REGGIE - "HELL OF FAME"

This week, Reggie Jackson put his foot in his mouth, which is so typical of this egotistical man. He publicly made arrogant statements to a reporter for Sports Illustrated opinionating that players such as Gary Carter, Kirby Puckett, Phil Niekro, Don Sutton, and Jim Rice did not deserve to be in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. He also stated that anyone admittedly tied to steroids such as Alex Rodriguez and Andy Pettitte should never be elected for the Hall of Fame. How moronic is it for someone to diminish two members of his own employer, the New York Yankees, to a point that could lessen his employer's bank account - that same one that is used to pay him?

I have NEVER been a fan of Reggie! Sure, I was ecstatic when he hit his infamous 3 homeruns in the 1977 World Series and fully appreciate that achievement and respect his 563 career homers; but, I dislike way too many other things about Reggie that outweigh those two key achievements of his such as his classless, self-admirations of his homeruns. He stood in the batter's box watching the flight of all of his own well-hit fly balls, along with some that didn't quite make it out - as he embarrassed his teams by not running hard enough to offer a double instead of a single, occasionally contributing to a projected team loss. He displayed the same lack of effort for his defense as many fly balls fell just a few feet or inches in front of his barely unscathed outfield glove throughout each game.

His opinions on Gary, Kirby, Phil, Don, Jim, Alex, and Andy are seemingly the same as many who love the game. I personally would agree with Reggie concerning Kirby, Phil, Don, and Jim; while I would support both Gary and Andy. As for A-Rod, I'm still undecided at this point. Freedom of speech certainly allows Reggie (and every American) to opinionate freely. The problem, though, is adults (Reggie is supposed to be one of those at the current age of 66) are expected to feel sensitivity towards others. Not only did Gary Carter die just a few months ago, but he, Kirby, and Andy have always carried themselves as gentlemen in the sport and, likewise, should be treated as such.

Additionally, egotistical Reggie may want to look in the mirror (as I'm sure he does plenty of times with full wonderment) and review his own Hall of Fame qualifications. While he is currently and impressively 13th on the all-time homerun list and 23rd on the all-time RBI list, he also has the most strikeouts of any player (not just those inducted but) in the history of the sport!! His lifetime batting average (.262) is not even close to remarkable. Furthermore, his fielding percentage (not including many of those aforesaid lazy endeavors) is merely .968 lifetime. Other Hall of Fame right field sluggers including Al Kaline (.985), Frank Robinson (.986), Mel Ott (.980), and Hank Aaron (.980) each have a much better fielding percentage than him. One notable slugger (some guy named Babe) is comparable to Reggie's defensive record - as a right fielder Babe Ruth's percentage is slightly lower, at .966; but, in Babe's career, he contributed to more than just right field with a glove. Some other key positions for the Babe included left field and pitcher - in which he tallied 94 wins for his teams!!  Reggie was basically one-dimensional.

In the end, I personally do believe Reggie's main contributions of his homerun and RBI totals do mostly qualify him to rightfully be in the Hall of Fame; but his leading strikeout totals, his weak fielding percentage, his singles that failed to become doubles, his classless ego, and now his derogatory remarks fully qualify him to be elected into my "Hell of Fame".