Joe Orr Road Rod wrote:
Well, I think all three of those guys were probably better than Dawson. And do you really consider Dawson a centerfielder? He played there a lot, especially early, but his knees went rather quickly and he went to the corners.
I do agree that none of them is a Hall of Famer, but I think the issue is that it shouldn't be because they were rude to writers on deadline.
IIRC Dawson was a center fielder virtually his entire time in Montreal until the concrete killed his knees. While he was the least of the three HOF players I listed (& is probably really only in because of his Cub status) I think for a decade plus he was a better/more complete player than the Madden 3.
There may be some rudeness to writers in there (esp. Lofton), but I think in this instance its being overblown. Frankly, it's probably as much irritation with the Bernie & Edmonds people who are starting to get annoying in their demands to be heard. Bernie has the rings and was a solid player for a lot of years but he was HOF only in his consistency in being a high average player. Edmonds lovers (esp. Cardinal fans) seem to have this foolish belief that he was transcendental because of a few highlight defensive plays and well, because he was a Cardinal. The natural (earned?) arrogance of the Yankee & Cardinal fans bleating about their specialness do not make it so in my book.
Lofton was a great player, but if a better leadoff/stolen bases man like Tim Raines(I know, not a CF) isn't in, I just don't see a path for Lofton.