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Who is in the Hall of Icons?

Frobby

By Frobby
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Frobby Hangout Grand Counsel

Frobby

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OK, all star break topic. I say there is a group beyond the Hall of Fame, who achieved iconic status. It's not merely a measure of how good you were when you played, it's whether you achieved a status that will last forever. Here's who is in my Hall of Icons (not necessarily exhaustive):

Babe Ruth

Ty Cobb

Joe DiMaggio

Ted Williams

Cal Ripken

Hank Aaron

Willie Mays

Walter Johnson

Lou Gehrig

Jackie Robinson

Stan Musial

Mickey Mantle

That's it, for now. No Frank, no Brooks, no Eddie, no Cakes, no Earl, no Rickey Henderson, no Roberto Clemente, no Honus Wagner, no other pitchers. I think these are really the ones who are etched in lore.

And I hate to say it, Jeter may get there.

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raveoned AAA

raveoned

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I don't know, I'd consider Wagner, if nothing more than the T206 card. That may not be enough, so it's quite debatable.

I would also consider Brooks for the defensive side of things, in that he was iconic in baseball for playing some stunning defense. People consider Schmidt the best third baseman, but Brooks edges him out for defense and how to play that corner.

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Number5 Hangout Grand Counsel

Number5

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Good list, FRobby, but I see two misses that I think are pretty glaring:

1. When a third baseman makes a nice play in your beer league softball game today, 40 years after he played, people still call the guy "Brooks." That is the very definition of being an icon, IMO. And it happens whether you are in Maryland, or in Chicago, or in South Dakota or Texas.

2. They named the award for being the best pitcher after Cy Young. That's pretty darned iconic, if you ask me.

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raveoned AAA

raveoned

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2. They named the award for being the best pitcher after Cy Young. That's pretty darned iconic, if you ask me.

Cy Young is one of the greatest tragedies in all of baseball. Greatest pitcher of his time, but never won the Cy Young award...

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OFFNY Hangout Grand Counsel

OFFNY

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I'd put Clemente in.

Reggie?

In his lone season with the Orioles, Jackson set the franchise record (1901-Present) for most consecutive games with a home run (6), which Chris Davis tied in 2012.

Also, he set a career-high in stolen bases (28) that same year, even though he missed the first month of the season due to a holdout.

Reg made a mark everywhere he went ...... even if it was only for one season. :cool:

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O's84 Hangout Grand Counsel

O's84

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Not my quote. Just copying and pasting the line from HBT.

Sorry about that. I was just making a joke by changing "this" to "a" and changing the sentence to a question it makes it sound like Selig was sarcastic about Jeter.

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Frobby Hangout Grand Counsel

Frobby

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In his lone season with the Orioles, Jackson set the franchise record (1901-Present) for most consecutive games with a home run (6), which Chris Davis tied in 2012.

Also, he set a career-high in stolen bases (28) that same year, even though he missed the first month of the season due to a holdout.

Reg made a mark everywhere he went ...... even if it was only for one season. :cool:

What I remember about that season was that he held out for the first month (despite being under contract) and then was pretty terrible for the next six weeks (.649 OPS on June 15 in 35 games). The O's were 25-31 at that point. From there until the end of the season, Reggie hit .302/.375/.552 and the O's went 63-43. If Reggie hadn't held out that year, we might have made the pennant race pretty interesting.

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skanar Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

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I like the thought behind the list - maybe it's like "players my mom knows." I would also add Clemente (despite the bias from his being my Dad's favorite player, the plane crash tragedy put him in the minds of everyone from that time) and Koufax (different tragedy, similarly visible).

Stan Musial probably doesn't belong on this list. He's obviously a top-10 and maybe top-5 player but there's a reason he's often cited as the most underrated all-time great. For whatever reason (St Louis?) just not as memorable as others.

I'd also consider Yogi Berra. Contribution to popular culture in addition to his outstanding on-field performance.

Bonds/Clemens have "a status that will last forever" - not sure if you meant purely positive icons.

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