December Pick ups

[jason.1969]

I would add that he managed the Miracle Mets and was #1 in RBIs and #2 in HRs for the 1950s.

Yes, another 20 points in batting average was needed. Or as the modern fans would argue, "If only he'd walked more!"

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by jason.1969

I would add that he managed the Miracle Mets and was #1 in RBIs and #2 in HRs for the 1950s.

Yes, another 20 points in batting average was needed. Or as the modern fans would argue, "If only he'd walked more!"

Yeah, I wish the Hall worked different than it does. Personally I wouldn't mind seeing both Gil and Roger Maris enshrined. It's a shame that the standards aren't more even by position - look at some of the relatively weak by comparison hitting middle infielders and shortstops in particular (Reese, Rizzuto, Doerr) who were great defensively and big team leaders - who are in the Hall. 3rd base is another anomaly. Don't get me started on the injustice of Ron Santo and how long that took...

[Samsdaddy]

Not to get this thread off topic even more but in my opinion, the Hall of Fame is watered down. There are several good or very good players who played a long time and built up some decent numbers because of their years of longevity who should not be enshrined.

In my opinion, the Hall of Fame is reserved for the VERY BEST players of their era at their position. Guys you know when you were seeing them play, you were watching the best.

Anyway, back on topic, I sure like those Clemente cards. Very sharp!

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by Samsdaddy

In my opinion, the Hall of Fame is reserved for the VERY BEST players of their era at their position. !

I would agree the best players of their era, but with the caveat that anymore that does NOT just mean the best players of all time. There are those out there that believe the HOF is only for the biggest names (Cobb, Mathewson, Ruth, DiMaggio, Mantle, Mays, Williams, Aaron, etc.) and that simply is not true. You saw this argument a few years back on Ron Santo and some people claiming well sorry, he simply wasn't "the best of the best." The by position analysis and especially throwing in things like SABR-type stats would argue well...if someone like George Kell is in the Hall (Bill James ranked him at like the 30th best 3rd baseman of all time) then why is Santo who is by their rankings the SIXTH best 3rd baseman of all time not? If the argument is that the Hall is only for the elitist of the elite, then we would have to go back to the 1940's and earlier and kick a bunch of people out. That's simply not historically what the Hall has ever been about.

[Beatles Guy]

.273 is not shabby when you see names such as Schmidt, Reggie, Killebrew and Mathews lower than that. Granted, those guys hit more HRs, but as was mentioned, Hodges was one of the premier power guys of his decade.

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by Beatles Guy

.273 is not shabby when you see names such as Schmidt, Reggie, Killebrew and Mathews lower than that. Granted, those guys hit more HRs, but as was mentioned, Hodges was one of the premier power guys of his decade.

Yes, but this proves the point exactly. All of those other guys have more than 500 home runs. If Gil had 500 on the nose, he would have been in the Hall decades ago. That's one of those milestones that is pretty predictable. Why did it take Duke Snider so long to get in? I would argue the fact that he was shy of 500 played a big factor for a long time...

[Peter_Spaeth]

Baseball reference metrics.

Hall Of Fame StatisticsPlayer rank in (·)


Black Ink Batting - 2 (622), Average HOFer ≈ 27

Gray Ink Batting - 128 (141), Average HOFer ≈ 144

Hall of Fame Monitor Batting - 83 (230), Likely HOFer ≈ 100

Hall of Fame Standards Batting - 32 (275), Average HOFer ≈ 50

JAWS First Base (36th), 45.0 career WAR/34.3 7yr-peak WAR/39.6 JAWS

[Peter_Spaeth]

On this list of best players not in the Hall, Hodges is only ranked 38th.

http://baseballpastandpresent.com/20...e-version-4-0/

[KCRfan1]

Loved the article Peter, thanks for sharing!