The Hall Calls Molitor and Eckersley

By Lou Parrotta

The Hall of Fame roster grew by two last week when the 257th and 258th members of the baseball's ultimate shrine were announced after the vote of the Baseball Writers' Association.  The Class of 2004 includes hitting star Paul Molitor and relief ace Dennis Eckersley.  The great news of January 6, however, was overshadowed by the less-than-stunning announcement by all-time hit king Pete Rose, who has been banned from baseball for gambling accusations, that he had bet on baseball in the 1980s while playing for and managing the Cincinnati Reds.

Paul Molitor, whose career was spent mostly in Milwaukee with the Brewers, finished up a stellar career offensively with 3,319 hits, eighth all time, and a lifetime batting average of .306.  He was an offensive catalyst for the Brewers and helped lead them to the World Series in 1982.  Some questioned his worthiness of induction into the Hall of Fame because he had spent almost half of his career as a designated hitter.  In my opinion, it does not matter.  He was a terrific hitter who could be counted on for the big hit in necessary situations on more than one occasion.  He was a natural leader, and along with his teammates in 1982, formed one of the best blue-collar teams in all of sports.  His induction is totally warranted.

The other new inductee is Dennis Eckersley.  He enters the Hall of Fame as the first reliever to cross the threshold of the Hall on his first attempt and only the third one to be enshrined overall.  "Eck," as he was called, began his career as a starting pitcher.  He was a solid hurler who pitched a no-hitter against the California Angels early in his career while a member of the Cleveland Indians.  His career began to stall as a starter while with the Red Sox, and when he landed in Oakland at the end of the 1980s, he thought it was going to be his swan song into retirement.  That song was not to be sung just yet, however.  Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan, then the A's' manager and pitching coach respectively, converted Eck into a reliever, eventually making him their go-to stopper.  What an amazing turnaround for a pitcher whose career was in decline!  He turned out to be the most dominant closer in all of baseball in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and he even won the Cy Young Award and the Most Valuable Player Award in 1992 because of his dominance and effectiveness.  He led the A's to three straight American League pennants (1988-1990) and one World Championship in 1989, the infamous World Series against the San Francisco Giants marred by a terrible earthquake.  His induction should finally open the doors of Cooperstown for other stud closers like Bruce Sutter, Goose Gossage and Lee Smith, who have otherwise been overlooked up to this point.

Unfortunately for Molitor and Eckersley, Rose finally admitted that he bet on baseball and darkened the best day of their lives with his admission.  I am outright repulsed by Rose's choice of this time to make this otherwise already well-known indiscretions, but I should not be because he only did it to sell more copies of his new book and to make more money off of people he let down.  He is a disgrace to baseball as a result of his antics.  He should be forced to wait for his suspension to be lifted and his eligibility for the Hall of Fame to be re-instated for as long as it took him to finally admit what we all knew to begin with ­ 14 years.  I think that is a fair amount of time to punish him, and I think it is only fair that he is denied the right to be voted on by the Baseball Writers.  He should be judged by the members of the elite club he wishes to join.

I would also like to say that baseball lost one of its great people with the untimely death of Tug McGraw.  I met Tug two years ago, and he was every bit the gentleman that his eulogists have said he was.  I thank him for taking a moment to pose for a photo, and I will never forget his mantra "You Gotta Believe!"