WHY I THINK DWIGHT EVANS SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN
By- Damien
Dwight Evans was a rightfielder and first baseman for the Red Sox and Orioles from 1972 through 1991. He won eight Gold Glove awards in rightfield and hit 385 career home runs. Most people believe that those two distinctions are enough in themselves to warrant induction into the Hall of Fame. While this may or may not be true, Dwight Evans was also one of the best home run / RBI producers of his era and got on base around four thousand times across his career. Dwight Evans started his career in 1972, playing in 18 games late in the season at the age of 20. He hit ten homers in limited action in 1973 and was a regular by 1974, hitting .281. From 1975 through 1977, Evans remained barely better than average and didn’t play every day, so he was a relative unknown until he was first named an all-star in 1978. That season, Evans hit 24 home runs, marking the first of his eleven seasons in which he hit at least 20. He continued to produce, but he wasn’t really a big star until 1981. Evans established himself as one of MLB’s best players that season, leading the AL in five batting departments and finishing third in the MVP Award voting. If the strike hadn’t hit, Evans, in his prime at that point, might have hit 40 home runs and driven in 120 runs, which certainly would have debunked the major argument made against Evans - that he really wasn’t one of baseball’s best players in any given season. All he did in 1982 was crush 32 home runs and put up the highest on base percentage in the entire league. Evans slumped a bit in 1983 but came back in 1984 with a vengeance, batting .295 with 32 homers and 104 RBI’s. Over the next three seasons he averaged 30 homers a year and twice led the AL in walks. During that third year, 1987, Evans batted .305 with 34 home runs and 123 RBI’s, starting a three year streak in which he had over 100 RBI’s in each season. Those were his age 35-37 seasons, mind you. In 1990, Evans showed the first signs of decline, as he batted only .249 in 123 games, but retired on a positive note in 1991 with a .270 mark in 101 games. He tried to play some more with the Baltimore Orioles, but was released before he ever had the chance to play. Dwight Evans was a complete player with all five tools - hitting for average, hitting for power, running, throwing, and fielding - in abundance. He was the best defensive rightfielder of all time (other than Roberto Clemente) and perhaps the top hitter of his era. If he had peaked a few seasons earlier, Evans may have reached both the 500 home run and 3,000 hit milestones.
LIFETIME STATISTICS
Games career: 2,606 season high: 162 in 1982 and 1984 led AL: 162 in 1982 and 1984
At Bats career: 8,996 season high: 630 in 1984
Hits career: 2,446 season high: 186 in 1984
Doubles career: 483 season high: 37 in 1980, 1982, 1984, and 1987
Triples career: 73 season high: 8 in 1974 and 1984
Home Runs career: 385 season high: 34 in 1987 led AL: 22 in 1981
Runs career: 1,470 season high: 122 in 1982 led AL: 121 in 1984
Runs Batted In career: 1,384 season high: 123 in 1987
Stolen Bases career: 78 season high: 8 in 1978
Walks career: 1,391 season high: 114 in 1985 led AL: 85 in 1981, 114 in 1985, 106 in 1987
Strikeouts career: 1,697 season high: 125 in 1982
Batting Average career: .272 season high: .305 in 1987
On Base Percentage career: .370 season high: .417 in 1987 led AL: .402 in 1982
Slugging Percentage career: .470 season high: .569 in 1987
Total Bases career: 4,230 season high: 335 in 1984 led AL: 215 in 1981
Sacrifice Hits career: 52 season high: 6 in 1974, 1977, 1978, and 1980
Fielding Percentage career: .986 season high: .995 in 1973 led AL RF: .990 in 1974, .994 in 1976*, .988 in 1979
Double Plays career: 153 season high: 72 in 1987 led AL RF: 8 in 1975*, 4 in 1976, 7 in 1980*
Putouts career: 5,450 season high: 753 in 1987 led AL RF: 300 in 1978, 303 in 1979, 344 in 1982, 315 in 1984
Assists career: 228 season high: 46 in 1987 led AL RF: 15 in 1975, 1976, and 1979
*led all AL outfielders
DID YOU KNOW?
-nicknamed “Dewey”
-was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated on September 26, 1988
-won two career Player of the Month awards and five Player of the Week awards
-was a three time all-star and a two time Silver Slugger
-also finished fourth in the AL MVP Award voting in 1987, seventh in 1982, ninth in 1988, and 11th in 1984
-hit for the cycle on June 28, 1984
-became the first player ever to hit the first pitch of the season for a home run on April 7, 1986
-batted .300/.397/.580 with three home runs and 14 RBI’s in 14 career World Series games
-homered in the 1986 ALCS
-went 3-for-5 with two walks and a run scored in all-star play
-led the AL twice each in OPS, plate appearances, times on base, and games in the outfield and once in extra-base hits
-led AL rightfielders in games five times
-his eight double plays from rightfield in 1975 are the 18th most of all time, and his seven in 1980 rank 42nd
-ranks 41st in career games played, 29th in walks, and 35th in games in the outfield
-among MLB rightfielders, ranks seventh in career games, 27th in fielding percentage, ninth in double plays, third in putouts, and 16th in assists
-was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2009
I agree that Dwight Evans should be in the Hall of Fame. Though I feel like calling him the second greatest fielding right fielder in history might be a stretch.
ReplyDeleteWho do you think is better (I've got an open mind and am just curious)?
DeleteTo me it doesn't seem like a fair fight. Dewey was a very, very well regarded fielder, but Clemente is a legend. Here's something from Bill James in the 1987 Historical Baseball Abstract:
Delete"I've been trying a little experiment, asking baseball fans that I meet who had the best throwing arm they ever saw. It is very rare that anybody who is old to remember seeing [Clemente] play doesn't immediately say "Clemente." For younger fans, you just can't believe what it was like; I hope we see another one like it, or you'll never believe that it was possible. His throws combined strength, accuracy, and speed of release in whatever proportions were necessary to get the job done. Freddie Patek told me he saw Clemente throw people out at the plate from the warning track at Forbes Field, over 350 feet away. I never saw him do that, but I saw him grab a double in the gap and fire it to second base to make it an oops/single, when the entire transaction was so lightning fast that even having seen him do it four or five times, you still couldn't believe it was possible."
For what it's worth, BR shows Dewey as 66 runs above average, but Clemente at 205, not in the same class.
And now that I re-read you comment, it looks like you're asking who else was better than Dewey, not comparing Clemente to Dwight. So whatever, I just got kinda interested in how good Clemente was.
ReplyDeleteI'd Jesse Barfield, Mookie Betts, and others, were better. I'm not even sure he's top-10. He probably was in his prime, but for his last 10 years he wasn't very good.