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Sunday, June 08, 2008

Tom Taormina Should Be In

The Hall of Fame results are in, and for the most part I think the voters got it right. But one result greatly disappoints me: the rejection of Tom Taormina.

I can understand why it happened. By my count, 13 of the 24 managers now in the league weren't members when we lost Tom to cancer, and I'm betting that all the No votes for Tom came from that group. All those voters had to go by was the highlights of Tom's career as listed on the HOF ballot. In terms of games and titles won, Tom's record doesn't come close to Vaughn's or Kevin's--no one's does--but that's not why Tom Taormina should be in the BRASS Hall of Fame.

Tom's work as Silver League director was essential to the success of BRASS in the early years. Among other things, he ran the free agency process before most of us had email. Bids were written by hand on paper forms, submitted by regular mail, and resolved by a phone call from Tom to every manager who had a winning bid to pursue or drop or match.

I could go on, but suffice it to say there's a reason we renamed the BRASS Bucket after Tom. I hope his exclusion from the Hall is rectified next year.

5 Swings of the bat:

Other Side said...

Count me as one of those who did not vote for Tom. I think you hit the nail on the head, Vaughn. I know nothing more about Tom than the title is named after him and he died prematurely.

In next year's ballot, perhaps you could write up a more inclusive bio. I would likely vote for him then.

Other Side said...

Oops, I assumed the post was from Vaughn. Sorry Mark.

dwdick said...

I struggled with this one and ultimately did not vote for Tom.

I'm well aware of Tom's contributions to the league and all of his work, but as you mention in your post Tom's record in terms of games and titles won do not stack up compared to Vaughn's or Kevin's. For that reason, I did not vote for his inclusion in the GM wing of the Hall of Fame. If there were a founders wing or executive wing, I would vote for him in a heartbeat.

I think it's great that the championship trophy is the Thomas Taormina Trophy and that one of the divisions in BLOC is the Thomas Taormina Division. These honors are truly fitting.

Other Side said...

Duh. It wasn't Mark either. Steve, was that you?

Anonymous said...

Yes, it was me. "Rex Little" is the name I use for pretty much everything I do online.