By Andrew, The Grand National Championships.
The 1990’s were a time filled with cheating. Everybody was on Human Growth Hormone and Steroids and animal drugs. It was a halcyon time for baseball. Everybody loved the home runs, and nobody wanted to know the dirty secret.
After all, there were homers being hit. And don’t ladies dig the longball? I believe they do.
But alas, the secrets always emerge. And the great players of the era get left by the wayside. Players like Travis Fryman. Yes, Travis Fryman.
Travis Fryman deserves a shot at the Hall of Fame. Sure, I’ll give you a chance to stop laughing. Ready? Let’s do this.
Travis Fryman is the best third baseman of the 1990’s
Now I know you seem aghast by this comment, Matt Williams is not the best? Ken Caminiti? Hell, even Dean Palmer seems like he would be a better candidate. But get this, kid? They all cheated. Each and every last one of them.
Travis Fryman? Crisp and clean with no caffeine! Do you know how hard that is? You’re a hero to sports bars and children, and everyone else around you is cheating to be awesome and cool? I mean, who wouldn’t want to be Bobby Estaella or Adam Piatt? I know that a day as Adam Riggs or Jim Parque would be better than than twenty as me or my associate Mister Patterson.
But Travis Fryman is a brave man. He never cheated. He also played shortstop. And put it this way…
Travis Fryman was the best AL Shortstop of the 1990’s
You think Cal Ripken was the best? You are full of bunk. You think Jose Valentin rocked the party that rocked the party? The authorities have been alerted to the fact that you are a danger to yourself and others. Miguel Tejada? He’s a contender. Sure.
But wait! Miguel Tejada is a cheaterpants also. He cheated like Jose Canseco dared him to try the HGH, and he was all, well I will! And then he was all, this is awesome!
I MAN MERELY SEVEN MINUTES AWAY FROM BECOMING MORBO! AND I WILL DESTROY YOU PATHETIC HUMANS FOR ALL ETERNITY!
What did Travis Fryman have? He had Cecil Fielder eating his lunch for his first five seasons. That kept Fryman mean, but it also kept him lean. He was not able to have that protein to get his power above the 25 home run level.
But that’s not all the reasons why Travis Fryman is awesome and deserves a berth in the Hall of Fame. There is one more. It may sound pathetic. It may sound didatic.
But the fact is, it’s true. The truth shall set you free. And this truth shall put Travis Fryman into the Hall of Fame.
Travis Fryman played baseball with black, hispanic, and Asian peoples.
Put Travis Fryman on the 1920’s Tigers. Have him and Charlie Gerhinger be the great grandparents of Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker. Have him beat the shit out of Ty Cobb for making fun of his Jewish heritage. After which he would destroy the Cardinals in the World Series. He would punch out Ducky Medwick like he was Glass Joe. Also, he would engage in Paul and Dizzy Dean ownership. That would make him a Hall of Famer, easily.
In closing, when you see Travis Fryman on your Hall of Fame Ballot, vote YES! YES I SAY!
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This post was inspired by B at The Dugout. Blame him if it does not satisfy. 499. 500.
The Grand National Championships 
Travis Fryman was the most stand-up guy in Baseball. He could have taken the Indians’ guaranteed money and spent the remainder of his expensive contract on a comfy trainer’s table getting his back waxed like most other old players do, but he didn’t want to go out like that. He wanted to go out with his boots on and a gun in his hand like a cowboy. He had to settle for cleats and a baseball bat, but that was okay because Travis Fryman wasn’t that particular.
Comment by Matt — December 31, 2007 @ 1:05 pm |
I agree that he’s a standup guy and all but you still have to look at the numbers compared to the prior era’s for Hall of Fame consideration. 223 Homeruns from a corner infield position and a .274 average just don’t cut it— especially when someone like Ron Santo is not in the Hall of Fame. Or Gary Gaetti.
Comment by Aaron — December 31, 2007 @ 1:51 pm |
Matt: You sir, are absolutely right.
Aaron: I say Santo deserves to get in, but the fact of the matter is Gary Gaetti cheated. How else do you explain 35 home runs at the age of 36 in 1996? It wasn’t because of clean living and gutsy know how.
Comment by Andrew — December 31, 2007 @ 2:10 pm |
i wish character was highly rated for the hall of fame because fryman would definitely get in. Good argument although I never see him getting in.
Comment by Darrell Halk — December 31, 2007 @ 4:26 pm |
I’ll admit I’m not familiar with Fryman, being an NL fan for most of my life. But I’ll tell you the worst travesty in Hall of Fame snubs in Dale Murphy. Compare the guy’s numbers to others of his era at any position, and there is no doubt that he should be there. I always thought he was a first-ballot selection while he was playing.
Comment by thewritersjourney — January 1, 2008 @ 4:19 am |
TWJ: My Dale Murphy theory could be found here.
Comment by Andrew — January 1, 2008 @ 7:06 am |
i totally agree that dale murphy should be in the hall. I remember watching him growing up and loving the way he played and dominated the game.
Comment by Darrell Halk — January 2, 2008 @ 10:13 am |
Right on! I thought I was the only Travis Fryman fan in history. Loved that guy for years. I still have his magnet on the fridge. Go Travis!
Comment by MARK — January 2, 2008 @ 1:31 pm |
[…] Here’s a big Travis Fryman fan who makes a case for Fryman to be in the Hall of Fame. His reason? Everyone else in his era cheated. Here’s another article on Fryman and the Hall of Fame, but this one cites his intangibles as a qualifying criteria for his entry into the Hall. He was on the ballot in 2008, but received only two votes, which was 406 votes shy of what he needed to get in. […]
Pingback by Travis Fryman « Random Forgotten Player of the Day — July 17, 2008 @ 2:32 pm |
I agree travis fryman should be in hall of fame his a cousin of mine i have another cousin that made it he was a pitcher woody fryman. I never met travis but my father did at a family reuion my father was a professional boxer Jeffery Fryman. They should take the ones that cheated out of the hall of fame and replace them with the ones that put up the numbers the averages and the field play without cheating leaving the cheaters in there is a fucking joke the real hall of famers are rolling in the craves.
Comment by Jeremy Fryman — June 16, 2009 @ 8:35 am |
Hello Jeremy,
I think that we may have met at the Fryman family reunion in KY in the 90’s. My name is Janice and my mother was Alice Fryman (Carpenter). I’m in the process of putting together the Fryman family tree and I’m trying to figure out if you or anyone in your family might know anything about our great-grandparents. I have some information on our grandfather, James C. Clark, and our grandmother Georgeanne Yazell (Fryman).
Comment by Janice Bowyer — October 20, 2010 @ 8:27 pm |
Definitely a Travis Fryman fan here……….Not only was Travis a fine baseball player……..he was and will always be a fine human being………..He volunteered his time to guide my handicapped son, who is in a wheelchair from Spina Bifida, on a deer hunt of his lifetime……..Travis spent the entire weekend helping handicapped kids get out in the woods and have their dreams come true…….My son killed a deer with Travis and had the opportunity to be filmed by Mossy Oak’s Hunting the Country……I would not take any amount of money for this video of my son and the special way that Travis treated him……..It was truly a special memory for my son and for me………
Dusty Vance in Philadelphia, Mississippi
Comment by Janis Vance — August 23, 2009 @ 6:40 pm |