The Baseball Hall of the Very Good by Egantx7

This guy impressively won the 1990 NL batting title, despite spending the last 29 games of the season with the Oakland A's. This guy has four All-Star selections, 3 Gold Gloves, a Silver Slugger, and won the 1985 NL MVP Award. He batted 0.370 in a losing effort in the 1987 World Series, but is likely best remembered for Game 3 of the 1982 Series where he slugged two home runs and robbed Gorman Thomas of a home run in the ninth inning. A 0.295 career batter with over 2200 hits, his biggest knock was likely his 0.36 BB/K ratio. Identify this mostly centerfielder who played 1982-99, starting and ending his career with the Cardinals.

This man was at bat when Rickey Henderson broke Lou Brock's career record for most stolen bases, is a member of the Orioles Hall of Fame, and was sent to Texas as a part of a deal that got Sammy Sosa out of Texas. Until 2004, he held the all-time record for home runs by a DH, and until 2013, he held the record for hits by a DH (claimed by Edgar Martinez and David Ortiz, respectively). He hit the walk-off sacrifice fly that clinched the 1983 AL West title for the White Sox, ending a 24 year postseason drought, and his #3 is retired at U.S. Cellular Field, where a life sized bronze also greets fans. Identify this outfielder turned DH who compiled over 2800 hits and 1600 RBI, among the most of any non-HoFer in the pre-roid era.

This guy is a 5-time All-Star, 2-time silver slugger winner, a co-NL MVP, and won 11 consecutive Gold Glove Awards, all while batting 0.296 while walking more than he struck out. How is this guy not in the Hall of Fame? Three primary reasons he isn't in Cooperstown might be (1) that Gold Gloves at first base don't seem to resonate with voters, (2) a lack of power does resonate with voters, and (3) he managed to enrage his manager, Whitey Herzog, over not only using but distributing cocaine, which led to a suspended one year ban. He contributed 8 RBI in the 1982 World Series for the champs, but only 4 RBI in the '86 Series (though also in a winning effort). Identify this first baseman with an award winning mustache who might be best known to non-baseball fans for playing the title character in the two-part Seinfeld episode "The Boyfriend" (do we need to mention that Newman DESPISES this man).

This guy won 20 games four times, led the AL in ERA twice, and managed to get over 2400 strikeouts. His 19 year career gave him a 229-172 record though to be fair, a lot of those losses came while he was in Cleveland, so he can be forgiven a little for that, but he was only a three-time All-Star, and never managed to get closer than 4th place to a Cy Young. His best stuff came while in Boston, and notably after his parents were allowed to visit him from Cuba. In the 1975 World Series, he went 2-0, earning a no decision in the immortal sixth game. Name this pitcher, beloved almost universally by his teammates, who is likely best remembered for his strange twisting windups.

This guy played 19 seasons, made 9 All-Star appearances (winning the 1982 ASG MVP Award), and won 5 Gold Gloves and 2 Silver Sluggers at shortstop. He played in 4 World Series, batting over 0.300 in three of them. A career 0.267 hitter, his uniform #13 is the only #13 to be retired in all of baseball. Name this shortstop who spent his entire 1970-88 career in Cincinnati, arguably the greatest eligible member of the Big Red Machine not in the Hall of Fame.

This man held the Oakland Athletics career stolen base record until Rickey Henderson broke it in 1990. This guy led the AL in stolen bases 6 times, topping 50 SB seven times. His big problem is his 0.259 batting average and 0.311 OBP. Still, the dude has three rings while playing shortstop for the Oakland A's, and ranks high for career double plays at shortstop, and his defensive WAR is in the top 50 all-time for all positions. On 8 September 1965, this man not only became the first person in MLB history to play all nine positions in one game, but pitched both lefty and righty depending on the hitter he faced (inspiring Will Ferrell to replicate the feat in 2015 Spring Training for chairty). Identify this man with 649 career stolen bases during his 1964 to 1983 career.

First and last name needed This guy set the all-time MLB record with 5 seasons of at least 30 stolen bases and 30 home runs in a season, and has since only been tied by one other player. He became the second player, after Willie Mays, to hit 300 home runs and steal 300 bases. He won three Gold Glove Awards, but his big problem was his 1757 strikeouts, the third highest career total on the day he retired in 1981. He spent most of his career with the Giants, but the fact that he ended up playing for 8 different franchises got him included in the song "Talkin' Baseball" as the guy who "can play for everyone". Identify this right fielder who, likely for the best, died in 2003, the father of the only other player in MLB history to post five 30 homer-30 stolen base seasons.

You know what the Hall of Fame doesn't need? Another Yankee! What if he had a 0.651 career winning percentage? Still don't care. Finished in the top 5 for the Cy Young four times, including a win? Still don't care. The guy had a season where he went 25-3 with a 1.74 ERA. One season don't make a career. He has two cool nicknames "Louisiana Lightning" and "Gator". Nicknames don't get you to the Hall. He's 3-1 with a 1.69 ERA in three World Series, and has two rings? Not good enough!

Name this pitcher who threw from 1975-88, anchoring the great Yankees teams of the late 70s and the mediocre teams of the 1980s.

This man's first ex-wife was also married to Ray Liotta (who played Shoeless Joe's ghost in Field of Dreams, and his second ex-wife was in the cast of the short lived VH1 reality show Baseball Wives. Throw in a couple of felony DWIs, and naturally he is beloved by CubNation. Seriously, he was a 3-time All-Star, and owns 4 Gold Gloves (assuming his ex-wives didn't get any of them). While known more for his glove work, he was a career 0.303 hitter. No player in MLB collected more hits than this man in the 1990s, and only Pete Rose and this man ever led MLB in hits for a decade, and then did not get enshrined in Cooperstown. Identify this "Amazin'" first baseman who did win a World Series (obviously not with the Cubs), even leading off the 9th inning of Game 7 of the 2001 World Series with a single.

A 0.312 career batting average should get you serious consideration for a free trip to Cooperstown, but when you are billed as a great power hitter and you only manage 309 home runs in 18 seasons, people get a little suspect. 7 All-Star selections and 5 Silver Slugger Awards are generally all good. How is this guy not going to Cooperstown? Frankly, spending 1403 of your 2055 career games as "designated hitter" can really hurt you unless you are doing Frank Thomas levels of hitting, which this guy did not. Identify this designated hitter who played from 1987 to 2004, and is likely not going to be in the Hall of Fame, no matter what Seattle fans think.

At age 37, in 1985, this guy hit 40 home runs to lead the American League for his only home run title. In 1983 he was one of the Giants' representatives at the All-Star Game, his second and last All-Star appearance. His 1605 walks is still 12th all-time in MLB history. While his HR/K ratio and defense at 3rd base were good his 0.246 career batting average doomed any serious discussion for his HoF chances. Identify this player with 414 career home runs, the only player other than Dave Kingman to hit 400 home runs in the pre-roid era and not get into the Hall.

My favorite memory of his man is the smirk on his face as he circled the bases after hitting a walk-off home run off of Lee Smith to win Game 4 of the 1984 NLCS, this came after Girl Scouts picketed Dodger stadium after he left that team. This man was a 10-time All-Star, a 2-time NL MVP, a 4-time Gold Glove winner, and batted 0.294 for his career. For over 8 years, he started in the Dodgers' infield with Ron Cey, Davey Lopes, and Bill Russell, and his 1207 consecutive games played remains the NL record. Identify this first baseman, known as "Mr. Clean", who may have been the best known baseball player to try and break Wilt Chamberlain's seemingly unbreakable record.