Why is Jackie Robinson in the HOF?

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

And Babe Ruth could have hit .750 if he weren't swinging for the fences. It's a meaningless argument. If Clemente intentionally sacrificed home runs for his batting average he was a very selfish player, and I don't believe that.

"I am more valuable to my team hitting .330 than swinging for home runs."--Roberto Clemente

Clemente clearly was thinking of his team. I think there is something to be said about a player being quite unselfish when they're going up there trying to get a runner home, and not going for the glory of a home run.

If you compare Clemente's productivity with runners in scoring position to the other names that have been mentioned: Aaron, Mays, Kaline, Mantle, Robinson, and Dimaggio...Clemente, for his career, was the best hitter with ducks on the pond (.327 AVG), and he had the third-best rate of driving in runners on a per plate appearance basis. He also had, by far, the best BAbip (AVG on balls in play). Yes, as has been alluded to, Clemente did not have the OBP that some of these other guys did. A career .359 OBP is good, but not great. But look how that hyper-aggressive approach at the plate paid off for the Pirates on the scoreboard.

Lifetime hitting performance with runners in scoring position.



That should actually be plate appearances per RBI, or PA/RBI. I goofed.

Compare his production to somebody like Mickey Mantle. They had basically the same number of plate appearances with runners in scoring position for their career (Clemente had 107 more PAs in total playing ten more games in his career than Mantle). Even though Mickey Mantle doubles his home run total with RISP, Clemente drove in 54 more runs. Mantle's OBP was better with RISP (.455 to .395), as was his SLG (.556 to .486). Yet, Clemente got more runners across.

Of these hitters, only Joe DiMaggio (whose teams had a spectacular .637 winning percentage) and Hank Aaron (the all-time RBI king) drove in RISP at a better clip than Clemente, who did it without the benefit of the home run ball.

Look at Clemente's career clutch stats.



He became a better player when his team needed him most. With 2 outs and runners in scoring position, his productivity increased by 18% (tOPS +). In "late and close" situations, when the game was still in doubt, Clemente was a .341 lifetime hitter.

He rose to the occasion.