Serious times at the Barleymoe

      Today Elijah Craig is joined by Henry McKenna, the drinking man's guide to the Hall of Fame

 Elijah: Henry you know more about the Hall of Fame than anyone I know, Do you think we can go over the lists of candidates.

Henry: We have 27 nominees this year. I can cover any that you ask me to, but I don't think we can cover all 27.

Elijah: Anybody you want to start with?

Henry: Yes, Francicso Perez is a good place to start.If he were elected to the Hall he would be the first member  who never made an all star team.

Elijah: So you would say it's not likely he will be in the Hall

Henry: The Hall belongs to the owners, they can vote anybody in that they want but history would suggest that Francisco isn't going to be inducted.

Elijah: So being selected to an all star game is important. What other things have you found.

Henry: The Hall has no shortstops in it. Which leaves Oswaldo Martinez standing next to Perez on the outside of the Hall. It's just hard to have the offensive numbers and play a position known for defense. The average batting average for a Hall of Famer is .294. The lowest batting average in the hall is .260 by Edgardo Jacquez,  a centerfielder with three gold gloves.

Elijah: You see anybody else in trouble?

Henry: Yes, Josh Delmonico. One fact that I find astounding is that Hall of Famers are either internationals or they were drafted early in the first round of the draft.

Elijah: No second rounders or later in the Hall.

Henry: None, and the latest anyone has been pick is 36th in the first round. Josh was a 47th pick ; so the odds are against him.

Elijah: NormanW5 put a plug in for  Darren Harvey (C), what are his chances.

Henry: Well we have two catchers on the ballot this season.  So they might split the votes of people who like players at a defensive position in Hall. The other is David Feng.  Feng had a longer career than Harvey. Other than Harvey having more power a lot of their offensive numbers are similar. My research shows that the average Hall of Famers has been in 7 All Star games.  Feng had 11 all star appearances to Harvey's 3. If Harvey made the Hall, he would still have more appearances than James Martin, who only was in 1 All Star game.

Elijah: jc44 put a pitch in for  Alfredo Diaz (2B). What do you think of him?

Henry: Diaz has better offensive numbers than the other 2 nominated second basemen; although they are prolific base stealers. The only second baseman in the hall is Emilio Tavarez. Emilio was a 5 time All Star, 2 time MVP, 8975 at bats, .263 average, 629 home runs, 371 stolen bases. Diaz's has 10 All Star appearances, 1 MVP  9323 at bats, .289 average, 348 home runs and 470 stolen bases.

Elijah: Are you making a point that Tavarez and Diaz are fairly similar? 

Henry: No I'm not making any points, I'm just throwing a lot stats out at you.

Elijah: Seventy_77 made a pitch for Yunesky De Los Santos. What are his numbers compared to the guys in the Hall of Fame.

Henry: Well he would 4th in wins in the Hall and second in strikeouts.

Elijah: Enough said.

Henry: Another guy that stands out to me is R.J. Santana. I can't imagine the league will have another 700 and 700 guy. 735 Homers and 717 stolen bases. He would be third in homers and first in stolen bases in the Hall and 4th in rbi.

Elijah: Are you available if any of the owners put a guy out there for consideration.

Henry: Sure, this is the only time of year you let me join you. Elijah, you do know that my views may upset some of the owners.

Elijah: We have a lot of owners who agree with Samuel Clemens.

Henry:Other than writing about Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. How does fit in this discussion.

Elijah: Samuel Clemens said there are lies , damn lies and statistics.