2023 Contemporary Era Ballot Nominees

[G1911]

In the context of the hall of fame, a 10 year run (9 really, his last season his bat was 9% over the league) is brief. He would rank near the bottom of position players for games.

[packs]

I think context is important though. He was doing something that only Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx had ever done (9 seasons in a row with 30 homers and 100 RBIs). So while you might call that brevity it was only accomplished by three of the greatest hitters of all time (up to that point).

[G1911]

Originally Posted by packs

I think context is important though. He was doing something that only Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx had ever done (9 seasons in a row with 30 homers and 100 RBIs). So while you might call that brevity it was only accomplished by three of the greatest hitters of all time (up to that point).

That’s not relevant. Within the context of the hall of fame, he has a brief career. That is a fact. There is no real argument he had a career, within the context of the hall of fame, of medium or great length. His career is brief. I would vote for him, as I said yesterday, because of the strength of his peak, but his level of accomplishment during that peak is utterly irrelevant to the brevity of his total career. He has a brief career for a HOFer, as a statement of actual fact.

[Peter_Spaeth]

If Belle had stuck around for 5 more mediocre years, would that really matter?

[G1911]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

If Belle had stuck around for 5 more mediocre years, would that really matter?

Playing more if you suck doesn’t help much. Playing more at league average can help reach major milestones and usually isn’t held against guys. Hence most HOFers have a late career falloff but still produce and only have 1-2 negative years at the end before they have to retire or be dropped.

Belles career, in the context of the HOF, is factually brief. If one thinks that shouldn’t matter and the Hall should be a reward of peaks instead of total career, that’s their argument to make. If Belle had had a normal length career, he would probably be in or at least gotten a sizable amount of votes. 41st in JAWS for his position is not exactly stellar, he ranks pretty low in most all career metrics because he didn’t play much.

[packs]

But that hasn’t hurt lesser sluggers like Chuck Klein, Hack Wilson, or Ralph Kiner.

[G1911]

Originally Posted by packs

But that hasn’t hurt lesser sluggers like Chuck Klein, Hack Wilson, or Ralph Kiner.

They also had short careers and are in the bottom length tier of the Hall. For like the fifth time, I too would vote for Albert Belle. That does not mean his career was not brief, it was. The former is an opinion, the later a fact.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Was Snider that good for longer than 10 years?