Baseball's Hall of Shame
By Lane Strauss
ESPN The Magazine
http://espn.go.com/magazine/jump_020828_hall.html

As Major League Baseball prepares to self-destruct, we paid a misty-eyed visit to the National Baseball Hall of Fame website, where you can find a selection of items on display for every single team. Inside sources tell us that sometimes the decision-making wasn't so easy. Here are a few pieces that came oh-so-close to making it:

RED SOX: Bill Buckner's glove.

PIRATES: "Before" photo of Barry Bonds.

Maybe the food is more fatty in San Fran?

BRAVES: Whiskey bottle from Chief Noc-a-Homa's tepee.

WHITE SOX: A melted 45 of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive."

PADRES: "Steve Garvey Is Not My Padre" bumper sticker.

METS: Bret Saberhagen's bleach gun.

PHILLIES: Audio recording of fans cheering (currently not available).

CUBS: Diploma from the College of Coaches.

CARDINALS: Swatch of the tarp that ate Vince Coleman in the 1985 playoffs.

GIANTS: Sponge used by Jeff Kent to wash his truck.

MARINERS: Various Ken Griffey Jr. items (graciously submitted by fans).

REDS: Various Ken Griffey Jr. items (graciously submitted by fans).

RANGERS: Bandages worn by manager Frank Lucchese after Lenny Randle beat him to a pulp.

YANKEES: Derek Jeter's glove (courtesy of Ruben Rivera).

A's: Mule droppings, circa 1972.



Lane Strauss is a frequent contributor to The Jump.