Well one thing you have to understand is that these aren't actually thoughts but universal and unchangeable truths. If you realize that, you are halfway to understanding the greatness of the hall of fame, and the greatness of those who vote on it, like I do.
- Stats matter, especially in times when stats can be bloated by things such as performance enhancers. When I played with The Machine, our performance enhancers included an extra pat on the back for that stolen base, or an RBI from me when I turned a single into a double. These stats can be considered "bloated" but we can look at them and say: you belong in the hall of fame with this kind of bloatation.
- Writers don't tell the whole story. If every baseball writer in the history could have seen me play, there would be different statues and awards given out every year. But unfortunately, that can't happen because my four daughters have not yet invented teleportation yet--however they will be working on their master's until they find the formula. My youngest has already devleoped the Morganizer, a way of stat organization that puts an an accumulation of stats of a great player, such as Zack Wheat, against mine and constructs a series of parallels that shows that if he had any of my talent, his stats would be more inflated than they were.
- When you're in the Hall of Fame, the air at ball parks is fresher. You would never know, because most likely none of you will end up in the hall of fame. But you can breathe easier and everything tastes better at a ball game when you are a Hall of Famer. It's hard to go into this without getting specific, and because you'll never have the taste of a Hall of Fame ballpark frank, I think you may have to just take my word for it.
- Broadcasting is easier when you're in the Hall of Fame. It is hard sometimes to broadcast--some may say, but I don't--and that's because I'm a Hall of Famer. In fact when I get into a situation where the game has stilted, I can reach into my Hall of Fame vernacular and continue the broadcast. All I have to begin with is, "Hall of Fame players know that play because I know that play and I'm a Hall of Famer". And the next thing you know, the game resumes. Jon Miller still thanks me every day for this ability.
I know that many of you can't grasp all of this but that is why I'm telling you all of it myself. A great man once said, it is harder to hear than to listen because to listen has nothing to do with volume. And that great man was me.
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