HOFer near misses and hits
For a while, Don Mattingly WAS Lou Gehrig, but his body broke down. Even a hurt Don Mattingly could still play, but....The Hall is about longevity (otherwise Bird Fidrych, Pete Reiser and Joe Wood may have made it in.
Cracker Schalk, as a catcher, recorded a putout at every based and averaged
100 assists a year (or one per game played, if you like), during his career. This is inconceivable in modern baseball. My point here bein', you can't compare areas.
Maz could turn a DP in his sleep (and, yes, he probably disrupted Ralph Terry's sleep as well). The DP part is what he got paid for and what got him to Cooperstown.
Killebrew, I never really got, but he hit homers and he did it well, which is exactly what they asked of him.
I stand corrected on Dick Allen being a questionable team player, but in his prime years he never lasted long in any one city. Every time he was traded, it was for players of lesser value (Tommy John is no exception as he hadn't pitched winning baseball for years, McCarver was past his prime and Willie Montanez had a total of two official MLB at bats).
Was Dick Allen really hated that much by front offices?
There are examples of guys who could play, but couldn't stick anywhere. Not many examples, but there are a few. Hornsby, top of the list, Alex Johnson, Billy Martin, even Lou Novikoff (MLB actually used a guy with one arm rather than give a contract to Lou Novikoff.
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