Hall of Fame Part 1 of Many

My cousin gave me a great idea for a blog, and this is really his idea, but I decided to run with it. Since this is the last Hall of Fame election of this decade it seems like a good time to start this project. I am, starting with 2009 and going backwards to 1937 going to create my own Hall of Fame out of the players that have been enshrined in Cooperstown. I will try and quantify my picks to the best of my abilities. I am going to skip over executives and managers because they are by and large life time achievement awards more than anything else, and I generally don’t have a problem with those that have been elected. This first post is for those elected from 2000-2009

2009 Class Jim Rice and Rickey Henderson.

Rickey Henderson-Yes- There is nothing to argue about here. He is a legit all time great. Sure he might have been selfish at times, and responsible for some wacky quotes but the man had a career OBP of .401. And he played A LONG time. Plus he is the all time steals and runs leader. He is beyond reproach.

Jim Rice-No- Jim Rice is, I do believe, a man who benefitted from the steroid era of baseball. If steroids had not taken such a forefront in voter’s minds I do not think that he would have ever gotten in. Don’t get me wrong, he is a good player, just not in my mind a Hall of Fame player. And I am sure some of you will say, but yea this guy got in, etc, etc, and Jim was better than them. Well keep in mind that player may not make my list either. Jim did have some decent percentage numbers, but he missed most all of the mile stone numbers and his percentage numbers aren’t exceptional enough to get over the fact he didn’t have any milestones. If he brought defense to the table, which he doesn’t at all, I would take him with those numbers, but if all of your value is offensive then I want to see an OPS more around .900 at least. Jim’s is just a bit short at .854. I think he is close, and I won’t say that he is a bad choice for the hall of fame, as there are MUCH, MUCH worse players in the Hall, he just isn’t in my Hall of Fame.

2008-Goose Gossage

Goose Gossage- No-Why him and not Lee Smith? As a relief pitcher the save is paramount as a stat. As far as career ERA goes Gossage is 3.01 to 3.03, but Smith has 478 saves to 310 Saves for Gossage. Now I do think the save stat is a bit overrated, but I don’t think I buy Goose Gossage as one of the greats of all-time, and I do give Sutter an edge over Gossage because he invented a pitch.

2007-Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr.

Tony Gwynn-Yes- This man could hit, and before he got fat could steal bases like a fiend and was a great defender in the outfield. The man had a .338 career batting average, and although I value OBP more than BA, and his OPS is not as high as some other guys, Gwynn brought more to the field than just his bat for most of his career and he did get 3000 hits.

Cal Ripken Jr.-Yes- I respect what Cal Ripken did with his streak, but I do find him a tad overrated because he was a Good player for most of his career, not a great one. Even though I think he is overrated, I still think he is a Hall of Famer.

2006 There were several Negro league greats elected this year, and frankly I don’t know how to quantify there inclusion, so I will leave that debate to the Negro League scholars. Bruce Sutter was the one non-Negro Leaguer.

Bruce Sutter-No-See Goose Gossage

2005-Wade Boggs, Ryne Sandberg

Wade Boggs-Yes-The Man liked his chicken and his women. He might not have slugged the ball much but he was a plus defender at third and his career .415 OBP was absolutely ridiculous. He also had a career .328 BA and .443 SLG, neither of which is to shabby either.

Ryne Sandberg-yes-I really wanted to say no, and to be honest he is a very marginal pick for my Hall of Fame. His percentage numbers are not that good, but good enough I guess, and he sure played for some horrible teams, with little to back him up. But he brought power, speed, and absolute top flight defense to the field every day, and because he did everything at a high level I am including him.

2004-Paul Molitor

Paul Molitor-yes- Only marginally better than Jim Rice. The reason he is in and Rice isn’t is because I do respect the 3000 hit threshold and Molitor also added over 500 steals to his resume. He is also a marginally addition.

2003-Gary Carter, Eddie Murray

Gary Carter-No- A fairly average player. He was slow as snot, didn’t hit for average, didn’t slug to much, didn’t get on base much, and was highly overrated as a defensive player.

Eddie Murray-Yes-Has there every been a player to put up more similar seasons than Murray? Probably not, he was a poster child for consistency. There is something to be said about greatness over longevity, but Murray had 500 homers and 3000 hits, and that’s hard to ignore.

2002-Ozzie Smith

Ozzie Smith-yes- There is no statistical analysis system out there that doesn’t have Ozzie Smith as possibly the most valuable defensive player of all time. However, what most people don’t realize is that Ozzie contributed more than just his glove and for most of his career with the Cardinals was a plus offensively as well. He was a good on base man and nearly had 600 career steals. He is and forever will be the man that all good defensive shortstops are compared to.

2001-Kirby Puckett, Dave Winfield, Bill Mazeroski

Kirby Puckett-yes-Good percentage numbers combined with a shortened career and excellent defense make him a yes in my Hall of Fame, however, only marginally so. Probably the weakest player so far that I have included.

Dave Winfield-No-Jim Rice was a better hitter than Dave Winfield. It is true that Dave Winfield had 3000 hits, but he was a good defender not great, and his numbers are good but less than impressive. In my opinion he is an example of a player who only got in because he got 3000 hits.

Bill Mazeroski-No No NO NO- His inclusion in the Hall of Fame is a travesty. He had a good glove, but not that good. He might have been the best ever at turning the double play, but it wasn’t that much more than the average second basemen. He was a good defender, but far from the best at his position, and his being included with the greats is a joke. He had a career .299 OBP. He was slow, and was nowhere near the most valuable second basemen of his time. He hit a big homerun and got a reputation and rode it into what was apparently a drunken veterans committee, either that or the committee all had the last name Mazeroski.

2000-Bid McPhee, Tony Perez, Carlton Fisk

Bid McPhee-No-If you played before 1900 and you didn’t have a .300 BA don’t apply you don’t belong.

Carlton Fisk-yes-Team leader, good numbers, great defense, and great teammate.
Tony Perez-no-Other than being a member of the Big Red Machine, I am not sure what he even brings to the table. .803 OPS isn’t that stellar even given the decades he played in. He did have a ton of RBI’s but that’s a bit of a worthless stat as any decent hitter in the middle of the lineup will get 100. He didn’t reach any milestones other than RBI’s and he played for a long, long time. So basically you have a guy who you can’t say was short of milestones because he had a short career, and his percentage numbers aren’t that good either.

So for those elected from 2000-2009 My Hall of Fame team is as follows:
Rickey Henderson
Tony Gywnn
Cal Ripken Jr.
Wade Boggs
Ryne Sandberg
Paul Molitor
Eddie Murray
Kirby Puckett
Carlton Fisk
Next up will be my assessment of the 1990’s.