Most Prestigeous Hall of Fame?

[Appling]

All the focus on pro football this past week has caused me to wonder:
How does the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Canton Ohio) compare with the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown?

Specifically, which Hall of Fame does better at honoring the truly great while excluding the merely "Good" and "Very Good"?

And: [Edit] Does it bring more prestige to be a member of the Cooperstown HOF or the Canton HOF?

[RuthMayBond]

All the focus on pro football this past week has caused me to wonder:
How does the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Canton Ohio) compare with the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown?

I had to live near the wrong Hall of Fame

[KCGHOST]

There is no comparison. Cooperstown by a mile.

[Pine Tar]

I always have thought baseball but am starting to rethink that a bit. The reason is that there are a lot more starting players on a football team than on a baseball team (aren't there 26 starters in football while only 13 in baseball (if you include all 5 pitchers). I mean, when players like Michael Irvin, Thurman Thomas, Harry Carson, Art Monk, Derrick Thomas, and LC Greenwood can't get elected it makes me wonder.

[BoSox Rule]

Baseball. I just honestly don't see how this is close and I really, really like football.

[DoubleX]

Absolutely no contest. Baseball. The biggest difference is the history between the two sports. Baseball has had a long and well documented history, whereas football didn't really get going until the 1920s, and it still really wasn't until the 50's and 60's that football really began to etch a place for itself in the American consciousness. However, I think the football Hall of Fame has been gaining in recent years due to it really supplanting baseball as America's favorite sport in the past 20-30 years. The football players are more high profile and are more hyped, and football's talent level has been increasing exponentially in the past 30 years or so.

[yanks0714]

Nothing beats Cooperstown at this point. The toqn itself oozes charm and is perfect for the HOF. I enjoyed walking down the streets. The HOf and Museum are like walking into a shrine. The history of baseball all right there, with the history stretching back so many years. It's like browsing through an attic. Things are somewhat haphazard which lends to the interest in some ways.

That said, I visited Canton a few years ago on my way up to Cleveland to visit the Rock n' Roll HOF.

Canton cannot compare with Cooperstown for environment. It's right of Interstate 77 in a very busy area. It has no charm. It's noisy during to the proximity to the Interstate, not quiet like Cooperstown.
The Pro Football HOF is designed architecture. Laid out in a clear concept. Very much the current century. It's a bit incongruous to be looking at early football uniforms in such an antiseptic setting.

Now, then, I think that Pro Football does an overall better job of limiting the number of electees and gets most of them right in my opinion. Of course, they have many more to choose from as their history is not as long but still have some catching up to do. But for the most part they haven't missed the boat entirely in electing the likes of a Chick Hafey, Ray Schalk, and many others who are in the BBF HOF Vote Off Poll.

I enjoyed Cooperstown more, because I prefer baseball and it's history. But Canton does a better job of electing.

[DoubleX]

I've never been to Canton, and I really have no want to go there. Sure, if I'm ever in that area, which I never anticipate being, I'll check it out. Cooperstown, however, was for a long, long time, the place I most wanted to visit in the world. Last September I finally made that long-anticipated visit, and I have to say, I was a little disappointed with the Hall. Sure, I had very lofty expectations, but I just felt like something was lacking. That being said, I can't wait to go back again.

[Tigerfan1974]

I think Football does it better.
First, it is the Pro Football Hall of Fame, if I am not mistaken. So they limit it to those in the NFL, and it's predecessors.
You will not find the CFL, AFL, USFL or XFL in there.

Second, they only consider what a player did on the field. Hence, Lawrence Taylor being in Canton. These are sports halls of fame, NOT life halls of fame.

If baseball wants to get it right, stop having the Hall run by the commissioner's office and put in Joe Jackson and Pete Rose.

As much as I love baseball and simply like football, until Cooperstown gets it right, Canton will get my vote for the 'prestigious' hall of fame, as it includes the prestigious players.

[Bob Hannah]

If baseball wants to get it right, stop having the Hall run by the commissioner's office...

Since when?

[Tigerfan1974]

Since when?

Since the commissioner banned Jackson and Rose and then the Hall made special rules pertaining to them.

The commissioner is judging on one's life, not one's play.
Lift the bans, Bud, and give these great players their due.

[runningshoes]

Since when?

I think he means the influence from MLB. Although they don't run the hall, it's unlikely much happens there they don't approve of.

[Appling]

Second, they only consider what a player did on the field. Hence, Lawrence Taylor being in Canton. These are sports halls of fame, NOT life halls of fame.

Despite what the Canton by-laws say, I suspect that "character flaws" are at least part of the reason why Michael Irvin has now been passed over twice in the Pro Football HOF balloting.

[Tigerfan1974]

Despite what the Canton by-laws say, I suspect that "character flaws" are at least part of the reason why Michael Irvin has now been passed over twice in the Pro Football HOF balloting.

I don't disagree with that, and it is wrong to do so. They just elected Troy, they will elect Emmitt. If they do that, Michael has to be included as well.

[Calif_Eagle]

I believe that the Pro Football HOF in Canton Ohio is supposedly built on the very site that contained the Hupmobile auto dealership owned by Ralph Hay, also owner of the Canton Bulldogs. Mr. Hay organized the meeting held at the dealership that the APFA (later to be called the NFL) sprang from. So although it's a less than charming area, (right next to I-77) it is historically significant. I also think the PFHOF has fewer of what I would call the "McCarthy" type players, in recognition of who the people of this site seem to *generally* feel is the weakest ever Baseball HOF selection. If anything I feel there are many candidates not yet enshrined that could go in the PFHOF without diminishing it at all.

[Chisox]

I always have thought baseball but am starting to rethink that a bit. The reason is that there are a lot more starting players on a football team than on a baseball team (aren't there 26 starters in football while only 13 in baseball (if you include all 5 pitchers). I mean, when players like Michael Irvin, Thurman Thomas, Harry Carson, Art Monk, Derrick Thomas, and LC Greenwood can't get elected it makes me wonder.

I'm beginning to see that, too. There are 22 starters in football, 9 in baseball. 24 including the kicker/punters to 13/14 including the DH/rest of rotation. There are, in all honesty, probably more great players on a football field at any given time than on a baseball field (even if you have all the offensive starters out there). Then again, Santo, Dahlen, and a few others like Bobby Bonds and Andre Dawson could compare to those not in Canton.

[Captain Cold Nose]

I always have thought baseball but am starting to rethink that a bit. The reason is that there are a lot more starting players on a football team than on a baseball team (aren't there 26 starters in football while only 13 in baseball (if you include all 5 pitchers). I mean, when players like Michael Irvin, Thurman Thomas, Harry Carson, Art Monk, Derrick Thomas, and LC Greenwood can't get elected it makes me wonder.

Carson was finally elected this year. As for the rest, well, Monk has me scratching my head as well. As long as he's out, Irvin's out. But outside of Greenwood, they should all get in within the next couple years.
Far less writers vote for the FHOF than the BHOF. And they actually meet to discuss the candidates, including the Seniors Candidates. That's why two guys who played in the 20's and 30's were able to make it last year.The process for election, done in stages, is probably better for football than for baseball.
As far as the actual HOFs go, there's no comparison. The museum in Canton is a good museum in an moderately sized city that is surrounded by a lot of parks and areas of state historic importance, not to mention Cleveland, and hour north. Cooperstown is the embodiment of small town charm and is an idyllic setting for the "birthplace" of the Great American Pasttime. The awe factor is just so much greater. Both are worth seeing, but the Baseball Hall of Fame is the better Hall of Fame.