Santo finally makes the HOF

[both-teams-played-hard]

Do you think Santo knows that he got in?

Of course. I'm sure he just played a game of catch with John Kinsella.

[emann]

I think people take the Hall of Fame's qualifications too seriously. Basically, they need to add players to continue to make it interesting... It'd be nice to walk into a gallery with 30 plaques limited to the true legends of the game, frankly, it'd be kind of boring. Who's going to make that pilgrimage with their family more than once either? "Look, there's Babe Ruth's plaque... again."

I like the idea of breaking the HOF into the best players of each era. In that sense, Santo deserves to be enshrined. It's also called the Hall of FAME: growing up near Boston, there was almost nobody in New England sports from the late 70's thru mid-80's as famous as Jim Rice. I'm sure it was the same in Chicago for Ron Santo, I'm sure it was the same in Minnesota for Puckett, Gossage in NYC, etc. That's "fame". These guys were great players and became famous, either in certain regions or throughout the country, as a result. Were they the greatest the game had ever seen—no—but that totals about 35 guys and leaves a pretty short Hall to wander through. You'd only need to visit about once every 20 years or so to see who the new inductee was...

When you're an athlete and become well-known enough that a large number of people who don't even follow sports know your name for decades over a large region, you deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.

Side note: They really need to decide to either drop the steroid era players off the ballot or just allow them in. The ballot is going to get messy in the next decade and alot of great players will be lost to the McGwires or Palmeiros who linger on the writer's ballots in some sort of purgatory. Either ban them outright, vote them off or vote them in. Again, Hall of FAME to me, I think McGwire deserves to be in (ill-gotten fame though it may be).

[Not a Cubs/Santo fan BTW... just thought he deserved it and sad to see it come posthumously for him.]

[trsent]

Do you think Santo knows that he got in?

Is this going to become a debate about life after death?

[Danny899]

Only 2 years late. I'm sure Dave M. is happy.

Dave, Is that your house out there in the left field foul ground?

[sox83cubs84]

Dave, Is that your house out there in the left field foul ground?

No, but I wish it was.

The small house in the center of the three buildings was rebuilt in the early 2000s. The light colored structure at the right edge of the photo has long been referred to by the Ballhawks as the "yellow apartment building". It's the building that Glenallen Hill launched a game home run caught by a fan at a rooftop party there during Hill's second go-round with the Cubs. Windows on the building have been broken more than once by game home run blasts.

Dave Miedema

[sox83cubs84]

Only 2 years late. I'm sure Dave M. is happy.

You're right, Warren.

Anyway, I rarely quote pictures in my responses (a pet peeve I know irritates many of you), but I made this exception for reference purposes.

Notice the short, solid wall separating the park from the street. Back in those days the area between the park's outisde wall and the outfield wall was a catwalk entrance to the bleachers. Some of the Wrigley ballhawks of the era would buy bleacher tickets (much cheaper and less in demand than today) and would stand next to the guard at the top of the ramp. When a home run landed on either catwalk (left or right field), the ballhawk, if he was lucky and had an "in" with the guard, would have the guard lift the restraint rope so he could run down and grab the home run.

Also...the high chain link fence behind that solid wall behind the catwalk appeared suddenly and without warning during an early 60s road trip (this photo is before the high fence was added). The existing 2-3 foot high fence was extended during the season to 10 or so feet high, apparently the response to the landady of the yellow apartment building after having a building window busted by a home run ball. Most of this information came from 50+ year Ballhawk Rich Buhrke, who was in school during that era.

Dave Miedema

[ahuff]

Being a Cubbie fan, I am really glad he got in. I thought he was a great Cub player, but a fringe HOFer. However, I like what he did after his playing days were over...diabetes awareness, fundraising, broadcasting, promoting the Cubs/baseball. It just makes me sick that he is a HOFer today but not in previous years when he would have been able to enjoy the honor. If I was his family it would be more a slap in the face than the honor I'm sure the voters intended it to be.

It is amazing, though, that people are complaining about his induction when I felt the heat for saying similar things about Rice getting in. I personally believe Santo deserves in more than Rice...at least he was a GOOD bat and a GREAT glove (5 gold gloves).