Who am I? #3
Posted by Andy on December 9, 2009
Who am I?
- I was once regarded by many as one of the very best hitters in baseball.
- I missed a lot of time due to injuries.
- I had five different seasons where I just missed getting 200 hits in a season. In some of them, I didn't even play in as many as 145 games.
In short, I am a good example of the fickle attitudes of a fraction of baseball fans. Five times I fell at most 10 hits shy of a 200-hit season and in only one other season did I get 200 hits. With a few bounces the other way, I might have 6 different 200-hit seasons and be remembered as a fantastic player. That being said, some fans do remember me as fantastic. Anyway, who am I?
Post your guesses in the comments or you can ask questions to try to get some hints.
December 9th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Gotta be Nellie Fox
December 9th, 2009 at 11:30 am
bah, he never played 145 games in a productive season. i am wrong.
December 9th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Not Nellie Fox...that is a pretty good guess though. He's another guy who missed the "magic number" of 200 a bunch of times by small margins.
December 9th, 2009 at 11:51 am
You are Nomar!
December 9th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
I am indeed!
December 9th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Wow, that's crazy to think that Nomar came that close that many times.
I went to the bottom of the page and looked at his HOF numbers.
Black Ink Batting - 15 (150), Average HOFer ≈ 27
Gray Ink Batting - 78 (304), Average HOFer ≈ 144
Hall of Fame Monitor Batting - 112 (126), Likely HOFer ≈ 100
Hall of Fame Standards Batting - 41 (143), Average HOFer ≈ 50
If only he had been healthy! Even with the injuries, he compares very well to HOF hopefuls like Barry Larkin:
Gray Ink Batting - 66 (371), Average HOFer ≈ 144
Hall of Fame Monitor Batting - 118 (117), Likely HOFer ≈ 100
Hall of Fame Standards Batting - 47 (99), Average HOFer ≈ 50
and for a non MI comparison, Tim Raines:
Black Ink Batting - 20 (106), Average HOFer ≈ 27
Gray Ink Batting - 114 (179), Average HOFer ≈ 144
Hall of Fame Monitor Batting - 90 (181), Likely HOFer ≈ 100
Hall of Fame Standards Batting - 47 (102), Average HOFer ≈ 50
On a side note, I noticed today that Fred McGriff has a 100 HOF Monitor and a 48 HOF Standards. Right on the cusp hahaha.
December 9th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Nomar was my hunch as well. However, I didn't think there was any controversy over his status through '03. It was a Mattingly-like stretch. At that time, I didn't understand the push for Boston to get rid of him, but assumed it was a 'chemistry' thing. While the injuries have taken a huge toll, I also wonder what else returned him to earth.
December 9th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
I didn't think anyone paid any attention to 200 hit seasons anymore. I guess this thread proves me wrong.
December 10th, 2009 at 12:59 am
Maybe 200-hit seasons mean more in retrospect. I think everyone acknowledged Nomar as a tremendous hitter at the time, and I'm sure most people now would remember that he used to be one. Many years down the road, someone who wasn't around at the time looking at his numbers can probably see that Nomar was a great hitter. But if all those 200-hit seasons were listed, it would probably appear even more impressive.
JDV, I also thought the trade seemed questionable at the time. But Nomar _was_ struggling defensively, maybe even more than I (as someone who only saw him a handful of times, mostly vs the Yankees) realized, and one can't argue with the results. (Well, I can, but a Sox fan shouldn't.)