Saturday, January 24, 2015

HALL OF FAME #6: CHICK HAFEY: CLASS OF 1971

Here we have the next player selected for the Hall of Fame in the 1970's by Frankie Frisch and his cronies, Chick Hafey in 1971.
Take a look at my card design:


Yet another somewhat controversial pick for the Hall by the Veteran's Committee, Hafey really leaves everyone scratching their heads based on his 13-year career, of which only SIX were really as a full-time player!
Seriously, even though he won the National league batting title in 1931 with a .349 average, Hafey's career was "solid" at best, posting a career .317 average with 1466 hits, 341 doubles, 67 triples, 777 runs scored and 833 runs batted in. He never even reached 5000 career at-bats!
Go ahead and check out his stats. No disrespect to Hafey and his accomplishments, but man, you really have to wonder how a Dave Parker, Vada Pinson, Dick Allen, Steve Garvey et al are NOT enshrined while the Hafey's, Haines, Bancrofts, etc are.
Heck, I'd even enshrine "Indian Bob" Johnson before any of these guys!
And believe me we are not done with the Veteran's Committee's questionable picks of the early-1970's yet.
Keep an eye out for the other Frisch-led inductees coming up shortly…ugh