Dennis Eckersley, Dave Dombrowski on committee considering Dwight Evans for Hall of Fame
By Matt McCarthy, 985TheSportsHub.com
Two familiar names are on the 16-member committee that will reconsider Red Sox great Dwight Evans for the Baseball Hall of Fame next week.
Dennis Eckersley and former Red Sox President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski will both have a seat on the Modern Era Committee, which will meet next week and cast a ballot on ten candidates from 1970-1987.
Evans is on the ballot with Steve Garvey, Tommy John, Don Mattingly, Thurman Munson, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker, Ted Simmons, Lou Whitaker, and longtime MLB Players Association head Marvin Miller.
Any candidate who receives 12 out of 16 votes will be elected to Cooperstown.
The Modern Era committee is one of four Hall of Fame committees that reconsiders players who were not elected via the traditional writers ballot. Those panels also help elect contributors such as managers, executives, and umpires.
Aug 3, 2017; Boston, MA, USA; Hall of Fame pitcher and Boston Red Sox broadcaster Dennis Eckersley in the NESN TV booth before the game between the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago White Sox at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
Evans fell off the ballot in 1999 after receiving 3.6 percent of the vote.
But Dewey seems like the type of player that would garner a strong reconsideration from a Hall committee, especially one with a former teammate in Eckersley on the panel. He was one of the better all around players of his era, hitting 385 home runs (three more than his teammate Jim Rice, who was inducted in 2009) and put up an .842 OPS (higher than Harold Baines, who was elected via a committee vote one year ago). His 67.1 WAR is just slightly below the Hall of Fame position player average of 69.
And there was no better defensive right fielder of his time.
Evans won eight Gold Gloves in his career and set the standard by which all Red Sox right fielders are judged defensively. Roberto Clemente (12), Ichiro Suzuki (10), and Al Kaline (10) are the only right fielders in history to win more Gold Gloves than Evans. Clemente and Kaline are in the Hall and Ichiro will be a first-ballot inductee.
The Modern Era Committee will cast ballots on December 8.
Here’s your Modern Era Committee: George Brett, Rod Carew, Dennis Eckersley, Eddie Murray, Ozzie Smith, Robin Yount, Sandy Alderson, Dave Dombrowski, David Glass, Walt Jocketty, Doug Melvin, Terry Ryan, Bill Center, Steve Hirdt, Jack O’Connell, Tracy Ringolsby.@baseballhall
— Barry M. Bloom (@Boomskie) December 2, 2019
You can hear Matt McCarthy on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s own Hardcore Baseball podcast and on various 98.5 The Sports Hub programs. Follow him on Twitter @MattMcCarthy985.
