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[btcarfagno]

Originally Posted by packs

The thing is though: Alomar and Biggio were typical second baseman. Alomar had some pop, but not so much more than the average second baseman. He topped out at 24 homers. Kent's power sets him apart. It makes him a unique player. He stands alone at second. And I would think that being unique trumps being better than usual. But I understand Kent is under the PED cloud and that is the only logical reason not to vote for him. You can't argue with his numbers, no matter how hard you try.

I tend to agree that Kent should get into the Hall. But you and others seem to be stuck on the raw numbers. Yes he had more power than any other 2B in terms of the raw numbers. But when put in the context of the era in which he played, the numbers (whether he was a second baseman or first baseman or catcher) are not quite what they seem.

Pie Traynor hit .366 in 1930. Great year.

Roberto Clemente hit .320 in 1963.

Looking at each just as raw numbers, Traynor seems to have had the much better year in terms of this one statistic, batting average. However, The National League hit .303 as a whole in 1930. Thus Traynor was 20.8% better than average. The league as a whole hit .245 in 1963. Thus Clemente was 30.6% better than average.

Clemente had the better year in terms of batting average because the year in which he and Traynor played must be taken into consideration.

For Kent, his raw offensive numbers blow away those of someone like Bobby Grich. However, when adjusted against the league average during their years played and then adjusted again for park factors, Bobby Grich was actually a better hitter than Jeff Kent.

Tom C