- This topic has 88 replies, 16 voices, and was last updated 1 month, 1 week ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Remember the SI cover that featured the starting line-up and their field manager for the ’68 Redbirds? The caption heralded them as, “The first million dollar team.” Four HOF’ers are in that photo. I’ll wager that nowadays you could only get one outing of work from Gibson, 8 AB’s from Cepeda, 3 SB’s from Brock, and a handful of games managed by Red for a million dollars…Haha! Old Gussie didn’t know it, but he was getting a genuine bargain.
The results will be revealed tonight at 6 on MLB Network. I think Rolen & Helton get in, Wagner may fall a little bit short.
Rolen elected!! The comments on Mlbtr are comically predictable with the most inane I’ve seen saying that if 2000 hits and 300 HR is enough then Nelson Cruz gets in. You know, because defense doesn’t count I guess
Well deserved. I’m very happy for Rolen. One of my favorite Cardinals. Far as people acting silly over it, I can kind of understand if you didn’t watch him every day but people just don’t appreciate how good he was. I personally think he was better than his numbers indicate which are good on their own.
Nice! Another plaque displaying the Redbird cap. By my count that makes 19 with two more coming soon. That’s second only to the Yankees. In any event, now that Rolen and Santo are both members, I’m certain that Bikemike would agree that Kenny Boyer should somehow gain entry. Although his best seasons were a shade before my time, Boyer’s career is remarkably similar to both Rolen and Santo. He actually trumps both with the presense of a NL MVP in a season in which he was a major component and contributor in both the regular season and the ’64 WS. At any rate, nice going Scotty!
I agree, Willie. And although I can’t quite place my finger on exactly why, at this juncture I was more comfortable seeing a hot smash hit to Scotty than I am with one hit to the current Redbird 3B’man. The one we have sometimes resembles something from another planet, but I think Rolen simply made better split second decisions.
Very happy for Scotty! Yep 1TD, I would love to see Kenny Boyer in some day! Well deserved for Scott though. Helton probably waits a year and then gets in.
Well I hope it is a Redbird cap…
New @baseballhall member Scott Rolen said on @MLBNetwork that he has not decided which team's hat will adorn his bust in the Hall of Fame. He played for the #Phillies (1996-02), #STLCards (2002-07), #BlueJays (2008-09) & #Reds (2009-12). He won the 2006 World Series with STL.
— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) January 24, 2023
I’m glad Rolen got in but don’t understand why Edmonds was not even really considered! He has more gold gloves than Rolen, a better lifetime batting average and way more home runs! I think he may have been dropped off because he didn’t get enough votes in his first year but hope the old timers group will consider him someday!
I am okay which ever hat Rolen has on his plaque, Phillies or Cardinals. Obviously I would prefer our club, but can understand him being a Phillie as well. He played a season longer in Philadelphia, and accumulated more WAR with them. Also. guys often tend to associate themselves more with the organization that drafted them and where they came through the minors with, if they also played with the major league club for a representative time frame.
Scott’s World Series appearances and a championship with St. Louis put the scales about even between the two clubs. His sort of nasty exit from the Cardinals could make it so he goes with the Phillies though.
No matter – a well deserved honor.
While it’s true that he played a shade longer in PHI than he did with the Cardinals, he wasn’t at all happy with the Phillies. In addition to feeling as though the Phillies weren’t fully dedicated to fielding a winning ballclub, I’ve read that he and manager Larry Bowa were not too fond of one another, which was a primary reason he was offered up for trade. However, I’m sure a lot of you recall that he and TLR had some differences while they were both here in StL. At any rate, I’d be highly surprised if he’s wearing a Phillies cap on his HOF plaque. I wouldn’t term Rolen temperamental, but he always impressed me as a guy who was all business and had no inclination for any horseplay. I base this impression primarily on an interview of Rolen that I once saw on the MLB network that was conducted by Kevin Millar while Scott was still playing in StL. Millar attempted to conduct the interview in his normally somewhat zany and immature style. Rolen was clearly unimpressed and let Millar, in no uncertain terms, know that he had no time or inclination to lend any more of his participation to the nonsense. Scott’s a big strong man and I actually sensed that Millar was a bit frightened of him…Haha! I hope he goes in as a Cardinal, but I wouldn’t be too awfully surprised if he left a blank on his ballcap simply to remain neutral and avoid any controversy. In any event, he’ll always be a Redbird to me.
Steve60, I agree on the Edmonds take. I think he deserved a better result. I ultimately don’t feel he should be in but his case has merit. I feel his perceived cavalier attitude turned off a lot of folks.
You make some good and accurate points on Rolen’s Philadelphia situation, 1TD. My step-daughter was living in Lancaster, PA in the early 2000s, and in April 2002 my wife and I road tripped back there for a visit.
At a stop for gas somewhere in Pennsylvania, I picked up a Baseball Weekly, I think that was the publication, and the cover story was whether or not Rolen would be a Phillie much longer, and the coolness between him and Larry Bowa.
My step-daughter got us tickets to a game against the Padres, who had Ray Langford in their lineup. We were in the lower level, third base side, so we saw Scott up close. The ovations for him that night were mixed, as Phillie fans can be pretty tough, although the crowd was fairly light as it was an April game against the Padres, and the weather was cool and damp.
Scott has some abrasion with the two clubs he is most associated with. Maybe he will surprise everyone and go in as a Cincinnati Red!! 🙂
I’m glad he got in, too, because of his play on the field. I think he would have gotten in much earlier had it not been for LaRussa’s disdain for him. TLR simply did not like Scott Rolen. He said Rolen was ‘the sourest guy…’, whatever that’s supposed to mean. OTOH, in TLR’s defense, I’m posting a link to an article that says that Phillies manager Larry Bowa and Scott Rolen hated each other, also. And in Rolen’s defense, I think that both Bowa and LaRussa should have been able to find a way to successfully manage a twenty-something kid.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/2002/0729/1411479.html
I want to add that, as far as I am concerned, Nolan Arenado is the best third baseman that has ever played the game. I would be proud to see Rolen and Arenado both wear Redbird caps into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
And one other thing, for those who have never been to Cooperstown ….it’s worth the trip. We flew into the airport in Albany, New York.
Bikemike…Going in as a Red isn’t all that far fetched. He was certainly highly appreciated by the Cincinnati fans. They loved him there.
Insofar as the minor spat between Rolen and TLR. The catalyst was TLR not being fully convinced that Scott was 100% healthy during the ’06 post-season championship run. Rolen insisted he was okay, however TLR was not convinced and the great field manager replaced him for a couple of games with Scott Spezio at 3B. Other than me thinking it was wrong for Scott to talk the media about the situation, I didn’t really takes sides on the matter. On one hand, I can’t at all fault a true competitor for possessing an overwhelming desire to compete. On the other hand, a good field manager takes command and fields the nine players he best feels will produce W’s. In any event, I genuinely think that the overriding factor in the minor dust-up may be that TLR and Scott Rolen impress me as two guys that possess remarkably similar personalities and mindsets. Both of them are clearly no nonsense types who are not only all business, but also fierce competitors. Sometimes twin brothers fight like angry dogs.
I can understand how Rolen could be perceived as a bit smug, but I’d term him more along the lines of guarded or at least reserved. In any case, I’ve never read or heard anything from his peers on the field claiming he was difficult to get along with. Maybe he was simply a bit overly serious in his approach to what he did for a living. I’ve worked with people like that and most of them were very thorough and conscientious regarding the quality of their work. But yeah, he always impressed me as someone with a by the book military or judicial sort of mindset. Dead serious.
This is from Marilyn Green’s Blast From the Past article. The question is why isn’t Kurowski in the Card’s HOF
Whitey Kurowski –Kurowski played his entire short career (nine seasons) with the Cardinals. Ongoing arm and elbow injuries ended his playing career in 1949. He was signed by the Cardinals in 1941 and played during arguably the franchise’s most successful decade. During the 1940s, the Cardinals reached the World Series four times, winning three.
Kurowski was an All-Star for five of his nine seasons. His best season offensively was 1947, when he slashed .310/.420/.544 with 27 home runs and 104 RBI. He finished fifth in the MVP voting in 1945. He hit 20 or more home runs and hit .300 or higher three times in his nine seasons.
Kurowski’s career WAR in St. Louis was 24.7, sixth all time in franchise history at the hot corner behind fifth place holder Joe Torre.
One Veteran Era player is added to the Hall each year. We just had our annual meeting two weeks ago and Kurowski received considerable discussion. The voting is secret, but he was firmly in my top three.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.