Quote:
Originally Posted by molenick
I agree with Frank that Rolen deserves to be in, but I would respectfully disagree with Mike Schmidt not being a great HOFer and George Kell being one. I will take Schmidt and his 548 HRs, 3 MVPS, 8 HR titles, .908 OPS, ten gold gloves, and 106.8 WAR (first among third basemen) over George Kell and his...well, anything except his .306 batting average and ability not to strike out (WAR ranks him around 50th at third, which at least puts him ahead of Traynor). I would also take Mickey Mantle over Lloyd Waner and Johnny Bench over Ernie Lombardi. There is more to being a great HOFer than batting average and low strikeout totals.
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I agree with you. I'm not sure how Mike Schmidt could be considered anything other than a great third baseman and HoFer. Kell may have had a higher batting average, but Schmidt still had a higher OBP thanks to walking close to 100 times a year. In his later years, Schmidt also learned to become a better hitter and saw his strikeout totals go down in his last few seasons. He also was an MVP at age 36 while Kell was retired at age 34.