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As expected, the 2020 induction ceremony will not be held. Next year, two classes will go in at once.
At this point, plans for Winter Warm-Up are up in the air. Normally, during that extended weekend, the committee also finds time to sit down and evaluate candidates for the team Hall of Fame. So there are no plans there yet, either. Of course, the 2020 selections – Tom Herr, John Tudor and Bill White – have yet to be formally inducted.
Who would you like to see on the 2021 ballot?
Clark is one who hasn’t received a lot of attention. He was with the Cards just three years (the minimum), but he was the team’s top hitter in two of those three years, as they lost in the World Series in 1985 and 1987. (Due to injury, he couldn’t play in the WS in 1987.)
How do you measure short bursts of high success against longer term contributors on teams that went all the way (like a Julian Javier, for example)?
Does it matter that Clark is considered by most a Giant? (Some use this against Hernandez, who was a Cardinal longer than a Met.)
You raise a good point. There are definitely parallels between Tudor (who is already in) and Clark.
But if key moments are a factor as important or maybe even more so than longevity, should David Freese get in one day? No bigger moments than his…
(P.S. He doesn’t qualify yet. Three years after retirement.)
Possibly. Iconic moments have a lot of value.
But Clark had more than one moment in his time here. He placed third in the 1987 NL MVP vote behind Andre Dawson and Ozzie Smith.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/1987_National_League_Most_Valuable_Player_Award
Not to diminish third place finishes in anything, but is that Hall of Fame qualification material? I think of any Hall as being the very best.
Interesting thoughts on Jack Clark. He should be considered. A similar case could be made for Orlando Cepeda. Unanimous NL MVP and the main cog in the 1967 World Championship season. Plus that ‘67 team is one of our greatest ever. On my personal list, they are the second greatest Cardinal team ever, behind the ‘42 club. Cepeda was actually with the club a month or so under three years, so I do not know if that disqualifies him since he was not quite at the full three year total.
Yet another guy somewhat similar is Dick Groat. He is at the three-year minimum, but was second in the NL MVP voting in 1963, and was the shortstop on the World Champion 1964 club. In the three years with us he accumulated 12.4 bWAR. Even Clark had only 9.7 in his three years. Cepeda was at 11.0.
Of the three, I would pick both Cepeda and Groat ahead of Clark. Jack is more in our memories though, having played 20 years later than Groat and Cepeda.
Hernandez is a no-brainer and really should be in the Cardinals’ Hall by now. But that Met image and his going off track in life a bit at the time he was traded has tarnished his image. Had he had exactly the same numbers but been traded to say the Baltimore Orioles rather than the Mets, he would be in our Hall right now.
Andujar is a good one to bring up. And I have always liked Javier – steady playing second baseman for a decade and a member of three pennant winners.
A couple of old-timers who I think should be considered are Taylor Douthit and Johnny Mike. Not a fan vote for those guys I know.
Just to clarify, Cepeda, Groat and Douthit would be veteran era players considered by the committee. Clark would be on the fan ballot of modern era players. The line between the two is 40 years since retirement and the groups are reviewed separately.
I find the fan prejudice against Hernandez disappointing. If you meant Johnny Mize, he is already in the Cards HOF.
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