No Doubt
Pablo Vincente – I don’t get the reluctance to put
Vincente in. He’s clearly superior in almost every way to Colome, and is
certainly one of the top 10 offensive players in the history of the league. He
hit .305/.393/.603 (.996). 667 HR (7th all-time), 1927 RBI (5th
all-time) 1591 R (11th all-time). 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.
Kelly Grace – The best pitcher on the list this
season, 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. Great
longevity with 3294 IP.
Kevin Myers – The sort of pitcher who only
exists in HBD, and the first of this type to truly deserve the HOF. Averaged
140 relief IP per season during his peak, and had a career ERA of 2.62 over
1800 IP. Went to 6 All-Star teams, and would have gone to more had he been a
closer, but he would have been less valuable. Double the innings and a way
better ERA than Bowie, and there’s really no comparison.
Solid chance
Domingo Padilla – The greastest base stealer in
Capra history contributed in more than one way. He smacked over 600 doubles and almost 400 HRs. He played 2B, LF and RF, solidly if
unspectacularly. His OPS of .828 is a bit low for the Hall, but by stealing
over 950 bases, he managed to score over 1750 runs, putting him at 5th
all-time, and in company of 4 other HOFers. He deserves to join their ranks. 6
All-Star games and 5 Silver sluggers.
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. He’s getting my vote this
year for being one of the best players at his position for an entire decade.
Rudy Hayes – He has a very high peak, winning
back-to-back MVPs as a 2B. He didn’t quite put up the gaudy numbers that some
of the other HOFers did, with 429 HRs, slightly under 1500 R and RBI, and an
.882 OPS. He did contribute over 200 SBs. He also only went to 5 AS games.
Without the great peak, he’d probably be borderline. But those 2 MVPs probably
put him over the top.
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, and just 2 Silver Sluggers. He’s a
notch behind Vincente, and I put him behind Maurer too, whose overall
contributions were higher.
Wesley Smith – A difficult player to position,
Smith was the best hitting SS in the league for almost a decade. Normally, that
would be enough to get a HOF nod. He had excellent gap power, hitting over 500
2Bs, and adding 320 HRs and 439 SBs. Career OPS of .878, with over 1500 Rs. But
he was out of position at SS, and was a terrible defender (in 1650 G at SS he
made 389 E, 8 + and 92 – plays). Despite winning 8 Silver Sluggers at SS he
only went to 5 All-Star games. He certainly is not a poor choice for the HOF,
but I’m not 100% convinced myself yet.
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.
Javier Leon – Another DH whose peak was even
higher than Colome, 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, and worthy of a vote, but there’s just too many players ahead of
him.
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.
Taylor Bowie – One of the top closers we have
had in the league, but still maybe not quite dominant enough. He has roughly
the same amount of saves (500) and innings (900) as Nerio Miller, but his ERA
(3.24), is a bit higher than Miller’s (2.93). And remember, Miller played in a
higher offensive era. And most importantly, Nerio didn’t make the HOF. In
Bowie’s favor, he went to 8 All-Star games and won 5 Fireman awards. He’s not a
bad choice.
Borderline
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.
Desi Martin – The other Martin also has some
impressive numbers, retiring at #4 all-time in wins, with 247. But his
longevity is his only Hall claim – his career ERA is 4.45. He didn’t even have
a high peak; his best season was probably when he went 19-10, 3.72 for Fresno.
Only 2 All-Star games underscore this highly-consistent yet average player.
Justin Terry – The best catcher on this year’s
list is not quite good enough to make it. A very solid .883 OPS with 477 HRs,
but lacks either superior longevity or the massive peak. Won 4 Silver Sluggers,
but only 2 All-Star games.
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 – Another solid closer, but clearly
inferior to Bowie. Mostly similar
numbers – 479 Saves, 9 ASG, 850 IP, but a higher ERA at 3.61. Not quite.
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?
Lou Witt – Played 2B and CF, got just over
2000 H, batted over .300. A very
nice player who finished with an .882 OPS and over 270 SB. He was very good,
but not unbelievable. He went to 3 All-Star games and won 4 Silver Sluggers.
Al Perez – Played a long and productive
career, amassing over 2300 H and almost 1500 R. A career OPS of .830 while
playing some CF and more RF. He went to 8 All-Star games, demonstrating that he
was well above average consistently, but just didn’t quite put up big enough
numbers.
Ringo Weston – Played CF, SS and 3B, got over
2300 H and 1300 R, with an OPS of .845. Very similar to Al Perez, he was an
excellent all-around player, but maybe not quite HOF quality.
Al Cedeno – Three similar players in a row,
Cedeno played SS, 3B and RF, almost 2300 H and 1200 R, .840 OPS. A notch behind the other two, he played
in just one AS game, and a GG in RF, and he’s clearly not quite a HOFer.
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. How is he still getting nominated?
No Shot
Rob Ojeda – An above average reliever, but
not spectacular. 850 IP with a 3.92 ERA, plus 284 saves. His closing got him to
6 All-Star games, but it’s not enough to stand out in this crowd.
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.
Jorge Lima – Had some huge seasons early, but
for his career was much too pedestrian for this HOF. 353 HR and and .886 OPS
for an outfielder won’t quite do it.
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.
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