Joey Votto retires, is he a hall of famer?

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by rats60

My comp for Joey Votto is Lance Berkman

Votto .294/.409/.511/.920 OPS+144
Berkman .293/.406/.537/.943 OPS+144

Berkman has more HRs and RBIs despite having 900 fewer ABs. Votto has a MVP, but Berkman has a championship, a championship the Cardinals don't win without Berkman's clutch hitting. Berkman was also much better in the postseson.

Votto .244/.319/.244/.563
Berkman .317/.417/.532/.949

Berkmam got 1.2% in his first ballot and fell off. I think Votto will stick on the ballot, but I don't see him having enough production to get elected as a 1B. Maybe both get elected by a Veteran's Committee in the distant future.

I think Votto and Berkman are good comparisons, as they both have a career OPS+ of 144 (which is pretty damned good) and were All Stars 6 times. But I think Votto gets in and I don't think Berkman ever does.

Votto has the MVP and a Gold Glove. Votto has almost twice the black ink as Berkman and about 50% more gray ink.

Berkman does have 4 top 5 MVP finishes and 6 top 10 though, so it wouldn't be a huge stretch to put Berkman in.

But I think the main factor is that Berkman was overshadowed by a lot of players during the steroids era. He is sort of a victim of circumstance.

[D. Bergin]

Yes, absolutely. Maybe his counting stat’s aren’t quite there, but his analytical stats for the time period he played is off the charts. Had a Don Mattingly type career (with more walks) but was able to extend it just a bit further out.

[irv]

Would have been great to see him play some games with the Jays but, unfortunately, that didn't work out.

[cgjackson222]

MLB.com posed the question of whether Votto belongs in the Hall of Fame to 8 writers. I believe they all said yes, and pretty resoundingly.

https://www.mlb.com/news/roundtable-...-hall-of-famer

[Peter_Spaeth]

No question he makes it. The standards are down a tier from where they used to be.

[Beercan collector]

Less than 1200 runs and less than 1200 RBIs for a first baseman doesn’t sound too Hall of Fame-ish , certainly a quality player I hope he gets in - Playing all his (major lg) Games for one organizations kind of neat

[Bartholomew_Bump_Bailey]

Great feedback, thanks everyone!

I really appreciated the Berkman comparison. Berkman's what I like to refer to as a "lunch pail guy", shows up and does the job better than most, but really doesn't get more recognition outside the team's fan base (for the most part).

By the way......just found this awesome video a lil' while ago.....good stuff Joey Votto fanclub recruitment video