OT: Did Adam Dunn ruin his Hall chances

[D. Bergin]

Ozzie Smith is a no-doubt HOF'er in my book.

Also, if you look at just about every peripheral stat of Ozzie, who I believe is tremendously under-rated offensively, Ozzie did all the little things that Dunn was never capable of.

Comparing Ozzie to Dunn is a study of how valuable it is to actually put the ball in in play and not strikeout. He did all the little things managers love from players who don't have a lot of pop. He hit sacrifice flys, at a much higher rate then big ol' Adam Dunn, he Sacrificed tons of runners over, he Walked at a much higher rate then he struck out, He stole a ton of bases pretty efficiently.

....oh, and the glove.

If you are going to say a guy only did one thing good, it's a pretty good push if he's also in the argument for "the best ever" in that category. Adam Dunn is not in that argument, not "all-time" and not in his era.

Regardless of whatever arbitrary numbers he might have hit in a certain timespan.

[cubsfan-budman]

One other thing, I think that a guy's HOF stock rises if you were "iconic" in some way. Ozzie Smith and Reggie Jackson certainly fall into this category. Good, intermittently awesome players, with a GREAT set of intangible things that make them "more" than the average player. I think the HOF should have tons of room for guys like that...just IMHO.

[vintagetoppsguy]

And another HR for Dunn. Just saying.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

And another HR for Dunn. Just saying.

Solo homer. They still lost. Sorry man!

[ls7plus]

Adam's been "Dunn" for some time now. With or without 500 HR, he would not have been a HOF'er. See Fred McGriff!

Best to all,

Larry

[Runscott]

That shot yesterday was a moon shot, and off Felix. I don't think I've ever watched Dunn swing up to that point - he doesn't get cheated.

Root sports showed a Dunn interview after the game, where he talked about hitting against Felix. Not sure if it was filmed before or after, but I really liked the guy - very, very personable. I hope this resurrects his career and he makes the HOF.

[ctownboy]

Yes, Dunn is doing what he usually does; laughing, being a class clown, swinging for the fences and hitting home runs. And the team he plays for is also doing the same thing - losing.

With Dunn on the team and hitting home runs, the A's are 1 and 2. Dunn said he is having fun and might reconsider retiring.

Yeah right.

Just wait until the A's have lost five in a row, Dunn has gone 0 for 20 with 12 strike outs, no rbi's and has not come through with runners in scoring position in a close game. When the fans start booing him, like fans from EVERY team he has played on has done, then this talk about not retiring will end.

As to him being a nice guy. Go to the chatboards of EVERY team that he has ever played for and see what they say about him. Usually a few things come through loud and clear.

1) Dunn seems to be a nice guy.
2) The fans are glad he is no longer playing for their team.

David

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by Runscott

That shot yesterday was a moon shot, and off Felix. I don't think I've ever watched Dunn swing up to that point - he doesn't get cheated.

Root sports showed a Dunn interview after the game, where he talked about hitting against Felix. Not sure if it was filmed before or after, but I really liked the guy - very, very personable. I hope this resurrects his career and he makes the HOF.

Do you think a good personality adds to a players HOF chance? I do, but that's just my opinion and I don't have anything to back that up. I mentioned Ozzie Smith earlier in this thread and he had a great personality - very likable - unlike a lot of players today.

I could realistically see Dunn playing 3 more years, averaging 30 HRs a year. That puts him at +/- 550 HRs and I think he would get some serious consideration at that point given his personality and the lack of PEDs. Will it happen? Who knows, but I'd like to think so.

[brob28]

[QUOTE=Runscott;1318331]That shot yesterday was a moon shot, and off Felix. I don't think I've ever watched Dunn swing up to that point - he doesn't get cheated.

Interesting you mention this Scott. I've watched quite a bit of Dunn the last 3+ years and he doesn't change his approach no matter what the situation or batting count is. Always a big swing vs. attempting to put the ball in play with two strikes. Blows my mind that he never realized that with his strength good things are likely to happen if he just puts the ball in play. Perhaps he has tried and isn't able to make the adjustment. He also rarely goes the opposite way anymore despite aggressive shifts against him. FWIW - I don't see him in the Hall - what he's done the last few years took that off the table.