Hall Chat Between Brothers

So during one of my previous blog posts, I mentioned that my little bro Chris messaged me about the Hall of Fame Inductions & as always, this time of year, we went over some interesting cases for the Hall or 'close-enough, but no cigar' choices.

Through the years, it's become an interesting ballot for me. There was a time that I argued in support for those like Jack Morris until I was red in the face, as the years passed on, my case for Morris has somewhat diminished... then there are other cases that I used to scoff at, such as the case for Dave Parker, which gains more & more steam for me, while I also have found the stats to back such a case.

In this post, we will go over our email discussion and where I sit with the following players, I will also go over my case for others & what my current ballot looks like. The on-the-fence guys that I want to go over are some of the following players: Parker, Vada Pinson, Tony Oliva, Bill Madlock & others....

First off, let's start with Dave Parker...

• .290 Career Batting Average
• 2-Time N.L. Batting Champion.
• 1978 N.L. MVP Season: Batting Title (.334), while leading league in Slugging & OPS.
• Career OBP (.339) not superb, but better than Andre Dawson's (Hall of Famer) .323 OBP, while Dawson was a career .279 hitter; Parker's career .810 OPS also edges Dawson's .806
• 7-Time All-Star with 3 Gold Gloves.
• 2,774 career hits

Andre Dawson & Gary Carter's HOF Inductions opened many doors to many debates, that said, I do believe they deserve to be in the Hall of Fame... I just think it has created more murky Hall discussions, and makes more cases for players like Vada Pinson, for example. Speaking of Pinson, I believe what hurts him compared to the likes of Parker & Dawson is the lack of HR & power, his career OPS+ stands at 111+, compared to Dawson's 119+ & Parker's 121+. 

Dawson opening doors.

Of course, not everybody has power that is in the Hall of Fame, like Luis Aparicio and Ozzie Smith -- then again, most of those powerless, lack of offense guys were usually slick-fielding shortstops and not from a position like the outfield that usually packs power. It seems unfair that players like Omar Vizquel tend to gain more traction in this disputes (over players like Pinson) for not fielding at a tougher position.

I think the major thing that is hurting Bill Madlock, another Pirate that tends to be brought up in Hall of Fame debates, is the fact that he only averaged 120 games per season. Obviously, if he was to play at least another 20 games per season, he would have seen a hike in his 2,008 career hits -- if he was closer to the 3,000 hits side of the spectrum, he would get more leeway in the argument. Other than those negatives, his positives speak loudly in his career Batting Average (.305), On-Base Percentage (.365) & OPS (.830); His OPS & OPS+ (123+) was actually better than Dave Parker (.810 / 121+)... who would have ever thought such a thing?! Madlock was a gifted hitter that won 4 batting titles, the most times for a non-Hall of Fame Inductee.

Madlock's 3 All-Star Appearances does not seem like a lot, but he did win an All-Star MVP Game Honors once. People also need to keep in mind, that he was often overshadowed by talented teammates & the N.L. just featured many talented All-Stars, it's tough to make the All-Star Game on the N.L. side, when you have to compete against a player named Mike Schmidt every single season.

Tony Oliva honored with statue outside Target Field.

Then there is Tony Oliva, his name is praised by many that watched him play in his day, many speak volumes of Oliva. What jumps out quickly is his career 131 OPS+, which is 10 more than Parker's 121+ and 12 more than Andre Dawson! The knocker is the fact that he was off-the-charts stellar for only a seven-year arc from 1964-1971. Then again, his drop-off in 1972 & the remainder of his career was due to obvious knee & shoulder injuries that plagued him. Another amazing fact about Oliva is the simple fact that he produced these amazing stats during the "second deadball era".

Oliva was an 8-time A.L. All-Star, with 3 career Batting Titles (1964-65, 1971) and may have won 3 straight batting titles if it were not for a 3-for-30 slump in the middle of September in 1966; Oliva also won the 1964 A.L. Rookie of the Year Award & a Gold Glove in his tremendous career.

I was glad to see that Tim Raines finally got the recognition that he has long deserved, by being inducted in the 2017 Hall of Fame class, along with Ivan 'Pudge' Rodriguez & Jeff Bagwell. Raines has long been overlooked, and I question sometimes if the sports writers hold grudges against players who have played with numerous teams. The sports writer seems to be infatuated with players that have played their careers mostly for one team. 

Another player who played for numerous teams, that belongs in the Hall of Fame, is Fred McGriff. McGriff played for 7 MLB teams during his career, while his longest stint was actually with the Atlanta Braves (4 1/2 years), not the Toronto Blue Jays (4 years). Most folks including myself, a fan of the 1990's Atlanta Braves & a former owner of a McGriff Braves' T-Shirt, think of him as a Blue Jay though.

Serious Crime: Why McGriff belongs...

• Just shy of 2,500 career hits (2,490)
• Just shy of the magical lock-in Hall number of 500 homers (493).
• Career .284 hitter 
• 5-Time All-Star (All-Star Game MVP)
• 3-Time Silver Slugger
• 1,550 Career RBI
• .377 career On-Base Percentage (above all players mentioned above, including Oliva).
• .886 Career OPS
• 134 OPS+

As a full-time player, McGriff dipped below an .800 OPS only once! His incredible consistency seemed to play against him, which is simply odd in my opinion, I am not sure if it's because he was not an obnoxious, arrogant slugger like Barry Bonds, the whole not-staying-in-one-place thing, or the fact he had no flash to his game... but he did everything that was asked of him as a big leaguer, and it's a complete crime against Baseball that McGriff is not in the Hall of Fame.

Other players that need to be simply in....

• Alan Trammell & Lou Whitaker (MLB's greatest & longest DP combination from the Detroit Tigers).
• Edgar Martinez - He should be in before David Ortiz (due to Ortiz's HGH connections); Had 5 Seasons over 1.000 OPS, while his career OPS is .933, while his OPS+ was 141!
• Larry Walker - Coors seems to be playing against him.
• Albert Belle - It was a short career (but so was Ralph Kiner's), but it is a no-brainer that his bad relationship with the press has come back to bite him.

Coming up in a future article, we got more 80's stars in Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy & Keith Hernandez and where I think they stack up -- plus why are the 1980's stars often overlooked?