The two forgotten Orioles who should be in the Hall of Fame

The Baseball Hall of Fame's Era Committees, formerly known as the Veteran's Committee, will announce on Sunday whether any players from the Classic Baseball Era will be inducted into the Hall. Players up for consideration include guys like former pitcher Tommy John, Pirates' outfielder Dave Parker, and Dodgers' infielder Steve Garvey, among others.

At present, eligible players get a maximum of 10 years on the BBWAA ballot, as long as they receive at least 5% of the vote in each year. If they're not elected within that time frame, their only chance to get into the Hall is via the Era Committees.

The way it's currently drawn up is that there are two different groups the EC votes on. There's the Classic Baseball Era, which includes players who made their impact prior to 1980, and the Contemporary Baseball Era which serves guys who played after 1980. This weekend, the EC will vote on the Classic Era players, and next year they'll review the cases of players in the Contemporary Era.

These two forgotten Orioles have strong Hall of Fame cases

While there aren't any former Orioles up for consideration this year, there are two guys who could potentially get the nod in 2025 who are right on the cusp stat-wise.

Bobby Grich played five strong years in Baltimore, plus an additional two partial seasons early in his career, and played an additional 10 with the California Angels. In total, Grich hit .266/.371/.424 with 224 homers, 104 steals, and 1,833 hits. He was a six-time All Star and won four Gold Glove awards, along with a Silver Slugger in 1981. His 8.3 bWAR in 1973 led the league but he garnered top-10 MVP votes just twice in his career, and finished 19th in what was his best year.

Grich was a very good defender, especially during his time in Baltimore. His play at second base might have been overshadowed by the spectacular Brooks Robinson across the diamond, but that doesn't make Grich's contributions any less meaningful.

Grich's mark of 71.1 bWAR is 9th all time among second basemen. Despite that fact, he managed to get just 2.6% of the vote in his first year on the Hall of Fame ballot in 1992 and was immediately dropped off. The Era Committees should reconsider Grich as a candidate - he's one of the most statistically accomplished second basemen of all time, and yet he's still on the outside looking in.

Likewise, starter Kevin Brown is one of the best starting pitchers outside the Hall. And like Grich, he lasted just one HoF ballot before getting dropped. Brown received just 2.1% of the vote in 2011 despite a career 3.28 ERA, 211 wins, and 2,397 strikeouts.

Brown's 67.8 bWAR is good for 40th all time, right behind our own Jim Palmer. He was a six-time All Star, won the ERA title twice, finished top-6 in the Cy Young voting 4 times in a 5 year stretch.

Brown pitched just one year in Baltimore, back in 1995. He posted a 3.60 ERA in 172 innings before heading to the Marlins and putting up an all timer of a year. Brown pitched for six teams during his career and would likely go into the Hall as a Ranger, but that one year in Baltimore is fun to look back on.

Both Brown and Grich are deserving candidates. We'll see if the Era Committees are willing to rectify these two cases when they come up for discussion next winter.