Will set up men ever get elected into the Hall of Fame?

Question

With the job Joba did last year on getting the ball to Riveria, will there be a time when a releiver makes it into the hall by being a set up man?

Answer 1

No.  A good or even great set-up man will eventually be turned into a closer or starter.

Answer 2

If they were that great, they'd be turned into either a starter or closer.

Answer 3

Yes Joel Zumaya will be in the Hall of Fame because he threw a fastball 103 MPH.

Answer 4

No because if they were that great as a setup man, they'd eventually be converted into another role.

Answer 5

Not for a long time. Two things must evolve. First, the setup man role and how it gets exploited in the game as a playing tactic.

Second, the concept of the setup man as a distinct, defined member of the pitching staff and what he does that makes him great, sufficient to Hall "standards" as viewed by the voting writers.

Don't expect anything soon. The notion of what makes a closer-reliever Hall-class is still in the normative stage, if not the formative stage. I think with this year's induction of Gossage the voters are, finally (though it is understandable that it took this long), showing that they grasp what the closer-reliever role is, can do, and has been used for, and which men did it long enough and well enough to merit the bronze plaque.

Answer 6

Well considering it took as long as it did to get closers into the Hall, it will be a VERY long time before set-up guys will get their shot.  Eventually the "holds" category will get a guy in, but not for quite some time yet.