Lucky Hall Of Famer Number 8 - Rabbit Maranville

    Rabbit Maranville is only in Cooperstown on account of his great defense. Maranville played 2,153 games at shortstop and 513 at second base, and had an overall fielding percentage 11 points above the league average (.956 to .945). He won two fielding titles at second base and three at shortstop. However, Maranville was a below average hitter. In fact, his adjusted OPS says that he was only 82% as successful as the average hitter of his time. Maranville slashed .258/.318/.340 from 1912 through 1935. 

    Maranville's biggest offensive strength was his stolen base potential. He stole 291 bases in his career and as many as 32 in 1916. Not bad for somebody who averaged less than one hit per game. 

    I will not deny that Rabbit Maranville was one of the greatest defensive middle infielders who ever lived. However, even Ozzie Smith hit fairly well for a shortstop, and he stole 580 bases. Maranville probably wasn't Ozzie Smith defensively, and he was a poor hitter. 

My opinion: Rabbit Maranville is not a Hall of Famer.