Archive for the 'Hall of Fame' Category

Alan Trammell played all 20 of his MLB seasons for the Tigers, amassing more than 2,100 games at shortstop.

On the Hall of Fame ballot since 2002, Trammell reached a high of 22.4% in the voting last year. He has another 6 years of eligibility assuming that his voting total doesn't fall below 5%.

Trammell was a 6-time All-Star, 4-time Gold Glove winner, 3-time Silver Slugger winner, and was MVP of the 1984 World Series.

Trammell never led the league in a single major statistical category (zero black ink) but probably deserved the 1987 AL MVP. He finished second to George Bell, who had 47 HR and 134 RBI but an oWAR of just 5.0 as compared to Trammell's league-leading total of 8.4. Trammel's .343 batting average that season was, remarkably, good for just 3rd in the AL behind Wade Boggs' .363 and Paul Molitor's .353.

Let's discuss Trammell's career and vote in the poll below.

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I know, I know, you Alan Trammell fans are angry that I'm doing a poll on Whitaker and not on Trammell. Deal with it.

Lou Whitaker played his entire 19-year career with the Detroit Tigers as their second baseman. Despite playing almost entirely prior to the recent high-offense era and at a position not normally associated with offensive production, Whitaker was an above-average hitter for his career, to the tune of a 116 OPS+ and peak years in the 130-140 OPS+ range.

Whitaker was AL Rookie of the Year in 1978, a 5-time All-Star, 3-time Gold Glove winner, and a 4-time Silver Slugger winner.

He walked more than he struck out and got on base a lot usually as the Tigers' leadoff or #2 hitter.

However, in his first year of Hall of Fame eligibility, Whitaker received just 2.9% of the vote and was removed from the ballot. Was this an oversight? Let's discuss and vote in the poll.

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Willie Stargell is already in the Hall of Fame, but that doesn't mean we can't debate his credentials.

Stargell played his entire career for the Pittsburgh Pirates and helped them win two World Series (1971, 1979). He had a monster year in 1973, leading baseball in doubles, homers, RBI, SLG, and OPS. He shared the 1979 NL MVP award with Keith Hernandez and had 3 other top-3 finishes.

He was a 7-time All-Star and winner of numerous other awards, including the 1974 Lou Gehrig and Roberto Clemente Awards, the 1978 Hutch Award, and the 1979 Babe Ruth award. In 1979, in addition to the regular-season MVP, he was the NLCS and World Series MVP as well.

Let's take a look at his career, discuss, and vote.

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With all that Roy Halladay has achieved this season, it's interesting to think about where he stands in terms of a possible Hall of Fame election.

Halladay spent his entire career before 2010 with the Toronto Blue Jays. He missed parts of 5 different seasons due to injury although he has enjoyed 5 essentially injury-free seasons in a row. He won the AL Cy Young award in 2003, has been a top-5 finisher each year from 2006 to 2009, and is the odds-on favorite to win the NL award this season.

Halladay is the active leader in W-L% despite never pitching for a playoff team before this season.

He's a 7-time All-Star and has pitched both a perfect game and a post-season no-hitter.

Click through to read more, discuss, and vote.

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John Smoltz was a cornerstone of the dynastic Braves teams of the 1990s and 2000s. He was a top starting pitcher in the late 1990s, including winning the NL Cy Young in 1996, and then reinvented himself as a stud reliever in the 2000s after an arm injury cost him the 2000 season.

Smoltz had one season, 2003, that was arguably the greatest season by a closer. In 64.1 innings, he allowed just 48 hits and 8 walks while striking out 73 (0.870 WHIP). His ERA+ was 385 and he generated 3.2 WAR that year.

Having proven that he could dominate as both a starter and reliever, Smoltz has done things that few other pitchers have done. However, because he split time between the two roles, his counting stats (such as career wins or saves) don't measure up to typical Hall of Famers who spent their entire career in one role or the other. Will this ultimately hurt him?

Please click through to read more, vote, and comment in the debate.

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Edgar Martinez was signed by the Seattle Mariners as an amateur free agent in 1982 and played in 18 seasons in the majors with the team. Although he started off as a third baseman, by 1993 Martinez appeared more often as a DH and starting in 1995 was a full-time DH for the next 10 seasons.

Martinez won 2 batting titles, led the league in OBP 3 times, and was a 7-time All-Star. He finished with a .418 career OBP, good for 22nd all-time. 'Gar also led the league in doubles twice, RBI once, and even runs scored once.

There are two big knocks against Martinez--he was as slow as molasses and rarely played the field. I'm not sure we can blame Martinez for being a DH, but the fact that he wasn't good enough to contribute in the field has to count against him somewhat from a flexibility perspective.

Click through and let's discuss his HOF credentials.

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This post was inspired by a suggestion from reader Greg F. Thanks Greg! If you have a post idea please feel free to email me using the link on the lower right side under 'Contact'. If you have a baseball blog, tell me the address so I can give you a shout out.

Jose Mesa had a pretty good career. He was among the top closers in baseball in 1995 and the early 2000's.

If we were to discuss his HOF credentials, I think we'd all agree that he was a good player with some great years, but he doesn't warrant any consideration for the Hall of Fame. But click through for another spin...

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Kenny Lofton led the league in stolen bases 5 times, was a 6-time All-Star, and a 4-time Gold Glove winner. He played in the 6th-most games in center field since 1954, and was part of an incredible number of playoff teams.

His 622 career stolen bases rank 15th all-time while his 160 times caught stealing ranks only 21st.

Does Lofton deserve to be in the Hall of Fame? Let's discuss and vote below.

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Ron Santo played third base for 15 seasons. He was a 9-time All-Star, 5-time Gold Glove winner, never played for any team outside of Chicago (Cubs 1960-1973, White Sox 1974), and recently celebrated 50 years as a member of the Cubs organization.

Santo did not make the HOF during the normal ballot process. He reached a high of 43.1% in 1998, his last year of eligibility. He also has not been elected by the Veterans Committee in 4 times on the ballot.

Let's take a look at Santo's credentials and have a poll.

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Keeping Score: Growing Complexity for Cooperstown - Bats Blog - NYTimes.com.

This week's Baseball-Reference.com piece for the New York Times.  What do you think, will anyone (other than Greg Maddux) gain induction from 2012-2014?  Here are the likely ballots.

2012 /
2013 /
2014