Ferkovich: A plaque on the wall but no ring on the finger
From SABR member Scott Ferkovich at The Hardball Times on February 12, 2015:
I had a friend in college, a Cubs fan, who often lamented that Ernie Banks was the “greatest player never to go to a World Series.” At the time, I figured that was a pretty reasonable statement. Mr. Cub is a Hall of Famer with 512 lifetime home runs and over 1,600 RBIs. “Let’s play two!” With his recent passing, the game lost one of its great ambassadors.
But Ernie Banks isn’t the only name with a plaque in Cooperstown but no World Series ring. All told, The Hall of Fame has 24 players who have never had the opportunity to shine on baseball’s brightest stage.
Here’s a look at the game’s immortals who lacked World Series cred on their resumes. These are not the Hall of Famers who made it to the Fall Classic and lost (Ty Cobb, Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Harmon Killebrew and Tony Gwynn, to name a few) but those who never got there at all. It should be noted that we’re talking about guys who are in the Hall as players. Joe Torre, for example, a nine-time All-Star and MVP winner who never played in a World Series but managed in six with the Yankees, is not on this list because he is in the Hall as a manager.
I also should point out that for Hall of Famers whose careers spanned the late 19th and early 20th centuries, I’ve excluded those who played a majority of their years before 1903 (the year of the first modern World Series). Players are listed in order of their induction into the Hall of Fame (with their year in parentheses).
Read the full article here: http://www.hardballtimes.com/a-plaque-on-the-wall-but-no-ring-on-the-finger/
Originally published: February 12, 2015. Last Updated: February 12, 2015.