Hall of Famer?
Listed below are the career stats of two players. Both of whom just happened to be two of my favorite players as a kid. Both were outfielders, and both had careers that were played during the same era, and in the same league (National). One is a Hall of Famer, and one is not. Which is which?
Player A:
Seasons: 21 (RoY, 1 MVP, 8 All-Star selections, 6 Gold Gloves)
Games: 2627
Hits: 2774 (162 game average: 171)
Home Runs: 438 (27)
RBI: 1591 (98)
Stolen Bases: 314
Batting Average: .279
On Base: .323
Slugging .482
OPS: .806
OPS+: 119 (100 is a hard average for OPS+)
Total Bases per 162: 295
Player B:
Seasons: 18 (2 MVPs, 7 All-Star selections, 5 Gold Gloves)
Games: 2180
Hits: 2111 (162 game average: 157)
Home Runs: 398 (30)
RBI: 1266 (94)
Stolen Bases: 161
Batting Average: .265
On Base: .346
Slugging: .469
OPS: .815
OPS+ 121
Total Bases per 162 Games: 335
In summary: We have two players that both averaged very productive seasons and played solid defense. Both were "character" players, meaning they did not have a lot of off-the-field problems like say, Barry Bonds. Neither won a World Series. Both were considered to be among the MLB's elite offensive players during the prime of their careers.
Any ideas yet?
There is another interesting metric we can look at. These are what can be called the "Hall of Fame" numbers. These are based on a point system that Bill James created that calculate the likelihood of a player being elected to The Hall. Or, at the very least allow a somewhat objective way to compare potential HoFers (as well as current) to one another and with those already in the Hall. And, just like their respective career stats, both players A and B come out very similar in those scores. For details about how these scores are created click here.
Player A:
Black Ink (league leader in major offensive categories) 11 (Avg. HoFer: 27)
Grey Ink: (same as above, but different categories) 164 (144)
HoF Monitor: 118 (100 is "likely" 130 is a "lock")
HoF Standards: 44 (This attempts to quantify a players entire career, and not just the peak seasons, Avg. HoFer is 50)
Player B:
Black Ink: 31 (27)
Grey Ink: 147 (144)
HoF Monitor: 116
HoF Standards: 34 (50)
So, which is the Hall of Fame career? And can anyone name Players A and B?
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5 comments:
this has nothing to do with your post... i don't even like baseball. I just wanted to wish bitner a happy birthday;)
Hawk and Murphy?
Ding!
A few years ago I conceded that Murphy would never get in. But with Dawson getting elected this year, I don't see why Murphy doesn't get more consideration. They had very similar careers.
I do think the "border line" players from the 80s suffer from the inflated numbers people put up in the late 90s and 2000s. Everyone looks at Bonds and Co. and the "big" numbers from 20 years ago don't look so impressive.
Maybe The Murhp needs to go "Jim Rice" on everyone?
I would love for Murphy to get in. He's a level 1 guy in Simmons' Pyramid.
http://proxy.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/020108
I was a Ripken fan growing up, my brother a Murphy fan. Needless to say, my bro loved TBS.
thanks for the b-day wishes bobber.
nice post adam.
Murph won't get in because he's a Mormon. It's a conspiracy!
My glove that my dad got me when I had grown out of my tee ball glove, and it's the glove I still have today, is a Dale Murphy replica. Gotta love the Murph. Back-to-back MVPs, although I don't remember them. I did just turn 30, afterall.
And I loved Dawson's extra juicy curls in the 80s. Some classic baseball cards from that man.
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