I think there's already a kind of precedent for his inclusion.
Hack Wilson is a HOFer. He had an out of this world season when he drove in 191 runs. Otherwise he played more incomplete seasons than complete ones and lingered around for 4 more seasons after his monster year. I don't think there is an argument to made for his HOF status without his world beater season.
Was Maris' 1961 all that different? Hitting 61 home runs was a huge deal then and remains a huge deal now. Maris did it.
This is not to say that I think Maris and Wilson have all that much in common from a numbers perspective. But I believe the magnitude of each of their signature seasons is equal. They did finish their careers with roughly the same WAR, though Wilson has better counting stats.
Wilson had another career year just prior to his 191 rbi season. Maris won the MVP in 1960 before his 61 season. There are some parallels there.
Last edited by packs; 08-29-2022 at 12:36 PM.
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