There's a dozen baseball pitchers not in the baseball HOF with better records than that guy.
2007-12-26 03:24:18 · 8 answers · asked by Stewie Griffin 2 in Sports ➔ Baseball
The HOF kept Tim Robbins from a HOF celebration simply because they didn't like his politics. Largent and Ryun athletic performances earned them rightful sports in their HOFs. Don't know about Kemp's record, guessing it wasn't a long enough career.
2007-12-26 03:46:40 · update #1
Bunning was put in the HOF by the Veteran's comm. in 1996, they bypassed Mel Harder and are ignoring Luis Tiant. Ok, not a dozen guys, but a few others who should be in HOF with Bunning.
2007-12-26 05:57:03 · update #2
It wouldn't shock me -- oh, not the actual Veterans Committee voters at the time, but if Jane and various other olde-moneyed board members had hinted that, gosh, wouldn't it be nice to enshrine a sitting Senator, the boys on the zero-accountability VC would have seen clearly the path before them. Always a warm thought to have a friend in the corridors of power, especially whenever the anti-trust exemption comes into the legislative crosshairs, as it tends to do every 15-20 years.
Bunning isn't a bad choice, though the Hall didn't need to have him among its honorees.
2007-12-26 04:44:18 · answer #1 · answered by Chipmaker Authentic 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Bunning was a borderline case, but he won over 100 games in each league, pitched a no-hitter in each league, and had one of the best sliders ever. That he later became a crazy right-wing Republican should have no bearing on his performance in his sport, just as it shouldn't for Steve Largent and Jim Ryun, who made the Hall of Fame in theirs. Besides, Jack Kemp isn't in the Pro Football Hall of Fame... but then, he's only a conservative, not a wingnut. And longtime Democratic Senator Bill Bradley is in the Basketball Hall of Fame. So it's not about party. (Ken Dryden was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame long before he was elected to Parliament.)
2007-12-26 03:34:30 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
What a foolish question. Do you really think that politics enters into everything? I'd like to see just one liberal that can appreciate a person for their merit, rather than some arbitrary standard of politics.
Jim Bunning was a borderline HOFr. Not only did he win 20 in his first full MLB season, but he won 19 in 4 of 5 seasons. Not only did he win over 100 games in each league, he also pitched no-hitters in each league.
If there is someone who is in the HOF who doesn't deserve it, I would think you would target Whitey Ford. If he had pitched in the same circumstances that Bunning had pitched, or if he had not pitched for the NYY, he would never have been in the HOF.
I'm curious about one thing, just what is it that makes you so convinced that Jim Bunning was put in just because of his politics? Would it be because he has 9 children? How about that he believes that children in the womb should be protected, just as any other human being should? Or maybe it's because he believes that people who come into our country illegally should (GASP!) be sent back to their own countries so that they can try to enter LEGALLY?
2007-12-26 05:20:36 · answer #3 · answered by †Lawrence R† 6 · 1⤊ 3⤋
I really don't think politics had anything to do with it. I don't ever even remember a single time when anything involving Bunning and politics was mentioned. He was a top pitcher on the Tigers and Phillies who were never playoff contenders when he played for them but still had eight seasons of 17 wins, or more, and was very consistent throughout his career with 224 wins and a 3.26 ERA. He was borderline HOF and made it in but politics was never an issue.
2007-12-26 04:04:48 · answer #4 · answered by Frizzer 7 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Borderline Hall of Famer, IMO.
Another note to his accomplishments: I believe I'm correct on this and if anyone knows otherwise, please tell me. Bunning, Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson are the only pitchers to lead each league in strikeouts.
2007-12-26 05:34:38 · answer #5 · answered by llk51 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
You are right. Definitely something wrong there.
BTW, it may interest you to know that I am from Bunning's area, and that he painted an opponent of his in the last election as gay, just out of the blue. The man was a medical doctor. Predictably, the lie sold well with the hillbillies because they think anyone who sounds smart IS gay.
I don't believe in rewarding rat-b•st•rds.
2007-12-26 03:30:17 · answer #6 · answered by Mr. Vincent Van Jessup 6 · 5⤊ 2⤋
I don't know about whether or not they are Republican, but if he was as competent at baseball as he is at being a Senator, he shouldn't even have made the tee-ball hall of fame let alone the one in Cooperstown.
2007-12-26 03:33:45 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
Oh great, B-L-A-M-E the EVIL republicans again!
2007-12-26 03:27:04 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 5⤋