Chicago Tribune sports columnist Steve Rosenbloom addresses the biggest problem with the voting for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in light of the 2014 election. (Posted on: January 8, 2014)
Chicago legends Greg Maddux and Frank Thomas were elected Wednesday to the Baseball Hall of Fame, along with former Braves pitcher Tom Glavine.
Maddux began his 23-year career with the Cubs and went on to win four consecutive Cy Young awards and 355 games (mostly with the Braves).
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Frank Thomas, as seen in 2002, and Greg Maddux, in 2011 (Nuccio DiNuzzo and Phil Velasquez, Chicago Tribune) 
Photos: Greg Maddux's career 
Photos: Frank Thomas' career Info graphic: Tribune's Hall of Fame candidates Chicago Tribune reporters' Hall of Fame ballots Maps National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, 25 Main St, Cooperstown, NY 13326 White Sox Dugout, Chicago, IL 60616, USA Ron Santo Statue, North Sheffield Avenue, Chicago, IL 60613, USAThomas, who spent the first 16 years of his 19-year career with the White Sox, also made it in on his first year of eligibility.
Glavine, a 305-game winner, will join former Braves teammate Maddux and their former manager Bobby Cox at the induction ceremonies in July in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Maddux's selection was considered a no-brainer after a stellar career that ended with him ranking eighth all-time in wins, fourth in starts (740), 10th in strikeouts (3,371) and 13th in innings (5,008.1). He also won 18 Gold Glove awards, appeared in 35 postseason games and was one of only four pitchers with more than 3,000 strikeouts and fewer than 1,000 walks.
Maddux's pinpoint command of the strike zone and encyclopedic knowledge of hitters more than made up for his lack of size and the lack of velocity on his fastball. He captured his first Cy Young award with the Cubs in 1992, before leaving for Atlanta as a free agent and winning three more in his first three seasons as a Brave.
As the league's winningest pitcher from 1988-92, Maddux was the most highly sought free-agent pitcher that winter. But after acrimonious negotiations between Maddux's agent, Scott Boras, and former Cubs general manager Larry Himes, the Cubs former owners, Tribune Co., let him get away in what's considered the biggest mistake in franchise history.
'The money issues were completely secondary to Greg's desire to achieve a world championship,' Boras said after the signing. 'Greg felt the Cubs were improving, but when the prospect of Atlanta came across in this situation, Greg felt they could provide him the best opportunity to win a world championship.'
The Braves wound up winning only one world championship during Maddux's era, though they were a perennial playoff team with a peerless rotation of Maddux, Glavine and John Smoltz.
Former Tribune Co. vice-president James Dowdle later admitted the Tribune Co. decision to let Maddux go was a 'miscalculation' by the organization, and conceded Cubs fans would never let them forget it.
'We paid (Mark) Grace, we signed (Ryne) Sandberg, we signed (Mel) Rojas,' Dowdle said in April of 1997. 'I think we'll put a decent offer on the table for Sammy (Sosa). (But) our history says we could sign our free agents for the next 10-15 years, and 'Maddux' is still going to come up.'
Former Cubs GM Jim Hendry tried to make amends by bringing Maddux back as a free agent in 2004, when Maddux joined Mark Prior and Kerry Wood in a much-hyped rotation. But the team fell apart in the final two weeks of the season, blowing a wild-card spot in stunning fashion by losing seven of nine games down the stretch.
Maddux was dealt to the Dodgers in 2006 for shortstop Cesar Izturis.
Thomas, a big personality who often found himself engulfed in controversy, was a five-time All-Star and two-time American League Most Valuable player during his 18 seasons with the Sox. From the very start he exhibited a batting eye that would make him one of the most feared hitters in the game during the 1990s, though the Sox won only three division titles during his stay, in 1993, 2000 and 2005.
Thomas is considered the anti-steroid candidate on a ballot full of suspicious names, frequently speaking out against PEDs over his career.
He's one of only four players in history with a career .300 average, 500 home runs, 1,500 RBIs, 1,000 runs scored and 1,500 walks (joining Babe Ruth, Mel Ott and Ted Williams) and ranks in an 18th-place tie in all-time home runs (521), 10th in walks (1,667) and 14th in OPS (.974).
Thomas came up with the Sox in the final season of old Comiskey Park in 1990, and quickly established himself in Chicago, aided by a new nickname, the 'Big Hurt,' coined by announcer Ken 'Hawk' Harrelson. Thomas was named the unanimous American League MVP in 1993, leading the Sox to the division title before they fell to eventual champion Toronto in the postseason.
Thomas still holds most of the Sox's individual records, including home runs (448), RBI (1,465), on-base percentage (.427) and slugging percentage (.568). While he earned his only ring with the '05 Sox, Thomas played in only 34 games that year due to injuries, and was let go as a free agent afterward.
A bitter and public feud between Thomas and then general manager Ken Williams resulted from the parting, but the relationship between Thomas and the organization gradually thawed. His No. 35 was eventually retired by the Sox in 2010, and he maintains a good relationship with Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf.
Twitter @PWSullivan
Posted by Unknown on Wednesday, January 8, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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