darko
Registered User
- Feb 16, 2009
- 70,269
- 7,797
Hall of Very good is for people who were very good but not Hall of Fame caliber. Halladay was a first ballot Hall of Famer almost his entire career, and then in his second last season he started to have shoulder problems that wrecked his arm. He could have, like many pitchers, pushed through it to put up 3-4 more seasons of 4.50+ ERA and 180+ innings. Which would have given up upwards of 20 more wins, 4-5 more WAR, a few hundred more strikeouts, etc. Why did he need that to be a Hall of Famer? He had 10 years where he was a top five pitcher in baseball, several seasons where he was the best, a perfect game, a no-hitter, Cy Young's in both leagues. Halladay is the epitome of the modern-ERA Hall of Fame pitcher.
People said the same thing about Vlad. Halladay is going to get in. I would have said 2nd or 3rd ballot before his death, but there's a reasonable chance for first ballot now.
Obviously Mussina had a longer career, but it's also obvious Hallady was a better pitcher. Halladay was an elite pitcher for 10 years, while Mussina was a very good pitcher for 17 years. Both should be Hall of Famers.
Doc sticking around another 3-4 years to push through it wouldn't have done much for him at all. No issues with him going in. I'm just stricter with HOF than most.