MLB: Hall of Fame All Snubbed Team

Another tough decision. This came down to Kaat and Tommy John. John could make the Hall of Fame solely on the contribution the cutting edge surgery Dr. Frank Jobe performed on him in 1974.

"Freelance Writer Glenn Miller had a good blog post during the 2014 Hall of Fame weekend comparing Kaat and John and their Hall of Fame Snubs. John won 288 games. Kaat won 283 games. Only one pitcher in Major League Baseball pitched longer than Kaat and John. Nolan Ryan pitched 27 years, John 26 years and Kaat 25…. Kaat,set an obscure 20th century record by pitching during parts of seven presidential administrations, starting with Dwight Eisenhower and ending with Ronald Reagan. Ryan later tied the presidential record. Kaat was 25-13 for the Twins in 1966, leading the American League in wins and innings pitched (304 2/3). Kaat won 16 Gold Gloves, a total exceeded only by Greg Maddux’s 18. They’re the only two pitchers to ever win 10 or more Gold Gloves. John In between he had 18 seasons of 10 or more wins, including three seasons with 20 or more Like Kaat, he never won a Cy Young Award but he was a four-time All-Star and twice finished second in Cy Young voting. He never led his league in ERA but was in the top 5 six times. John…never led his league in wins but was second twice and third once. I’m puzzled they never received as much as a third of the votes on any given year in their combined 30 years on the ballot."

The difference was the Gold Gloves. While Kaat’s ten set the record for a pitcher at the time of his retirement, John never won a gold glove. They both deserve to be enshrined in Cooperstown.

Next: Righty Out of the 'Pen