Welcome to yet another addition of my twisted thoughts and meaningless opinions....so far, feedback has been positive...still in a struggle with the whole "downloading videos" things, but sooner or later, I'll either get it figured out or just give up on it entirely.

I've been thinking alot these past couple of hours about the entire premise of a " Hall of Fame", be it baseball, football, or professional wrestling. There has always been a "Mendoza Line", so to speak, when it comes to baseball players- and the questions are always the same: "did he hit 400 homers" , "did he have a .300 lifetime avg?", "did he win 300 games?" To simply gauge a players worth on strictly the basis of numbers is an totally faulty premise, especially now in the "post steroid" era, where mediocre to good players were made to look like giants due to their use of the gas.

(Gas- slang term for steroids)

As an aside, is it annoying to anyone when I use these "addendums" to define my choice of words? My older kids and Amy have told me maybe I should publish my own book of "Shane-speak" or "Shane-isms". I think they're joking, but sometimes Im not so sure....

Anyway,ever since Jim Rice finally got elected to the Baseball HoF, numerous friends have mentioned several names that they thought are serious candidates for the Hall, and asked my thoughts. Heres a short list, and as always, I'm am looking to inspire conversation and debate; you maybe able to sway my vote!

Bert Byleven, Andre Dawson, Tim Raines, Lee Smith, Rafael Palmiero.

Byleven- I say he should be in. 280+ career wins, 3,000+ strikeouts. I've heard the voters say he was a "compiler" of numbers and didnt make that much of an impact. I say bullshit!
I am also of the opinion that its much easier for a hitter to fudge his numbers over a career than a pitcher. Byleven is an oversight, in my opinion.

Dawson- "The Hawk" was as feared in the NL as Rice was in the AL during a similiar, but slightly longer span. A strong hitter and defender, with good basestealing abilities before his knees turned to shit. I will champion his cause, now that Rice has made it, until he receives induction. Realistically, I should only be tooting this horn until next January- I think he gets in next year.

Raines-I recall as a kid, when alot of baseball fans were kinda swept up in the gust of "Rickey-Mania", that Raines was trumpeted as the "New" Rickey- and for a few seasons, he was somewhat close. A quality player in his own right, no one did him any favors by comparing him to Rickey all those seasons. I also seem to remember his career taking a sour turn when he signed with the White Sox and asked to be referred to as "Rock". Really, the second half of his playing days were less than spectatacular- I say NO.

Smith- The all time Saves leader. A quality feared pitcher coming out of the pen for a series of teams. Not to minimize the importance of Saves, but Im not entirely sure that holding one record automatically makes the holder a HoF shoe-in. I'm not saying I'm against him all together, but right now, That vote would be NO.

Palmiero- I saved the best for last! Heres a guy with all the numbers that scream automatic inclusion- 3,000+hits, 500+ homers, .300 lifetime hitter. Pretty good glover too.

Frankly, I dont really care about the steroid use, by him or any other player; I've always kinda had the opinion that you still have to have the skill to hit the ball. Did it inflate alot of guys numbers? Absoulutely. Should they asteriks beside their records? No. Everything has to be relative to its time and place.

Palmiero, however, is a lying piece of shit! We all should have seen him coming during the Congressional hearings; I mean, this guy claimed that he had NEVER use Viagra, even when he was a Paid Endorser of the product,only to recant when there was a backlash towards his "lying impotence"! Beware of any guy who claims he just "endorsed the product because he heard good things"- Yeah Raffy, and while your at it, take your 3k hits and 500 hrs and brag about them to the next strumpet you pick up a that Salsa Dancing joint you're probably hanging out in, because there no way you belong amongst the elite. NO,NO, and once again NO!

I look forward to hearing similiar and contrasting opinions!

So until next time, to borrow from Murph and The MagicTones, "Don't you Go Changin'"

Thank You- Goodnight!