played in manufacturing runs.  Raines was one of the best having stole over 800 bases in his career and having a success rate of stealing over 84 percent.  He was a switch hitter and had power from both sides of the plate.  I know because I saw him homer off Cardinal pitchers from both sides of the plate when he played against the Redbirds.

Ivan Rodriguez was one of the best catchers I ever got to see play in person. I did not see him as often as Raines and Bagwell because he played most of his career in the American League.  But, there was one afternoon in 1996 when I was travelling and in Milwaukee.  The Brewers played a day game at old Milwaukee County Stadium against the Texas Rangers and Rodriguez in early July.  Let's just say  "Pudge" owned the day.  He homered in the first inning on a blast into the left field stands and then came back and homered again in the sixth inning and drove in three more runs in what turned into a blowout.  To top it off Rodriguez also threw out a would be Milwaukee base thief and showed off that marvelous cannon of an arm that he owned.  That day made me a fan of Rodriguez for the rest of his career.