1/9/07 Hall Says No To "The Hawk" And The "Rock", But Keeps Doors Open.

     Andre Dawson, who in 21 seasons, had 2,774 hits, 438 HR's and a .279 AVG, fell 9.1 points short of the 75% of votes cast by the Baseball Writers of America necessary for a former Major League Baseball player to earn election into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, in Cooperstown, NY.

     With 358 total votes in favor of Dawson's entry into the Hall, "The Hawk" received 226 more votes than his former Montreal Expos teammate, the original "Rock", Tim Raines, who received just 132 votes, or 24.3% of the total votes cast.

     The good news is, of course, that both Dawson and Raines finished with more than enough votes to stay above the dreaded 5.0% line of the total votes, which would eliminate any player from consideration for entry into the Hall unless the Veterans Commitee eventually sees fit to say otherwise.

     Richard Michael "Goose" Gossage, who is probably the main source of my fascination with the Major League closer, was elected to the Hall of Fame in his ninth year on the ballot of eligible players, which is probably fitting for a pitcher who earned his reputation as the lights-out closer for the White Sox, Pirates, Yankees, Padres, Cubs, Giants, Rangers, A's and Mariners over twenty-two years in the game.

     (124-107) record, 310 saves, 1809.1 IP, career 3.01 ERA, 1,502 K's, and even 16 complete games out of the 37 games as a starter Goose Gossage pitched for the White Sox early in his career. And speaking of the White Sox...

      What about these numbers for Hall of Fame consideration?...

     13 MLB seasons(1908-1920), a .356 career batting average, 1,772 hits in 4,981 at bats, 307 doubles, 168 triples, 54 HR's, 785 RBI's, 202 stolen bases, .423 career OBP, and in two World Series appearances in 1917 and 1919...

     ...Joseph Jefferson "Shoeless Joe" Jackson, hit .345 in 14 games and 55 at bats, with 19 hits, 2 doubles, 1 HR, and 8 RBI's, out of which a .375 AVG, 12 hits, both doubles, the 1 HR, and 6 of the 8 RBI's are from the 1919 World Series Joe Jackson is said to have "thrown".

     Forgive Joe Jackson...

(ed. note- "C'mon, he hit .408 in 1911.)

*Hall of Fame Links*

mlb.com's Barry M. Bloom's article "Hall welcomes Gossage into its doors" on mlb.com:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080108&content_id=2341502&vkey=news_mlb&fext=. jsp&c_id=mlb

Rich "Goose" Gossage's career stats at mlb.com:

http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/historical/mlb_player_locator_results.jsp?playerLocator=gossage

"Shoeless" Joe Jackson's career stats at baseball-reference.com:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/j/jacksjo01.shtml

www.shoelessjoejackson.com