RIP Bill Freehan

[Mike D.]

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper

I looked it up, so I'll answer my own question: The only others with more than 11 All-Star Selections and not in the HOF are : Rose, Bonds, AROD, McGwire and Manny Ramirez.

Impressive credentials, with everyone on the list above not in the Hall for obvious reasons.

Looking at the list of most career WAR by catchers...1-8 and 10-12 are in the Hall of Fame. #9, Joe Mauer, is commonly considered someone who will be inducted when eligible.

Mauer's WAR is 55.2, #12 is Buck Ewing's is 48.0.

Freehan is #16 at 44.8.

13, 14, and 15 are Wally Schang, Thurman Munson, and Gene Tenace.

Right behind him is Buster Posey at 44.3, who is considered someone likely to be enshrined. Yadier Molina is #21 at 41.8, and is considered another future inductee.

There are of course, several HOF catcher ranked below all of the above.

The Hall could do worse than Bill Feehan.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Even for a catcher, his counting stats just aren't enough to get him there IMO.

[Mike D.]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Even for a catcher, his counting stats just aren't enough to get him there IMO.

The raw counting numbers aren’t that impressive, for sure. That’s the big reason he still hasn’t been inducted.

I think a few things are behind that. One, he played in an era of reduced offense. His .262/.340/.412/.752 line is worth a 112 OPS+, which is pretty good for a catcher. And when a lot of your value comes from your defense, the offensive numbers may not be that great.

The last thing is that he played 14 seasons (and 4 games of a 15th). Most of the HOF catchers above him on the list had a bit longer careers.

That all said, he’s a borderline candidate for sure. But I’d put him and every other catcher above him on the BB-R WAR list for catchers in the hall and not think twice about it (plus Posey, who’s right behind him).