Lofton got shafted in HOF voting and I hope the various committees give him a good look. Not saying he’s a slam dunk but he deserved better than dropping off the ballot after one year.
It finally happened for Ted Simmons, he was one and done in the initial HoF vote but the veterans committee saw fit to include him. So there’s hope for Lofton.
I was remembering this discussion while on Baseball Reference today and decided to refresh my memory – not on the name; I recognized Jim’s correction immediately. John does have an interesting career stat line though … 1.000 OBP and 1.000 fielding average.
I read a short book about John recently, which by necessity was more about his prowess as an athlete before MLB. One game, 3-3, and he never had a second game because of injury.
The Paciorek boys all were exceptional athletes, and unfortunately four of the five (all except the youngest) were sexually abused by a teacher who became a local parish priest. Tom courageously told the world about the abuse in 2002. The boys never told anyone because of their shame, including their parents or each other.
Tom was a starter in both football and baseball at UH. He was a DB in football and an All American OF in baseball. I do not know what, if anything, the other boys did in college. I think John signed with Houston after HS. They were from Detroit.
ETA: Younger brother Jim played football and baseball at Michigan and 48 games in MLB with the Brewers. He was a big star at Michigan in baseball. Jim was the only one of the five brothers who was not abused.
