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i have no doubt that he is a first ballot hall of famer jsut because of that one number. the reason i don't consider him a great player is that he didn't stay great through his entire career. the past few seasons you could tell he had nothing to offer the world other than the chance to hang on long enough to break the record.
look at the great hitters of all time, hank aaron hit home runs consistantly throughout his career, ted williams was the best hitter in the league until the day he retired, cal ripkin put up numbers in the top 10% ofthe league quitely and on some of the worst teams in baseball history for more consecutive games that anyone in major league history. those are great players.
i think he WAS a great player at one time, but he let that time slip by and now he is hanging on.
i also do not believe that the home run record is the most difficult record to attain in baseball any more. i would give that one to the wins by a pitcher, no one will touch cy youngs 500+ career wins for a very very long time.
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