Next up on the Hall of Fame Inductee parade for the decade is
former St. Louis Cardinals great, Jim Bottomley, who was selected by the
Veteran's Committee in 1974.
Take a look at my card:
Now, although the man put up some serious numbers in the prime of
his career, I can't really say if I'm "for" a Hall of Fame branding for
Bottomley, or not.
During his 16-year career he took home an MVP Award in 1928 after
leading the Senior Circuit in triples (20), homers (31), RBI's (136 and
total bases (362), while hitting .325 and scoring 123 runs, while also
putting in another five 100+ RBI seasons and
another seven seasons of .300+ averages.
Besides his 1928 season, he also led the National League in RBI's
in 1926 with 120, as well as hits in 1925 (with 227), doubles in 1925
and 1926 (44,40 respectively), and total bases with 305 in 1926.
But go ahead and take a look at his career. Perhaps, as blog reader
Tony once stated, you have to appreciate the player for what he did,
and left the game with, for that era.
Could be. However I wonder why he never got the support of the BBWA during his initial eligibility between 1948 and 1962.
During that span he never garnered more than 33.1% of support
(1960), before waiting until 1974 to enter Cooperstown's hallowed halls.
For his career, Bottomley tallied 2313 hits, with 465 doubles, 151
triples, 219 homers and 1422 runs batted in along with a .310 lifetime
average.
Solid numbers no doubt, but I wonder if the old Veteran's Committee
cronyism was at play yet again, as we have seen so much of already from
the early years of the 1970's.
