Its Time to Get it Right

Cooperstown is a magical place(unbeleivable, a magical place not in Orlando). For a baseball fan its Mecca. My family often made fun of me that I would read EVERYTHING. I'll never forget my numerous visits there. From my first family vacation to the last time there after the death of my mother. It will always be a special place to me.

Tomorrow the reults of the veterans committee will be announced. While I saw some players play like Al Oliver and Luis Tiant. Most of the players are just players I read about or guys I played with playing Strat-o-Matic. While I'd like to see Gil Hodges be elected I only have a very strong opinion about one player. First the facts. This player played in the worst offensive period since 1920 so all his stats must be looked at through that prism. He was a 9 time All Star, had 8 straight seasons of 90 RBIs,5 straight years when he was either 1st or 2nd in walks. 342 HRS and over 1300 RBIs. Let me reinerate that run scoring was so awful during this players career baseball had to change the rules to stimulate offense. One year 301 won the batting title. While Bob Gibson threw up a 1.12 ERA. So how about his defense? 5 straight Gold Gloves. And for a last piece of evidence Bill James ranks him the 5th best third baseman of all time. So how in the world is Ron Santo not in the Hall of Fame.

While his numbers are truly hall of fame quality it the fact that he played his entire career with type 1 diabetes that blows my mind. When he was diagonsed there was no Blood Sugar meters. No insulin pumps. And the needles were huge. I know what its like with all the modern tools how incredibly difficult it is to control blood sugar. Santo did not tell anyone for the first few years of his career fearing they would kick him out of baseball. Playing everyday with diabetes is a incredible accomplishment. How amazing in the time since Santo there has not been 1 single everyday player make the show(a few pitchers hear and there but never a non pitcher) If anyone has ever been around a diabetic you know the challenges they face on a day to day basis. Since he retired Santo has been a much loved radio announcer for the Cubs. And has probably raised more money for JDRF than any athlete.

As a player his accomplishments on the field made him Hall worthy years ago. And knowing what it took to be without question the best third baseman on the NL in the 1960s makes him an insperation. So at 1PM on monday I'll be watching the announcement with much anticapation.