WHY I THINK CARLOS DELGADO SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN

 WHY I THINK CARLOS DELGADO SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN 

By- Damien 

Carlos Delgado was a great power hitting first baseman who hit 473 career regular season home runs, only 27 shy of the magical 500 that would have guaranteed his enshrinement. His all time MLB total is 477, as he also hit four in the 2006 postseason. Delgado was much more than just a great power hitter, however, as he had a career batting average of .280 and three seasons over .300, including one at .344. Originally a catcher, Carlos Delgado started his career with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1993, earning a World Series ring despite playing in only two games. Delgado hit nine home runs in 43 games in 1994 but wasn’t a regular or a real asset to his team until 1996, when he hit 25 home runs and drove in 92 runs. Delgado started a streak of ten straight 30 homer seasons in 1997 and established himself as one of the finest players in the league in 1998 with a .292 mark and 38 homers. He averaged 136 RBI’s across the next two seasons, including a career year in 2000 when he batted .344 with 99 extra-base hits. Delgado slumped a little in 2001 and 2002 but was the runner up for AL MVP Award honors in 2003, when he led the Majors with 145 RBI’s. The winner was Alex Rodriguez, who drove in 27 fewer runs and may have been on illegal drugs. He slipped in batting to .269 in 2004 and played in only 128 games, and despite his ever present power, the Blue Jays decided to grant him free agency. Delgado signed with the Marlins for the 2005 season and batted .301 with 33 home runs. He was traded again, this time to the Mets, for the 2006 season and hit 38 longballs at the age of 34. Delgado slumped again in 2007 but the Mets didn’t lose hope in him, and he rewarded the club with one last big season in 2008, his eleventh with at least 30 homers and his third with exactly 38. He batted .298 in 26 games in 2009 before being granted free agency again. He signed with the Red Sox in 2010 but didn’t appear in another game. Carlos Delgado was a fine hitter, a great slugger, and a fantastic run producer. His sub-5% vote tally on the 2015 Hall of Fame ballot was… controversial. He has definitely impressed me and tens of thousands of other fans and really should be in Cooperstown. 

LIFETIME STATISTICS 

Games career: 2,035 season high: 162 in 2000 and 2001 led AL: 162 in 2000 and 2001 

At Bats career: 7,283 season high: 598 in 2008 

Hits career: 2,038 season high: 196 in 2000 

Doubles career: 483 season high: 57 in 2000 led AL: 57 in 2000 

Triples career: 18 season high: 3 in 1997 and 2005 

Home Runs career: 473 season high: 44 in 1999 

Runs career: 1,241 season high: 117 in 2003 

Runs Batted In career: 1,512 season high: 145 in 2003 led AL: 145 in 2003 

Stolen Bases career: 14 season high: 4 in 2007 

Walks career: 1,109 season high: 123 in 2000 

Strikeouts career: 1,745 season high: 141 in 1999 

Batting Average career: .280 season high: .344 in 2000 

On Base Percentage career: .383 season high: .470 in 2000 

Slugging Percentage career: .546 season high: .664 in 2000 

Total Bases career: 3,976 season high: 378 in 2000 led AL: 378 in 2000 

Sacrifice Hits career: 0 

Fielding Percentage career: .992 season high: .996 in 2004 

Double Plays career: 1,496 season high: 166 in 2001 led AL 1B: 134 in 1999, 157 in 2000, 166 in 2001, 137 in 2003 

Putouts career: 15,236 season high: 1,518 in 2001 led AL 1B: 1,306 in 1999, 1,1,416 in 2000, 1,518 in 2001, 1,232 in 2002, 1,355 in 2003 

Assists career: 1,067 season high: 105 in 2008 

DID YOU KNOW? 

-became the 15th player to hit the single game record of four home runs in a game on September 25, 2003, and is the only player to hit four in four at bats 

-hit the most career home runs among Puerto Rican players 

-retired with the Blue Jays’ career records in fourteen different categories 

-had nine RBI’s in one game on July 27, 2008, which is the New York Mets record 

-went 5-for-5 with three RBI’s and the walkoff hit on August 21, 2008, marking the first game in which he went 5-for-5 since 1998 

-had a Mets record seven games with multiple home runs in 2008, and had 65 RBI’s in a 65 game stretch that year 

-was the first visiting player to hit three splash home runs at AT&T Park and the first to hit a homer into Pepsi Porch in Citi Field 

-had a career batting average of .368 when putting the ball in play 

-batted .351/.442/.757 with eleven RBI’s in ten games during the 2006 postseason 

-batted .500 with a double and an RBI in two all-star games (2000 and 2003) 

-won three Silver Slugger awards (in 1999, 2000, and 2003) 

-was the 2000 Major League Player of the Year and AL Hank Aaron Award winner 

-won the 2006 Roberto Clemente Award and nine career Player of the Week awards 

-also finished fourth in the 2000 AL MVP Award voting, 12th in 1999, and 21st in 1998 

-finished sixth in the 2005 NL MVP Award voting, ninth in 2008, and 12th in 2006 

-scored over 100 runs in five consecutive seasons (1999-2003) 

-had nine 100 RBI seasons and one with 99 

-led the AL in hit by pitch (15) in 2000, OPS (1.019) in 2003, and in times on base in both seasons 

-led the NL with ten sacrifice flies in 2006 

-also played 58 games in leftfield, 185 as a DH, 56 as a pinch hitter, and one as a pinch runner 

-ranks 34th in career home runs, 28th in slugging percentage, 38th in OPS (.929), 44th in extra base hits (974), 16th in hit by pitch (172), 25th in intentional walks (186) 26th in home run percentage (6.5), and 43rd in putouts 

-among MLB first baseman, ranks 41st in career games, 25th in double plays, 44th in putouts, and 43rd in assists 

-is a member of both the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and the Toronto Blue Jays Level of Excellence

three home run games