Players Today, Hall Tomorrow

Pujols & Cabrera at first base.

There of course, were many fun & interesting posts bouncing around Tuesday on the APBA Facebook Group that made discussions & debates very intriguing; Many of those, of course, about the current retired players on the HOF Ballot, and then Eric Berg sparked an interesting post about today's players & who would get in? Well he actually asked out of the four players Albert Pujols, Ichiro Suzuki, Miguel Cabrera and Yadier Molina, who would get in? Would all get in? -- Quite a few of us weighed in, made excellent points, and added or subtracted players into the discussion as well.

First let's tackle three of the first four --

ALBERT PUJOLS

Albert Pujols will be in, as long as we do not see some unfortunate news that he was jacked up on PED's, there has been no clear connection, and it's unfortunate that this has to always come up when making HOF debates -- but he did play during the steroid era, and was taken under Mark McGwire's wing as a rookie. I like to think Pujols is legit & my gut feeling is he is, he was a pretty strong dude coming up, and he comes from humbling roots.

Until proven guilty -- he's in, let's just forget the cloud now & look at these amazing numbers. His numbers during his first 10 years is often compared to only one other player that has more impressive numbers than Pujols & that is of the great, immortal Lou Gehrig. When your first 10 years is only being bettered than that of Gehrig -- than you certainly left your mark on the game.

Pujols' career from 2001-2010 -- 2003 season highlighted.

Truly amazing, lowest runs number (99), lowest RBI numbers (103), lowest BA (.312), lowest OBP (.394), lowest slugging (.561) & lowest OPS (.955) -- 8 times over 1.000 OPS, which is nuts!

Now we'll take a look at Lou Gehrig's first 10 full seasons, from 1925-1934 -- remember this is about both players' first 10 full seasons.

Lou Gehrig's 1925 - 1934 stretch.

Just like Pujols, Gehrig also had 8 seasons during his first full 10 seasons, but actually had the lowest OPS (.896) in 1925 out of the two. Gehrig failed to reach 100 runs & 100 RBI's in same season, while Pujols only missed century mark in the runs category (by a single run). Gehrig missed .300 BA once, Pujols was above .300 entire stretch. Both surpassed 1.100 OPS for 4 seasons each. The remarkable thing to note on Gehrig's first 10 full seasons, is that he reached single-seasons of 200+ in the OPS+ category 3 times (220, 206 & 203) while Pujols' highest OPS+ during stretch was 192.

Plus Gehrig surpasses .360 in batting average 4 times (3 of them .370+), including back-to-back seasons of .373 (1927) & .374 (1928) -- while putting up monster 1.240 OPS in 1927, which by the way didn't lead the league that season. Gehrig only led OPS during this stretch once (1.172 in 1934), basically due to the presence of Babe Ruth. Pujols never hits over .360 during this stretch, with his high being .359 -- while winning his only batting title (Gehrig's only batting title, 1934).

With many parallels, like being first basemen, there are areas where this is indeed a difference. The RBI numbers are noticeably different with Gehrig blasting over 150 RBI's (four times), Pujols none over 150 (high was 137). Gehrig's seasons over 150 RBI's during this stretch include: 151, 166, 173, 173 & 185! Certainly, Pujols didn't have Babe Ruth or the other talent as well, but you can't take anything away from Gehrig here -- simply amazing!

Now throw in Lou Gehrig's most dominant 10-year stretch, Pujols loses out big time, but Pujols has the best 10-year stretch for a player not named Gehrig, best since Gehrig.

Gehrig's dominant stretch from 1927 - 1936, which doesn't include 1937 (1.116 OPS) & 1938 (.932 OPS).

There is no stretch in the history of the game that matches this dominance of Lou Gehrig (above).

Now quickly back to Pujols -- The great thing for me, is that I benefited in my buddy Jeff Tritthart's APBA League (IGAL), a league full of Navy buddies (Jeff is now a member of my Boys of Summer APBA Baseball League), in which I acquired Pujols in 2002, during our 2002 IGAL Season (Pujol's 2001 rookie season). The funny thing he was already traded once, he ended up playing with three teams that season, he would first be drafted by the Dublin Fighting Irish - #2 overall behind Ichiro Suzuki (drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals). Then in March 2002, a four-team trade (yes, a four-team trade) that involved the Humble Warriors (then known as the Peaches), Cleveland Tribal-Thunder, Dublin & Philadelphia. I would later acquire him a few months later from Philadelphia. I have started a future post called "Looking Back at Big Deal" in which I will go into more detail on that, because the deal would be pivotal for 4 more IGAL World Championships (I was the defending champs at time of trade).

For me, it was truly amazing to have him on my APBA team -- for other league owners, a complete nightmare, so if he got hurt today & didn't play another game, I believe he is a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame.

ICHIRO

Ichiro - During Early Japan days.

Ichiro Suzuki is a lock for the Hall-of-Fame as well, the guy has over 4,000 international hits in professional baseball. His 10 straight seasons of 200+ hits & single-season of 262 hits are the most in Major League history, he is only surpassed by Pete Rose & Ty Cobb in the career international hits category. He is currently 156 hits shy of 3,000 in the majors at age 41. Became the second player ever to win both MVP & Rookie-of-the-Year (2001) in the same season (Fred Lynn was the first). Named an American League All-Star his first 10 years of his career.

From 2001-2010, Ichiro collected 2,244 hits (an average 224 hits a season) in 6,779 at-bats, batting a career .331 up to that point; His playing time since has decreased along with talent due to age, and now owns a .317 career batting average. Ichiro owns 10 Gold Gloves, two A.L. Batting Titles (2001 & 2004) along with 487 career steals.

Should be noted that Ichiro did hit 136 hits, just two seasons ago, so it is possible for him to close the gap to 3,000 hits this season & eclipse that next season, if he chooses to hang on -- looking more unlikely, but not impossible. A season of 160 hits this year is highly unlikely, considering what his role will be in 2015.

MIGUEL CABRERA

Miguel Cabrera in my opinion is already the greatest Latin slugger to have played the game (possibly hitter as well). During the discussion on the APBA Facebook Group, Jim Moran lent us a great article by Fan Graphs about current players and their Hall of Fame odds.

• Click here for the entire article on Fan Graphs - "Which Active Players are Going to Cooperstown".

This was an article from last year (exactly a year ago), so don't be surprised to see Derek Jeter's name along with current players among "The Already Earned Their Way" -- which also had Ichiro & Pujols (above). Alex Rodriguez fell under "Would Be a Lock, Except PEDs" section. I agreed basically with the entire article, except for the fact that Miguel Cabrera was not in "The Already Earned Their Way".

I know some are saying, wait a second, it's too soon!

Actually, no it's not. I give you a great comparison, to two players in MLB history that are in the Hall of Fame -- Kirby Puckett & Ralph Kiner. If Miguel's career ended today (I shudder to think as a Tigers fan), he would be a lock!

• Miguel Cabrera: 2,200+ hits, .320 career BA, 390 HR's & .960 career OPS. Including 3 straight A.L. Batting Titles (2011-2013), a Triple Crown (2012) -- first in 45 years. Back-to-Back MVP Awards (2012-2013), including a runner-up in 2010. 9-time All-Star.

• Kirby Puckett: 2,304 hits, .318 career BA, 207 HR's & .837 career OPS. One A.L. Batting Title -- batting .339 in 1989. No MVP Awards, runner-up in 1992. 10-time All-Star.

• Ralph Kiner: 1,451 hits, .279 career BA, 369 HR's & .946 OPS. No Batting Titles (only batted over .300 once), No MVP Awards (closest was 5th in 1950), 6-time All-Star.

Both Cabrera & Puckett stand at 12 seasons, with Kiner's 10 seasons. Cabrera beats both in HR's (beating Puckett by 183 HR's) & OPS (beating Puckett by .123 in OPS). Cabrera was similar in career hits & career batting average with Kirby, while Cabrera's power just eclipses Kiner in both HR's & OPS.

No one can sit there and say He has not been around long enough...

By these comparisons he has, he's been around two more seasons than Kiner (a much-better hitter than Kiner), while his power numbers beat Puckett, hands down. Plus, if Miguel can stay healthy, he will be able to do something that both were not able to do & that is reach 3,000 hits. Puckett does have Kiner & Cabrera beat in one major area, and that's the fact that Kirby owns two World Championship rings (1987 & 1991) -- Miguel has one with the Marlins (2003), Kiner had none.

Still not convinced? Check out the picture below: