Baseball Hall of Fame, Part I

Breaking news: Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera have both re-signed with the Yankees.  Is anybody surprised here?  No one?  Didn't think so.  The Jeter negotiations further enhance my belief that I should be the Yankees GM, seeing as I said about a month ago that if they offered him three years at $50 million he'd take it, and he ended up getting $51 million plus incentives for the same three years, with an option for a fourth.

Derek's former boss, the late George Steinbrenner is one of 12 candidates up for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame through the Veterans Committee.  They keep changing the way the Veterans Committe is set up, so I'm not exactly sure what the rules are anymore, but I know that they announce the results tomorrow.  Steinbrenner's up for election as a part of the "Expansion Era" ballot, which basically means "Since 1973."  There are also two other executives, eight players and Steinbrenner's favorite manager Billy Martin up for election.  (I'll now ask the pressing question: If Steinbrenner and Martin both get in, do Hank and Hal get to fire Billy's kids, then re-hire them after the induction?)

You never know who's going to get in through the Veterans Committee, but I think George will get in, as will Marvin Miller (finally!) and Dave Concepcion.  I'm not just saying this because I'm a Yankees fan, but George Steinbrenner should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Complain all you want about Steinbrenner "buying" his team, you can't argue with the fact that he showed other owners how to build a winner in the modern era of baseball.  He was the first owner to embrace free agency, and it got him two World Series titles in the 70s.  And don't forget the dynasty in the late-90s, which was built through a combination of homegrown talent (the Core Four), smart trades (Paul O'Neill) and wise free agent decisions (Tino Martinez, Jimmy Key).  Then there was last year's team, which made it seven titles in 37 years of owning the team.  Plus establishing the YES Network, the new model for regional sports channels, and building the New Yankee Stadium.  Yes, his team played in New York.  So what?  When you own the New York Yankees, your fans expect a certain level of success.  George Steinbrenner expected that same success out of his team as its fans did, and did what he could to make sure the Yankees won.  But again, the model he established is the way you have to do business in baseball in the modern era.  And his teams had the success to prove his system worked.

I also hope this is the year Marvin Miller finally gets in.  It's a travesty that this guy isn't in the Hall of Fame yet, and the only reason he's not is because for many years, the Veterans Committee was made up of owners, most of whom despise Marvin Miller.  For those of you not familiar with the name, he was the first director of the MLB players' union.  Marvin Miller helped the players get free agency (and most of the other benefits they enjoy today), which ushered in baseball's modern era.  He's one of the most influential people in the game over the past 30 years.  The owners of course are still bitter about the strikes of 1981 and 1994, and as the union head, Miller was blamed (although Donald Fehr had taken over by the time of the '94 strike), which is why he isn't in yet.  But if the Hall of Fame is a place to recognize those individuals who've had the greatest impact on the game, you can't give me a valid reason why Marvin Miller doesn't deserve a place in Cooperstown.

Now, I don't think Dave Concepcion is one of the greatest 1% of players in baseball history, but as prior evidence shows, you don't necessarily need to be in order to get in.  You just need friends on the Veterans Committee (Bill Mazeroski, I'm talking to you), which is why I think Concepcion gets in.  His Reds teammates Johnny Bench and Tony Perez are among the voters.  The Big Red Machine's shortstop, Concepcion was a nine-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove winner.  He was also the MVP of the 1982 All-Star Game.  But he only had 2,326 hits and was a .267 career hitter.  I know the argument is that Concepcion's real value was with his glove, and that lineup was loaded, but in my opinion, Dave Concepcion's numbers don't add up to a Hall of Famer.  I'd vote for Tommy John, Ron Guidry or Steve Garvey before I voted for Concepcion, but I think Concepcion will be the only player to get in (before Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar are voted in by the writers next month).  But, the history of Veterans Committee elections also suggests that it's entirely possible nobody joins Blyleven and Alomar in Cooperstown in July.

Oh, and it turns out that Qatar DOES have a national soccer team.  They're currently ranked 116th in the world.  Now we have 12 years to agree on the pronunciation of the country's name.  (I prefer KUH-tar over CAT-ter; there's no U, so it's not "CUTTER".)