Chick Hafey - HOF...Why?

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by howard38

I don't think anyone disputes that Hafey was an outstanding hitter and even a likely hall of famer if he had been injury free and had better vision. But his peak was only five years and in those years he never even reached 140 games in a season nor were his stats mind boggling a la Koufax. Baseball history is littered w/hitters in Hafey's class that, for one reason or another, had short careers or career peaks. If all of them were inducted it would make for a mighty crowded hall. If you're a big hall of fame guy that's fine but as it stands now I personally don't see that he belongs.

I guess I'm looking at it a little differently. Again, I don't think he'd be elected if he were being considered today. But I don't have a problem with his being in, and in the context of his era, even though he only played in about 1,300 games, I feel he was worthy. He's certainly one of the lower tier Hall of Famers, but that's like saying "such and such was one of the least attractive Playmates of the Year".

One thing we really can't control for is the esteem his peers had for him. I think that carried a lot of weight, and we have no way of factoring that in. We can't talk to those players, unfortunately, since they're no longer alive. But I think the consensus was that Hafey was one of the very best hitters of that generation, and they believed his production backed that up.