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Old 07-29-2016, 11:37 PM
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This hits both of the points that I made above: all-around players get ignored, and middle infielders are unfairly held to the offensive standards of corner players.

Trammell, Whitaker, and Grich weren't amazing at any one thing. But they were good at pretty much everything. You can be a great player by being one-dimensional (so long as you're very very good in that one dimension), or you can be a great player by being good everywhere (while being outstanding nowhere). All three of them hit for good, but not great, power, got on base well (but weren't the best), played good defense (but they weren't Ozzie), and so on. Yes, Ozzie was the better defensive player, but they were all better than him at the bat. Sure, Reggie Jackson was a better hitter, but it's a good thing that Jackson didn't try playing shortstop.

Relatedly, it's probably a mistake to ask middle infielders to lead the league in offensive categories. The class of players who can play 2B or SS is pretty small. The intersection of that class with the class of players who can lead the league in major offensive categories is tiny. Different positions have different offensive expectations, which is a fact that we should recognize when discussing the hall of fame.
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