Lucky Hall Of Famer Number 43 - Ray Schalk (With a Side Note on Roger Bresnahan)

    Ray Schalk was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1955. Possibly the best defensive catcher of all time, Schalk turned 222 double plays (tops among MLB catchers by a wide margin) and had a career caught stealing percentage of .516. However, he was not a very good hitter, slashing .253/.340/.316 with only 11 home runs in 5,306 at bats. He is certainly not the worst player in Cooperstown, and the Hall can live with him. In my opinion, if this were the end of the story, I probably wouldn't vote for him. Luckily for Schalk, that wasn't the end of the story. 

    In the 1919 World Series, Schalk's White Sox were heavy favorites to beat the Cincinnati Reds. Schalk wanted to win very much, but certain other players were more allured by money paid by gamblers to lose the Series. When some of them decided to change their minds, they were threatened with violence and basically forced to drop the Series. This ticked Schalk off very much. America was shocked that its National Pastime was so easily corrupted, and Schalk more or less led the protest. This message portrayed that Schalk was a clean player who wanted to make a good, honest living. This helped his image, and the Veterans' Committee eventually picked him. 

My opinion: Considered solely as a player, Ray Schalk is probably not a Hall of Famer. Based on his entire contributions to the game, he's a decent pick. 

Side note: Roger Bresnahan played about 72% of his career behind the plate, and was a good (if not great) fielder. His counting statistics are a bit low, but he was a genuinely dangerous hitter, slashing .279/.386/.377 for his career. As a player, he's often criticized as a Hall of Famer, but I personally think he's good enough. He was kind of like a dead ball era Buster Posey. His biggest claim to fame was his revolutionary invention: the shin guard, which changed baseball forever. That makes me an avid advocate for Bresnahan, and fortunately he's already been enshrined.