David Wells is an interesting case. His career statistics don't measure up. He had a weird career, 22 years, but not a full-time starter until he was in his 30s. He played for a ton of teams. All strikes against the case of a typical hall of fame pitcher. Yet, when I think of pitchers from that era, he is in the handful of guys I think of as THE pitchers of that time. And he is the kind of personality and performer you want to see in the Hall of Fame. I'm not saying he should be in, but the exercise illustrates an element to all of this that is hard to quantify. Similar to why it is easier for media-center teams to have players elected to the hall. Some players come with a story (in the media center case it is often because they are surrounded by an abundance of storytellers - add post-season action into the mix and it is all amplified). David Wells is one of larger-than-life guys. Fernando was too but he needed to be good for a while longer than he was. Orel Hershiser had some great drama to his career and a fascinating persona, but again his peak was too short. Wells' career though, once it got going, was consistently jagged.
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