Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage and Bruce Sutter are in the Hall of Fame.  David Cone, Chuck Finley and Orel Hershiser aren’t, nor will they get close.  Isn’t there something wrong with this?  I have zero doubt that if Cone, Finley or Hershisher were moved to the closers role at a young age, they would have dominated.  Had Fingers, Gossage or Sutter been good enough to be starters, they would have either stuck in the rotation or been promoted to the rotation.  Why should lesser pitchers be honored because of the role they were put in?  None of the above closers was nearly as valuable in their careers as the starters were, yet they are bronzed in Cooperstown, while the others just had nice careers.

By putting closers in the Hall of Fame, you are essentially rewarding mediocrity.  Closers are put in the bullpen because they are not good enough to succeed as a starter, and as we all know, a #3 starter brings more value than the elite closers.  Even GM’s get this, as #3 starters are often paid much more money than elite closers are on the open market.  So why doesn’t this also apply to Hall of Fame voting?  Why are players who were limited enough in their ability that they had to be put in a less valuable role bronzed in Cooperstown? [...]

Will Nomar Garciaparra get Red Sox nation to rally around him when his name arrives on the Hall of Fame ballot the way Jim “feared” Rice did?  Based on his controversial exit with the Sox, it’s a good question, and if they care to dig into it, Nomar likely has as good a Hall case [...]