Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? – Page 3

August 23, 2011

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? Curt Flood

Editor’s note: Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? was a past regular feature here. It will resume on a weekly basis the first Tuesday after the postseason ends.

Claim to fame: Flood hit .293 over 15 seasons and was one of the best outfielders of his generation, winning seven straight Gold Gloves from 1963 to 1969. But he’s known more for what he did after all this when he protested a December 1969 trade from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies, informing the commissioner at the time, Bowie Kuhn that he wanted to consider other offers before signing a contract. Kuhn feigned ignorance, hiding behind baseball’s Reserve Clause, and Flood filed suit to challenge. Though Flood lost in the Supreme Court in 1972, his playing career by then done, his effort almost certainly helped bring about the demise of the Reserve Clause a few years later.

Current Hall of Fame eligibility: Flood exhausted his 15 years of eligibility with the Baseball Writers Association of America in 1996 when he peaked at 15.1 percent of the vote. He died the following year at 59, which leaves him now as a posthumous candidate for the Veterans Committee.

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? Short answer, yes, though labor pioneers are woefully under-represented in Cooperstown. Flood or former player’s association head Marvin Miller might be the most egregious snubs, though many other players may deserve more recognition as well. There’s 19th century great Lip Pike who signed baseball’s first professional contract, $20 to play for Philadelphia in 1866. And much as credit is due to Flood for combating the Reserve Clause, it might still be in effect had Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally not played the 1975 season without contracts so they could become free agents. Don’t forget arbitrator Peter Seitz who struck down the clause in a historic ruling after that season and who was fired within minutes by the owners for his handiwork.

All this being said, Flood might be the Jackie Robinson of the labor movement, and he’s long overdue for his Cooperstown plaque. True, his statistics don’t suggest automatic enshrinement, what with him having less than 2,000 hits, a career WAR of 35.9, and an OPS+ of 100. Still, the Hall of Fame has never been entirely about numbers, and for contributions above stats, Flood looks like an easy choice. His spirit, courage, and willingness to take a stand represent what makes baseball great, at least to me. I view Flood in the same way as Robinson or Detroit Tigers great and Jewish hero Hank Greenberg, who incidentally testified for the embattled player in court. It’s a spirit baseball should be looking to commemorate, not forget. If the Hall of Fame isn’t the place for this, I don’t know what is.

The question is if the traditionally conservative Veterans Committee will honor Flood or any of the other men here. That’s no sure thing. The committee passed on Miller yet again in December, and at 94, there’s an increasing chance he’ll die before he gets a plaque. That’s too bad. After Flood, I only wish baseball would learn.

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? was formerly a Tuesday feature here. It will relaunch following the postseason.

Others in this series: Adrian Beltre, Al Oliver, Alan Trammell, Albert Belle, Allie Reynolds, Barry Bonds, Barry Larkin, Bert Blyleven, Billy Martin, Bobby Grich, Cecil Travis, Chipper Jones, Closers, Dan Quisenberry, Darrell Evans, Dave Parker, Dick Allen, Don Mattingly, Don Newcombe, George Steinbrenner, George Van Haltren, Harold Baines, Jack Morris, Jim Edmonds, Joe Carter, Joe Posnanski, John Smoltz, Juan Gonzalez, Keith Hernandez, Ken Caminiti, Larry Walker, Manny Ramirez, Maury Wills, Mel Harder, Moises Alou, Pete Browning, Phil Cavarretta, Rafael Palmeiro, Roberto Alomar, Rocky Colavito, Roger Maris, Ron Guidry, Ron Santo, Smoky Joe Wood, Steve Garvey, Ted Simmons, Thurman Munson, Tim Raines, Tony Oliva, Will Clark

May 24, 2011

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? Tony Oliva

This is the final edition of Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? due to scheduling changes for this site that will take effect next week. For more information, go here.

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Claim to fame: I don’t know if this rates for anything, but Oliva may have been the first player who I was surprised was not in the Hall of Fame. I started reading about baseball as a child, and when I was eight or nine, my dad gave me some of his books he’d had growing up in the 1960s. Oliva is profiled in one of the books, Heroes of the Major Leagues, and I suppose it’s fitting it was published in 1967. Little did the author know that in five years, Oliva would go from a perennial threat for the American League batting championship to an injury-plagued also-ran. As a kid, I didn’t know the difference and thought of Oliva in the same vein as his contemporary Roberto Clemente. I still do to some extent.

I recognize today that Oliva was a mortal, his 42.4 career WAR, 1,917 hits, and .304 lifetime batting average respectable, but hardly legendary. But that’s a holistic look at Oliva which includes the last four seasons of his career when he never topped .300 and averaged 118 games. His first eight full seasons, up to age 33 tell a different story, about a man who won three batting titles, led the league in hits five times, and doubles four times. More impressively, he did the bulk of this during one of the greatest ages for pitchers in baseball history, the 1960s. Knowing what we know today, it seems Oliva was even a tad underrated in his day.

The fact that Oliva was included in Heroes of the Major Leagues and not Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays or Bob Gibson, among other active stars at the time, seems a little absurd today. That being said, Oliva might not make a bad Veterans Committee pick.

Current Hall of Fame eligibility: Oliva exhausted his 15 possible years on the Cooperstown ballot for the Baseball Writers Association of America and never came close to the needed 75 percent of the vote for induction. He topped out at 47.3 percent in 1988, an unusually weak year for the ballot and otherwise cracked 40 percent of the vote just one other time. That leaves the Veterans Committee as Oliva’s sole means for earning a plaque.

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? I’ll beat a drum I’ve sounded before for Gil Hodges, Ron Santo, and Roger Maris. In the next 10 to 15 years, I believe the Hall of Fame could face a public relations challenge, if not crisis, as more and more players suspected of using steroids become eligible for the Hall of Fame. The first time a Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens or Alex Rodriguez gets his inevitable induction ceremony (and realistically, what are the chances none of these men will make it?) it could reap dividends for Cooperstown to have someone like Oliva also onstage. It could be welcome interference to media and fans.

Oliva represents a connection to a seemingly purer time for baseball, players’ rampant use of amphetamines in the ’60s notwithstanding. The image for Oliva’s time is likely to get only more halcyon and distorted as time passes, nostalgia being what it is. That being said, Oliva might not make a bad statistical choice for Cooperstown either, seeing as he satisfies three of four Hall of Fame qualifying metrics on Baseball-Reference.com. If he’s not at the top of the list of Veterans Committee candidates, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s not far off. Maybe Heroes of the Major Leagues had the idea on Oliva.

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? was a Tuesday feature here.

May 17, 2011

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? Roger Maris

Claim to fame: This October will mark the 50th anniversary of Roger Maris’s 61st home run in the 1961 season. It broke Babe Ruth’s 34-year single season record and stood another 37 years until Mark McGwire hit 70 home runs in 1998, and it remains the defining achievement for Maris. He was a back-to-back MVP, four-time All Star, and one can only wonder what he might have accomplished had he not had just one healthy season after the age of 27. Still, 61 is the number people remember about Maris, and if he’s ever elected to the Hall of Fame, I doubt it will be for any other reason.

Current Hall of Fame eligibility: Maris went the full 15 years on the Cooperstown ballot for the Baseball Writers Association of America, and while his vote totals peaked slightly after his death from cancer in 1985, he never received anywhere close to the 75 percent of votes needed for enshrinement. That leaves the Veterans Committee as Maris’s sole option for earning a plaque today.

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? There are lots of directions I could probably go with this one. I’ll start with a quote I’ve used before here. In 1978, late, great Los Angeles Times columnist Jim Murray wrote a column arguing that Dodger stolen base great Maury Wills belonged in the Hall of Fame. Toward the end of the piece, Murray wrote:

The baseball writers are sometimes loathe to reward a guy for a single, incandescent, virtuoso performance over one season. They prefer a guy who keeps doing a predictable thing over and over again. Henry Aaron, who piled up 755 home runs, 30 to 40 at a time over 20 years, will go in the hall by acclamation. Roger Maris, who hit 61 one season, more than anyone ever hit in one season, will never make it.

I like Murray, though it’s hard to believe Maris will never make the Hall of Fame. I don’t know if there are many absolutes in life, particularly when it comes to the Veterans Committee. Players with solid lifetime stats but relatively low profiles are sometimes overlooked by the committee in favor of big names from great teams. That could favor Maris, who did his best work in Yankee pinstripes and remains beloved more than a decade since his record fell. He’s another player whose induction could offer good PR for the Hall of Fame as more and more steroid users become eligible with the writers.

The question is whether that’s enough, because I don’t know what else could get Maris enshrined. By no lifetime statistical measure does he appear worthy of Cooperstown, not through any of the Hall of Fame monitoring metrics on Baseball-Reference.com nor any traditional stat. His 275 home runs ranks far down the charts, as does his 39.8 career WAR, and .260 batting average. He never hit .300 in a season, retired with just 1,325 hits, and had barely more than 5,000 at bats. The list goes on. If not for the 61 home runs, I suppose Maris might be largely forgotten today.

But Maris isn’t a sentinel in baseball history, and here’s what I think the argument could come down to. There are roughly 300 people in the Hall of Fame, the majority obscure to modern fans. To most who pass through Cooperstown, names on plaques like Vic Willis and Tim Keefe and Buck Ewing are essentially meaningless. Maris is a name many if not most fans know and care about. If we isolate the word Fame in Hall of Fame, there may be no more deserving, eligible player than Roger Maris.

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? is a Tuesday feature here.

Others in this series: Adrian Beltre, Al Oliver, Alan Trammell, Albert Belle, Allie Reynolds, Barry Bonds, Barry Larkin, Bert Blyleven, Billy Martin, Bobby Grich, Cecil Travis, Chipper Jones, Closers, Dan Quisenberry, Darrell Evans, Dave Parker, Dick Allen, Don Mattingly, Don Newcombe, George Steinbrenner, George Van Haltren, Harold Baines, Jack Morris, Jim Edmonds, Joe Carter, Joe Posnanski, John Smoltz, Juan Gonzalez, Keith Hernandez, Ken Caminiti, Larry Walker, Manny Ramirez, Maury Wills, Mel Harder, Moises Alou, Pete Browning, Phil Cavarretta, Rafael Palmeiro, Roberto Alomar, Rocky Colavito, Ron Guidry, Ron Santo, Smoky Joe Wood, Steve Garvey, Ted Simmons, Thurman Munson, Tim Raines, Will Clark

May 3, 2011

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? Bobby Grich

Claim to fame: Grich was a six-time All Star, five-time Gold Glove winner, and he just might be the best ever one-and-done Hall of Fame candidate, someone who appeared on the ballot for Cooperstown once and got less than 5 percent of the vote. The reason? Grich retired with a .266 lifetime batting average, no high profile or single defining moment, and a lack of understanding on what might have made him worthy. That said, he’s been getting some support as of late.

Current Hall of Fame eligibility: Having retired in 1986 and long since bounced off the writers ballot, Grich could have been on the 2011 Veterans Committee ballot a few months ago as someone who made a significant career mark between 1973 and 1989. He was not included.

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? Grich has come up before on this site, though I thought of him again recently when Joe Posnanski included him in an April 20 post on players who may have missed Cooperstown for being Not Famous Enough. Posnanski wrote of Grich:

He IS a cause celebre among a very small circle of sabermetrically inclined people, largely because his skills (great defense, power, walked a ton) were wildly under-appreciated. He got just 11 votes his one year on the ballot, which was 30 less than Pete Rose got write-in votes. He also got almost 100 fewer votes than Maury Wills though he was a clearly superior player. Wills, of course, is a pretty famous cause celebre.

The Orange County Register ran a column a week later by Sam Miller entitled, Ex-Angel Grich is a no-brainer Hall of Famer. I’m generally quick to dismiss columns written by hometown reporters (Grich played his best years in Anaheim), though I thought Miller did a good job capturing the arguments for Grich’s enshrinement. Among other things, Miller quoted Jay Jaffe of BaseballProspectus.com ranking Grich as the sixth-best second baseman of all-time, and Miller noted how Grich’s 1973 season might have been the greatest ever for a second baseman for the defensive stat Total Zone.

Miller wrote:

This (overall) position on Grich is nothing new. Back in 1986, the seminal baseball writer Bill James wrote in his annual Baseball Abstract: “I’ll say this: if Bobby Grich goes into the Hall of Fame, you’re going to have real strong evidence that sabermetrics has made an impact on how talent is evaluated by the broader public.”

It has, certainly. But it’s two decades too late for Grich and the Angels.

My take? The Veterans Committee could do far worse than Grich, and in December, it once again almost did, with Dave Concepcion coming closest to enshrinement. Concepcion was an adequate member of a high-profile team, essentially the opposite of Grich. And the committee did worse a couple years ago when it selected Joe Gordon, again another role player on a dynasty. Grich seems more deserving than either of those men on statistical merit, but I don’t know if I like his odds for getting inducted anytime soon, at least so long as business keeps running as usual in Cooperstown. For better or worse, it’s still the Hall of Fame.

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? is a Tuesday feature here.

Others in this series: Adrian Beltre, Al Oliver, Alan Trammell, Albert Belle, Allie Reynolds, Barry Bonds, Barry Larkin, Bert Blyleven, Billy Martin, Cecil Travis, Chipper Jones, Closers, Dan Quisenberry, Darrell Evans, Dave Parker, Dick Allen, Don Mattingly, Don Newcombe, George Steinbrenner, George Van Haltren, Harold Baines, Jack Morris, Jim Edmonds, Joe Carter, Joe Posnanski, John Smoltz, Juan Gonzalez, Keith Hernandez, Ken Caminiti, Larry Walker, Manny Ramirez, Maury Wills, Mel Harder, Moises Alou, Pete Browning, Phil Cavarretta, Rafael Palmeiro, Roberto Alomar, Rocky Colavito, Ron Guidry, Ron Santo, Smoky Joe Wood, Steve Garvey, Ted Simmons, Thurman Munson, Tim Raines, Will Clark

April 26, 2011

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? Dale Murphy

Claim to fame: Murphy was a stalwart outfielder, fan favorite, and back-to-back National League Most Valuable Player during the 1980s for the Atlanta Braves. He declined badly near the end of the decade and was an afterthought for the expansion Colorado Rockies by the end of his career in 1993, though Murphy still finished with 398 home runs and a reputation as one of the best defensive center fielders of his generation. But that might not be the biggest driving factor for getting him into Cooperstown.

Current Hall of Fame eligibility: Having made 13 appearances on the Baseball Writers Association of America ballot for Cooperstown, Murphy has consistently received roughly 10 percent of the vote in recent years. With two more years of eligibility remaining with the writers and slim odds of skyrocketing to the necessary 75 percent of the vote, Murphy looks like a Veterans Committee candidate.

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? Murphy came up Saturday in conversation with my family. We were talking about these epic Wiffle ball games my dad and I used to have in the front driveway of our house in Sacramento, and we got to remembering some of the players we created. I’m lucky enough to have a dad who loved playing sports with my friends and I growing up, and in every sport, he gave his all. I never beat him once in tennis, I avoided inside shots in basketball because he blocked them, and I became a good deep receiver in street football and learned to catch inside passes with my hands because if they hit my forearms, they stung. But my favorite memories might revolve around the Wiffle ball games.

Often, it was just my dad and I playing games that lasted until dusk, but we each had a full cast of characters. My dad alternated between two pitchers, the menacing Nelson, who my dad explained was always in and out of jail and the soft-tossing McGregor who was brought on in relief when Nelson had me close to tears. There was my dad’s spray hitter Tito Fuentes and, my favorite, his power hitters Mickey Mammoth and Mail Murphy. I wasn’t as creative. I had Silly Mays and possibly Silly McCovey, as well.

On the strength of statistics, Dale Murphy might have a distant case for the Hall of Fame. Things like his .265 batting average, relatively pedestrian lifetime WAR of 44.2, and dramatic decline could render him a borderline candidate at best, though I’m sure he’ll have supporters arguing he was every bit as talented in his prime as some of the other outfielders of his generation already in Cooperstown, men like Jim Rice, Dave Winfield, and Andre Dawson. But when it comes down to it, I think of Mail Murphy. I think of a clean-cut player who had a column in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for years answering children’s questions. I think of Atlanta native Jeff Foxworthy noting in his memoir that when he learned of Murphy’s trade to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1990, he stood in the middle of an airport crying.

Over the next 10 or 20 years, the Hall of Fame will face a public relations crisis as more and more statistically worthy players from the Steroid Era become eligible with the writers. At some point, the writers will be damned if they enshrine one of these players and damned if they don’t. For Cooperstown’s historically less-objective voting branch, the Veterans Committee, feel-good stars like Murphy might be a welcome distraction.

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? is a Tuesday feature here.

April 19, 2011

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? Barry Bonds

Claim to fame: 762 home runs, seven MVP awards, and a recent steroid-related felony conviction.

Current Hall of Fame eligibility: Having last played in 2007, Bonds will first appear on the Baseball Writers Association of America ballot for Cooperstown in about a year and a half, with his first opportunity for induction in the summer of 2013. Right now, that seems a long way off.

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? I was tempted to file a one-line column reading, “Yes, of course” and then move on to other things. With Bonds’ conviction on obstruction of justice charges a week old, the debate on his Cooperstown worthiness already seems repetitive and tiresome. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like as his first appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot draws nearer.

It’s not to say this isn’t a worthwhile debate for people to be having. At some point, the first acknowledged or strongly-rumored steroid user will be enshrined, whether it’s Bonds, Roger Clemens, or Alex Rodriguez, and I think it’s good for writers, fans, and other baseball folk to be sorting out now how this is going to work. After all, Cooperstown’s never faced this issue before, and this isn’t the players’ game any more than it’s for the writers or fans or whoever. In my view, baseball belongs to everyone who loves it and makes it something more than a bunch of men playing alone somewhere. We all deserve a say in what goes on.

So does Barry belong in Cooperstown? I say yes. I’ll repeat an argument I’ve heard voters may employ: Bonds was a great player before he touched steroids. He was certainly my favorite for many years when I was a San Francisco Giants fan growing up in Sacramento. The Bonds of early years hit for average and power, stole bases by the dozen, and locked down left field. Interestingly, he averaged about the same WAR his first 13 seasons as he did after he may have started using steroids in 1999, posting 103.4 of his 171.8 WAR from 1986 to 1998. That’s more WAR than many Hall of Famers did their entire careers.

I admit that in his final seasons, Bonds was as dominant a player as I’ve ever seen. I went to a Giants game in 2003 or ’04 that went into extra innings, and when Bonds came up in the twelfth, I knew that if the bottom of the barrel reliever on the mound pitched to him, he’d hit a game-winning home run. He did. Bonds’ seemingly weightless shot that he jacked to the corner of left center was something to watch, and my dad and I exchanged high fives. Still, something about that all seems artificial and not worth lionizing, even if it was awe-inspiring at the time and even if those final years saw Bonds set the single season and career marks for home runs.

For the record, Bonds never failed a test for steroids after baseball banned their use, and he wouldn’t be the first player in Cooperstown with a criminal conviction, as Duke Snider and Willie McCovey each plead guilty to tax evasion in the mid-1990s and Orlando Cepeda went to prison on drug charges in the 1970s. But I don’t think Bonds’ enshrinement need be about amnesty. I like the Bonds of early years, and if I were to enshrine any version of him, that’s the one I’ll choose to remember. Is there anything wrong with that?

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? is a Tuesday feature here.

Others in this series: Adrian Beltre, Al Oliver, Alan Trammell, Albert Belle, Allie Reynolds, Barry Larkin, Bert Blyleven, Billy Martin, Cecil Travis, Chipper Jones, Closers, Dan Quisenberry, Darrell Evans, Dave Parker, Dick Allen, Don Mattingly, Don Newcombe, George Steinbrenner, George Van Haltren, Harold Baines, Jack Morris, Jim Edmonds, Joe Carter, Joe Posnanski, John Smoltz, Juan Gonzalez, Keith Hernandez, Ken Caminiti, Larry Walker, Manny Ramirez, Maury Wills, Mel Harder, Moises Alou, Pete Browning, Phil Cavarretta, Rafael Palmeiro, Roberto Alomar, Rocky Colavito, Ron Guidry, Ron Santo, Smoky Joe Wood, Steve Garvey, Ted Simmons, Thurman Munson, Tim Raines, Will Clark

April 12, 2011

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? Manny Ramirez

Claim to fame: In short, Ramirez was a regular All Star, he was one of the greatest hitters of his generation, and he was Manny. Next to Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds, Ramirez also was perhaps the most prominent confirmed steroid user, and were it not for his abrupt retirement last Friday at 38, he may have been the first elite ballplayer with multiple suspensions for the issue. He served a 50-game suspension for the issue in 2009 and was facing a 100-game ban when he walked away.

Current Hall of Fame eligibility: Having quit baseball after playing a handful of games this season, Ramirez will not be eligible for consideration by the Baseball Writers Association of America until the 2017 induction.

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? I suppose this is going to be a fairly polarizing debate among fans and baseball researchers, with one large group condemning Ramirez’s steroid use, another saying his 555 home runs cannot be denied and steroids have no proven ability to help a player hit a ball farther (which I think is revisionist nonsense), and a small subset disregarding the issue and attempting to make the bizarre case that the real reason Ramirez won’t belong in Cooperstown is his lack of defense.

Whatever the case, I doubt any of this will matter to the writers, who’ve already shown a strong aversion to honoring any admitted or suspected steroid user. Rafael Palmeiro retired with 3,000 hits, 500 home runs, and an inglorious positive test for stanozolol at the end of his career, and for this, he received just 11 percent of the Hall of Fame vote in January. Juan Gonzalez was very nearly a one-and-done candidate in the same election, Jose Canseco suffered that fate in 2007. Mark McGwire has done best, hanging consistent with about 20 percent of the vote, and since Ramirez has about the same number of home runs for his career, I’m guessing he’ll fall somewhere in the same range.

The wild card in all this is that a lot of suspected or confirmed steroid users who would normally have ironclad credentials for the Hall of Fame will be arriving on the ballot in the next few years, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens being the two most prominent examples I can think of, though I would not be at all surprised if other prospective candidates are unmasked or accused in the next few years. It’s the great witch hunt in baseball of the 21st century with everyone a suspect. And when one of these players finally gets in, even if it takes all the way until Rodriguez, it will make it easier for the Mannys and McGwires.

All this being said, the question remains, does Manny Ramirez belong in the Hall of Fame? Some months ago, I wrote here that I’d wretch if Palmeiro were honored. For some reason, though, I’m less averse to having Ramirez in Cooperstown. For better and worse, he was one of the players who defined his era. As time passes, I think he’ll be one of the guys who’s remembered from this time, for better and for worse. If he doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame, a lot of his contemporaries don’t.

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? is a Tuesday feature here.

Others in this series: Adrian Beltre, Al Oliver, Alan Trammell, Albert Belle, Allie Reynolds, Barry Larkin, Bert Blyleven, Billy Martin, Cecil Travis, Chipper Jones, Closers, Dan Quisenberry, Darrell Evans, Dave Parker, Dick Allen, Don Mattingly, Don Newcombe, George Steinbrenner, George Van Haltren, Harold Baines, Jack Morris, Jim Edmonds, Joe Carter, Joe Posnanski, John Smoltz, Juan Gonzalez, Keith Hernandez, Ken Caminiti, Larry Walker, Maury Wills, Mel Harder, Moises Alou, Pete Browning, Phil Cavarretta, Rafael Palmeiro, Roberto Alomar, Rocky Colavito, Ron Guidry, Ron Santo, Smoky Joe Wood, Steve Garvey, Ted Simmons, Thurman Munson, Tim Raines, Will Clark

April 5, 2011

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? Alan Trammell

Claim to fame: A six-time All Star and 20-year cornerstone for the Detroit Tigers, Trammell might have been one of, if not the best, shortstops of his generation (without diving through rosters and WAR rankings from Trammell’s years in the majors, 1977 to 1996, Cal Ripken Jr. probably ranks in front.) Trammell retired with a .285 lifetime batting average and 2,365 hits, which would place him ahead of a number of shortstops already in Cooperstown. Bill James ranked him as the ninth-best shortstop of all-time in 2001. Whether this makes Trammell something more than a very good player and, in fact, Hall-worthy is another story.

Current Hall of Fame eligibility: Trammell made his 10th appearance on the Baseball Writers Association of America ballot for Cooperstown, receiving his highest vote total yet, 24.3 percent. He’s doing better with the voters than double play partner Lou Whitaker, who was famously lasted just one year on the ballot, though Trammell looks like one of those players who will go the full 15 years on the ballot with no hope of getting the 75 percent of the vote needed for enshrinement but with a large enough base of support to remain on the ballot. These sorts of players have done well with the Veterans Committee.

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? Trammell seems like the kind of candidate the Veterans Committee will love: conservative without any hint of scandal, a baseball person who’s stuck around the game to coach since retiring, and a solid and consistent, if not legendary player. He’s his generation’s Nellie Fox or Pee Wee Reese or Red Schoendienst. I’m guessing the Vets will get Trammell into Cooperstown in the next decade or two, whether it’s deserved or not.

I don’t know if I’d have any problem with Trammell’s enshrinement, but it’s not a cause I’m rushing to embrace either. There doesn’t seem any great injustice in overlooking a player with a lifetime OPS+ of 110 or career WAR of 66.9 or a .285 batting average without spectacular defense. I’d sooner give a plaque to Deadball Era shortstop Bill Dahlen, who has a roughly identical OPS+ of 109, better WAR at 75.9, and more hits at 2,461. Dahlen played in the shadow of Honus Wagner most of his long career and seems forgotten today by all but baseball researchers and historians and people who frequent Baseball-Reference.com like myself.

Dahlen’s exclusion comes closer to injustice, but even with him, I’m not vehemently in this camp. As I’ve said before, I’ve become more welcoming to having more people in the Hall of Fame since I started writing this column almost a year ago, seeing how many solid players I’ve found that there are outside of Cooperstown, but there doesn’t seem anything otherworldly about the talents of Dahlen or Trammell or so many others. They’re very good sure, but if Cooperstown is purely for the greats, it doesn’t seem like they belong. Granted, if the Hall of Fame took this tact retroactively, I’m sure a lot of players would need to be removed from the museum.

As I’ve said before with others, I doubt the museum would be any worse for Trammell’s presence, and I’m sure many fans would be thrilled to see his plaque, but is that enough?

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? is a Tuesday feature here.

Others in this series: Adrian Beltre, Al Oliver, Albert Belle, Allie Reynolds, Barry Larkin, Bert Blyleven, Billy Martin, Cecil Travis, Chipper Jones, Closers, Dan Quisenberry, Darrell Evans, Dave Parker, Dick Allen, Don Mattingly, Don Newcombe, George Steinbrenner, George Van Haltren, Harold Baines, Jack Morris, Jim Edmonds, Joe Carter, Joe Posnanski, John Smoltz, Juan Gonzalez, Keith Hernandez, Ken Caminiti, Larry Walker, Maury Wills, Mel Harder, Moises Alou, Pete Browning, Phil Cavarretta, Rafael Palmeiro, Roberto Alomar, Rocky Colavito, Ron Guidry, Ron Santo, Smoky Joe Wood, Steve Garvey, Ted Simmons, Thurman Munson, Tim Raines, Will Clark

March 29, 2011

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? Dick Allen

Claim to fame: A seven-time All Star, 1972 American League MVP, and two-time home run champion, Allen may rank as one of the best baseball players not in the Hall of Fame. He’s certainly one of the best hitters of the 1960s not in Cooperstown, his 351 home runs and .292 batting average more a facet of his relatively short career and the fact he played in a celebrated pitcher’s era. One need only look at Allen’s OPS+ of 156, fourth best of any eligible player not enshrined, to know he was something special at the plate. Stats don’t tell the whole story with Allen, though.

Current Hall of Fame eligibility: Allen exhausted his time 0n the writers ballot in 1997, one of those players who had a cult of support with roughly the same small percentage of people voting for him each year. For staying on the ballot 14 years, Allen never got more than 20 percent of the vote and received less than 10 percent just four times. He can now be considered by the Veterans Committee.

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? My quick take is yes, but I’m admittedly somewhat sentimental in these matters. Push come to shove, I probably wouldn’t have any problem enshrining Allen or other fan favorite players who’ve been long left out of Cooperstown like Ron Santo or Gil Hodges. I don’t believe the museum would be much worse statistically for their presence, and they seem like they’d have plaques parents would want their children to see. Isn’t that the point of the Hall of Fame?

Of course, the arguments against Allen (and Santo and Hodges and so many others) aren’t hard to see, either. Allen was horrific defensively, his defensive WAR of -10.6 knocking his overall WAR down to 61.2. I wonder if his defensive woes in contrast to his offensive prowess were part of the impetus for the designated hitter position, which originated in 1973 and featured a veteran Allen as one of the first. He was also finished at 35 in 1977 and a sub-replacement level player his final three seasons. More than that, he has a controversial image and may have been the Albert Belle of his day, another fine hitter who hasn’t come close to Cooperstown.

Bill James called Allen a clubhouse cancer, writing in one of his books that Allen did “more to keep his teams from winning than anybody else who ever played major league baseball.” In The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract in 2001, James called Allen the second-most controversial player in baseball history behind Rogers Hornsby. Teammates and coaches have spoken out in Allen’s defense as a team leader and captain, and even if the allegations they defended were true, Allen wouldn’t be the first jerk in Cooperstown (and probably not the last.)

It’s not always fun to see these kinds of players have their day, but Allen might deserve one.

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? is a Tuesday feature here.

Others in this series: Adrian Beltre, Al Oliver, Albert Belle, Allie Reynolds, Barry Larkin, Bert Blyleven, Billy Martin, Cecil Travis, Chipper Jones, Closers, Dan Quisenberry, Darrell Evans, Dave Parker, Don Mattingly, Don Newcombe, George Steinbrenner, George Van Haltren, Harold Baines, Jack Morris, Jim Edmonds, Joe Carter, Joe Posnanski, John Smoltz, Juan Gonzalez, Keith Hernandez, Ken Caminiti, Larry Walker, Maury Wills, Mel Harder, Moises Alou, Pete Browning, Phil Cavarretta, Rafael Palmeiro, Roberto Alomar, Rocky Colavito, Ron Guidry, Ron Santo, Smoky Joe Wood, Steve Garvey, Ted Simmons, Thurman Munson, Tim Raines, Will Clark

March 22, 2011

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? Allie Reynolds

Claim to fame: Reynolds won 180 games and made five All Star teams in his 13-year career and helped pitch the New York Yankees to six World Series titles between 1947 and 1953. He’s one of the most prominent, eligible Yankees not in the Hall of Fame, and that might be enough for the Veterans Committee, which has a history of making questionable picks of former Bronx Bombers from Tony Lazzeri to Phil Rizzuto to Joe Gordon.

Current Hall of Fame eligibility: Reynolds made 13 appearances on the Baseball Writers Association of America ballot for Cooperstown between 1956 and 1974, peaking at 33.6 percent of the vote in 1968. He can now be enshrined by the Golden Age sub-portion of the Veterans Committee which considers players who made their greatest contribution between 1947 and 1972.

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? For lifetime stats, Reynolds doesn’t come anywhere close to Cooperstown. He made the majors at 25 and even playing through World War II, his career was relatively short. His 180 wins and 29.0 WAR would place him near the bottom of enshrined pitchers, and there are plenty of hurlers with better numbers who haven’t been honored from Tommy John to Rick Reuschel to Luis Tiant and many others.

But that might not matter for the Veterans Committee. If Reynolds had played his entire career where he started, Cleveland, he might have no more of a chance of getting into Cooperstown than Mel Harder, but his image is forever married to his time in pinstripes. And the Hall of Fame isn’t just about stats, it’s about honoring baseball’s lore. Reynolds was a vital member of a storied franchise during one of its best runs, and while I’m not arguing this is enough to merit him a plaque (because it shouldn’t be), I wouldn’t be surprised if he is enshrined sometime in the next ten or 20 years.

Reynolds looks like a logical next Yankee for the Veterans Committee, depending on one’s view of John, Tommy Henrich, or Thurman Munson, among a handful of others. The Veterans Committee hasn’t enshrined anyone since reforming a few years ago, but traditionally has had a slow uptake on tabbing players. Lazzeri was selected in 1991, 52 years after his last game; Gordon went in 59 years after retirement, Rizzuto 38. Having last played in 1954, Reynolds is about at the same point.

Of course, if Reynolds is enshrined, a lot of writers and baseball researchers will bemoan the Hall of Fame once more for disregarding statistical merit. I doubt Cooperstown will care.

All of this is not to knock Reynolds, who accomplished much in his time in the majors. A few months back, in preparing to write one of these columns about John Smoltz, I emailed one of the regulars here. He replied:

How about comparing him to Allie Reynolds, who in a shorter career and more modest numbers was a precursor? Only he was used as both a starter and reliever in some of the same seasons, which might lead you to look into how Casey handled his pitching staffs. Everything you said about Smoltz had been said about Reynolds.

That has to be good for something.

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? is a Tuesday feature here.

Others in this series: Adrian Beltre, Al Oliver, Albert Belle, Barry Larkin, Bert Blyleven, Billy Martin, Cecil Travis, Chipper Jones, Closers, Dan Quisenberry, Darrell Evans, Dave Parker, Don Mattingly, Don Newcombe, George Steinbrenner, George Van Haltren, Harold Baines, Jack Morris, Jim Edmonds, Joe Carter, Joe Posnanski, John Smoltz, Juan Gonzalez, Keith Hernandez, Ken Caminiti, Larry Walker, Maury Wills, Mel Harder, Moises Alou, Pete Browning, Phil Cavarretta, Rafael Palmeiro, Roberto Alomar, Rocky Colavito, Ron Guidry, Ron Santo, Smoky Joe Wood, Steve Garvey, Ted Simmons, Thurman Munson, Tim Raines, Will Clark