I still can't believe Baines got in. Parker was a legit defensive superstar. Baines played 1 game defensively in the final 9 games of his career. If Baines gets in, Don Baylor should be in - the DH that won an MVP

Fred Lynn is an interesting case

he was a 9-time all-star...a very popular player back in the day

career WAR 50.2

there can't be many 9-time (or greater) all-stars who are not in the Hall of Fame (non-roiders)

looks like the aforementioned Steve Garvey was a 10-time all-star

Setting aside the steroid guys (Bonds, Clemens, etc), looks like the most All Star games without being in the HOF is 11 by someone named Alex Radcliffe (played '26-'46) and someone else named Bill Freehan ('61-'76).

49 years ago today Joe Neikro hit his only home run off his brother Phil in a 4-3 Astros win.

In the 60's into the 70's there were really good catchers like Freehan, Randy Hundley with the Cubs, Tim McCarver with the Cardinals, Jerry Grote with the Mets, etc. Johnny Bench was the game changer in my opinion. Greatest catcher ever.

With the exception of 1943-1945 due to World War II, the Yankees had a stretch of 45 years: 1920-1943, 1946-1968 with at least one of:

Babe Ruth
Lou Gehrig
Joe DiMaggio
Mickey Mantle

in their lineup.

Ruth alone: 1920-1923
Ruth and Gehrig: 1923-1934
Gehrig alone: 1935
Gehrig and DiMaggio: 1936-1939
DiMaggio alone: 1940-1943, 1946-1950
Mickey Mantle: 1951-1968

So in 1935:
Ruth signed with the Boston Braves; the Yankees traded him at age 39. He was also assistant manager and team vice president. He only played 28 games (age and weight), but still hit 6 homers, which is a pace for 34 over 162 games.

Gehrig was 33 years old, had a WAR of 9.7, won MVP, hit 49 HR, drove in 152, scored 167, walked 130 times, only struck out 46, hit 354 and led the league with a 1.174 OPS.

DiMaggio was 20 years old and played a 172 game season for the San Francisco Seals of the PCL. He hit .398 with 48 2B, 18 3B, and 34 HR. He also had a 61-game hitting streak.

So the Yankees were a trade and a call-up away from having a Ruth/Gehrig/DiMaggio lineup in 1935.

When Mantle retired in '68, they were just starting their longest stretch up that point of not making the World Series - 10 years. They would then go 15 years between '82-'96, and 16 years between '09-'24

Today's Immacualte Grid got me thinking about this....the Cardinals have had some ABSURDLY elite defensive players come through Busch Stadium....

Ozzie Smith x 13 GG
Keith Hernandez x 11 GG
Nolan Arrenado x 10 GG
Yadi Molena x 9 GG
Jim Edmonds x 8 GG
Curt Flood x 7 GG

I'm sure I'm missing some more but those are the ones that jumped to mind

regarding Edmonds' gold gloves...

he's probably more known for his diving catches, but he had 131 career outfield assists

including 116 assists from centerfield

without looking anything up...that seems like a very high number for a centerfielder

almost as if teams didn't respect his arm...even though he had a good one

June 23, 1971 Phillies Rick Wise pitched a no-hitter against the Reds. He also hit 2 home runs in the game.

8/24/1983

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL198308240.shtml

Baltimore reliever Tippy Martinez enters the game with no outs in the top of 10th trailing 4-3 to Toronto. He picks three straight runners off first base.

The O's score four in the bottom of the frame and walk it off 7-4. Tippy gets the win without retiring a single batter.

The Giants Patrick Bailey just became the first catcher to hit a walk-off inside the park home run since 1926.
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ETA: Lawrence Butler of the A's hit a leadoff inside the park HR.

This is the first time in MLB history that there has been a leadoff and walk-off inside the park home runs on the same day.

Bailey's ball travelled 414 feet and hit off the top of the wall in Oracle Park's "Triples Alley" and would have been clean out of any other current park.