First, I agree with Joe about the baseball classic. I could care less and, more importantly, I believe the general public in the U.S. agrees.

I believe Goose should be in the Hall. Anyone watching him, or facing him at the plate, has to agree that he was a dominant relief pitcher.

But what about Ron Guidry? For a ten-year consecutive period he ranks with the best in terms of his stats. The problem with the writers is that they are enamored with cumulative stats (like Eddie Murray, who played over twenty years) and not pure baseball excellence. I would take Guidry in a critical playoff game over anybody in the past forty years. Just ask Boston. He won the 1978 payoff game on limited rest. In addition, he won several gold gloves and was the antithesis of Pete Rose in terms of his character, class and integrity.