Baseball Hall of Fame

I am getting married in June. I am trying to convince my wife-to-be to have us make a stop at the Baseball Hall of Fame for our honeymoon. This could be a tough sell. I have been to Cooperstown, New York once in my life. I went with my dad and my brother when I was in elementary school. All I can remember about my trip there was that it was awesome. I know I loved it, but I also know I couldn't have possibly appreciated it on the level I am capable of now. I need to go. There is just so much there. Anyway, today I looked on Wikipedia at a list of everyone in the Hall of Fame and I was blown away by some of the names on there. There were dozens of people I have never heard of...and I consider myself a fan? I was also blown away by the fact that no one has received 100% of the vote ever. Not Babe Ruth, not Nolan Ryan, not Cy Young, no one. Only about a dozen players have even received 95% of the vote and most of them have been over the past couple decades. Here's a quick run down of all players to receive at least 95% of the vote. (Quick note for those not up on what it takes to get in...Players are voted in 5 years after they last appeared in the Majors, they must receive at least 75% of the vote from various writers across the country. The system for voting is lousy but those are the rules...)

-Ty Cobb (1936) 98.23%: Cobb was part of the first class inducted into the Hall of Fame. Cobb is possibly best know as a semi-literate racist. However, he was an amazing baseball player. One of two players with over 4,000 hits (Pete Rose), Cobb led the American league in hitting 11 times, batted over .375 11 times, 2nd all time in triples, 4th all time in doubles, 1st all time in batting average, and 4th in stolen bases. His 98.23% is well deserved.

-Babe Ruth (1936) 95.13%: Ruth hit 714 homeruns. Hit 60 in a season. In 1921 he hit 59 homeruns, a TOTAL surpassed by only one other TEAM that season. Once had 171 RBI in one season. Has more fairy tale's about him than any other athlete. A baseball icon, despite the fact that he was a drunk and a womanizer who died at the age of 53. No one has any clue why he only got 95%.

-Honus Wagner (1936) 95.13%: Led the NL in batting eight times, doubles seven times, third all time in triples, hit .333 in winning the World Series with Pittsburgh in 1909. Is on the face of the most valuable baseball card ever.

-Hank Aaron (1981) 97.83%: Never once hit 50 HR in a season but still managed to hit a record 755 for his career, a model of consistency. Finished in the top five in MVP voting eight times, winning once. Third all time in runs scored, first in RBI, and third in hits. As great as everyone knows he was he is a bit underrated. It will be a shame for the most important and recognized in all of sports to go to Barry Bonds. No one can dispute his 97%.

-Johnny Bench (1989) 96.42%: This one surprised me a bit. Everyone can agree he is one of the greatest catchers ever, but 96%? Seems a bit steep for a .267 career hitter. However, Bench did win 10 Gold Gloves, 2 MVPs, and two World Series. Still, he doesn't belong in the same breath as these other guys.

-Tom Seaver (1992) 98.84%: The top vote getter of all time by percentage. Seaver was one of the best of his era. Won three Cy Young awards, won 311 games, ranks sixth all time in strike outs, and perhaps his most impressive accomplishment: he played for 20 seasons and had a career ERA of 2.86. Not too bad. I put him a tad above Bench on this list but behind the others.

-Steve Carlton (1994) 95.82%: Carlton pitched around the same era as Seaver and was always on awful teams. Carlton won 329 career games, easily trumping Seaver, won four Cy Young's, and ranks fourth all time in strike outs. Here is one of the top five most ridiculously impressive statistics ever. In 1972 Carlton won his first Cy Young award. He won 27 games and had an ERA of 1.97, pretty impressive. What makes that accomplishment so amazing is that he did it all for a team that went 59-97. They were awful. Without Carlton's wins they went 32-97.

-Mike Schmidt (1995) 96.52% Another guy who played on a lot of bad teams but just stayed on top of his game. Won 3 MVPs, won 10 Gold Gloves at third base, hit 548 career homeruns before the days of steroids, and won a World Series. However, he's in the Bench crowd as far as Hall of Famer's go. A career .267 hitter who struck out a lot.

-George Brett (1999) 98.19% Played 21 years in Kansas City, gotta give him credit for that, he even brought them a World Series. Won the MVP in 1980 when he hit .390, coming dangerously close to the .400 mark. A member of the 3,000 hit club and a baseball icon. He belongs on this list.

-Nolan Ryan (1999)98.79% One of the closest to a unanimous choice, Ryan is probably best know for throwing an untouchable seven career no-hitters. Hard to believe that anyone will ever do that again. Played 27 seasons, 324 career wins, led the league in strike outs 11 times, and was the oldest players in the American league his final four seasons, a true testament to his longevity. Perhaps most impressive is the fact that he has more than 1,000 more strikeouts that the next closest in the history of baseball.

-Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr (2007) Both players were among the most respected players in the game while they were around. However, Gwynn was a singles hitter and Ripken is best known for playing in over 2,000 consecutive games. The facts are that Ripken was only a .276 career hitter and Gwynn hit only 135 homeruns in 20 seasons during a power era. They are certainly both Hall of Famers, I'm just not sure they belong on this list.