Here’s my take on this season’s HOF
nominees. Lots of 500 HR hitters on this list! Amazing. Some good controversy this year as well.
No Doubt
Pablo Vincente – A 1B who stands out of the crowd!
He hit .305/.393/.603 (.996). 667 HR (7th all-time), 1927 RBI (5th
all-time) 1591 R (11th all-time) – certainly one of the top 10
offensive players in the league.
Won an MVP, went to 6 all-star games, and won 2 silver sluggers. Combines the great peak with excellent
longevity, and gets my nod.
Trenidad Espinosa – Finally some of the excellent
pitchers Capra has to offer are retiring. Espinoza went 212-126 (.627) with a
3.43 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. He pitched over 3100 innings and won a CYA, almost
exclusively in the AL.
Kelly Grace – Maybe one tiny notch behind
Espinoza, Grace went 213-143 (.598). He won a CYA, went to 6 AS games, and
finished with a 1.22 WHIP and a 3.52 ERA, half in the NL, half in the AL. Now look around this list and see how
many people hit over 500 HR and OPS over .900. These guys are HOFers.
Good chance
Jorel McGlinchy – A tough call, not an amazing
offensive player, though respectable with over 500 2Bs, 200 SBs and an .812
career OPS. But an absolutely
incredible defensive force, winning 10 GGs at CF and going to 8 All Star
games. Racked up 424 (+)
plays – the second most is 146. If
you value defense, this guys is a HOFer.
Al Maurer – Career RF who slugged 485 HR
while putting up .324/.407/.574 (.981 OPS). Amazingly consistent, he went to 10
All Star Games, won 3 SS and 2 GG.
Damaso Colome – A full-time DH who obviously
suffers from not playing the field, but put up astounding offensive numbers.
.293/.370/.587 makes for a .957 OPS.
4th all-time in HR with 720 and 7th all-time in
RBIs with 1735. Won an MVP but
amazingly only went to 1 All Star game. He’s a notch behind Vincente, and I put
him behind Maurer too, whose overall contributions were higher.
Javier Leon – Another DH whose peak was even
higher, but had a little less longevity. Leon went .318/.379/.623 for a 1.002
OPS! 556 HR and 1482 RBI, 1 MVP and 3 All-Star games. He was a great player,
but he’s not getting my vote this year.
Stan Lee – Yet another player whose numbers
would be good enough in another system, but will probably not see the HOF in
HBD. 462 HR with over 1600 R & RBI, plus 380 SB. A .953 career OPS. 4 AS
teams, 5 Silver Sluggers and 2 MVPs! But I doubt he’ll get enough support.
Denny Cooper – Second all-time in SBs with 721,
this speedster also got on base and hit for power, giving him an .897 career
OPS. 4 All Star games and 4 Silver
Sluggers. He also played an excellent 2B.
Another high-level candidate.
Mel Barfield – An excellent 2B who hit for a
high average with plenty of doubles and walks. He finished at .313/.371/.514 for an .885 OPS, and stole
over 500 bases. Went to 6 All Star games and won 4 Silver Sluggers. He’s
probably the next best 2B to Denny Cooper.
Don Wilson – A very strong player who ranks
behind a number of other 1Bs on this list. .323/.407/.507 for a .910 OPS, he
got a ton of hits and doubles, and was excellent at getting on base and driving
in runs. He went to 4 all-star games and won 3 silver sluggers. 7th
all-time in AVG, 16th all-time in RBI, 12th all-time in
2B. Among the best players, but a notch down.
Borderline
Evan Moore – Gets the accumulater vote, but
was never as good as the rest of the guys in this category. A solid .869 OPS with over 500 2Bs is
very nice, but the only reason he’s this high is because of the 3000 H. Only
one All Star game. I personally wouldn’t put him in until a lot of these other
guys get in. Played 1B for his
whole career despite being listed as a 2B on his HOF card.
Denny Martin – Another 200-game winner retires, but
this one is probably a hair short of HOF. He went 221-124 (.640), and pitched
2925 innings to a 4.09 ERA. Went
to 5 All-Star teams and won a CYA.
Roosevelt Davenport – A victim of too many good players
– he’s next in line to a lot of guys.
Should get lots of respect for 586 HRs and a .920 OPS, but only went to
3 All Star games. He played a
below average 2B for most of his career, then played an above average LF.
Darin McClellan – A Davenport clone, he hit 589 HRs
and had a .921 OPS. Despite that
he only went to 1 All Star game.
Played 1B, LF and DH.
Doesn’t really stand out.
Sid Watson – The next in line to
Wanatabe. Fewer saves (479), one
fewer ASG (9), 100 fewer IPs (850) and a similar ERA (3.61). A reasonable person would have to vote
for Wanatabe first.
Claude Long – More excellent numbers that don’t
quite make it. 562 HR with a .922
OPS. Played most of his career at LF. 5 ASGs and 6 Silver Sluggers.
Jim Heathcott – Played 2B/3B, and batted
.300. Comes in with a mediocre
.813 OPS. His claim to HOF is his
3153 H, and would probably deserve some consideration if we had 10 votes
each. But despite his high level
consistency I just don’t think he was as good as the players above him. I know some will disagree, but how many
HOFers only play in 1 all-star game?
Chuck Coleman – Mostly played SS, and hit for
good power with 413 HR. His .899
OPS is very nice, he went to 4 AS games, won a Silver Slugger at SS and a GG at
RF. I think he may be just below
HOF level.
Ringo Weston – Played CF, SS and 3B, got over
2300 H and 1300 R, with an OPS of .845. Excellent all-around player, maybe not
quite HOF quality.
Al Cedeno – A very similar player to Weston,
played SS, 3B and RF, almost 2300 H and 1200 R, .840 OPS. Just one AS game, and
a GG in RF, and he’s clearly not quite a HOFer.
Geronimo Ordaz – Almost made it to 3000 H as a SS
and compiled an .850 OPS. He compares in some ways to Desi Rodriguez, but never
won a gold glove and only went to 3 All-Star games. One step below.
Alberto Sosa – Hard to argue against players
with 550 HR, but this RF is going to come up a hair short with his .890 OPS,
and the fact he only played in 2 All Star games.
Short Career
Dean Brennaman – Won an MVP, went to 3 all-star
games, and put up an amazing 1.045 OPS.
But he only played 5 full seasons.
Was old when the league started.
T.J. Smart – Another early C with huge
seasons, but a too short career. Has a massive .998 OPS, but fewer than 1000 H
and only 175 HR.
No Shot
Albert Tatis – A brilliant defender, Tatis won 5
GG as a SS and went to 4 ASG. But despite hitting a respectable .294, his OPS
was just .723, and that’s just not enough for a HOF vote.
Carlos Pulido – Gets a HOF nomination for his 527
HRs, but a 1B with a .913 OPS and only 1 ASG doesn’t get a sniff in this HOF.
Adam Williams – A C/DH who hit a nice
.307/.413/.507 (.920 OPS), but only 261 HR and less than 1000 R/RBI. 3 ASG and
a SS. Not enough.
Alex Lopez – I’m a fan of the everyday
reliever in this game, but the overall numbers have to be higher. He pitched over 1300 innings, but 1.37
WHIP and 4.04 ERA aren’t HOF numbers, even in Capra.
Zachrey Cohen Does not belong on this list.
