{"id":31634,"date":"2020-05-17T08:30:15","date_gmt":"2020-05-17T12:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/?p=31634"},"modified":"2020-05-17T12:33:21","modified_gmt":"2020-05-17T16:33:21","slug":"baseball-hall-of-fame-contributors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2020\/05\/17\/baseball-hall-of-fame-contributors\/","title":{"rendered":"Pioneer Contributors Who Should Be in the Baseball Hall of Fame"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pioneer Contributors Who Should Be in the Baseball Hall of Fame<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Some of the most divisive discussions among baseball fans involve who belongs in the Hall of Fame. Every time a player is on the ballot, discussions ensue. Many of them become emotionally charged. When someone makes it, the \u201cNot a Hall of Famer\u201d group starts yakking. Then \u201cHOW IS HE NOT IN THE HALL?!???\u201d comes up. That is inevitably accompanied by \u201cIf _________ is in, then _______ should be,\u201d even if \u2013 fallaciously \u2013 the two did not play the same position. It makes sense that fans argue about this, because the Hall contains around 1% of everyone who ever played even an inning of Major League Baseball.<\/p>\n

But not everyone is in there for legendary play or sustained excellence as a manager or general manager. There are others who are in there as \u201cpioneer contributors.\u201d For example, few have heard of Candy Cummings<\/a><\/strong>, who gained induction in 1939. Fewer still will look at his career statistics and think he belongs, especially because he only played for six years in the 1870s. But his impact on the game is profound, and he certainly belongs in the Hall, for he invented the curveball.<\/p>\n

Here are six who deserve inclusion in the Hall as \u201cpioneer contributors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Curt Flood<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>