Despite the accolades he earned, I believe Newhouser's career was a little short of the Hall's standards. Both of his MVP Awards (including his 1945 Triple Crown) came in the midst of World War II, when many of baseball's best players were serving overseas and inferior players were brought up to replace them. While these seasons are still valid, they need to be properly contextualized, which makes them appear more impressive at face value than they really were. Newhouser did have a spectacular season in 1946 (league-leading 26 wins and 1.94 ERA), but afterward lost effectiveness due to arm trouble.
Overall, while he was a fine pitcher, I think Newhouser's career lacks the volume required for the Hall of Fame. Due to his injuries, he was mostly finished by age 30, and he retired at 33 with fewer than 3,000 career innings. He struggled to gain traction with the BBWAA, but found luck with the VC.
My opinion: Hal Newhouser is probably not a Hall of Famer.
Newhouser isn't overwhelmingly qualified for the HOF but I think you're underestimating him a little. He was pretty much the best pitcher in the AL for three seasons after the war, not one - 46 to 48.He led the AL in FIP 46 to 48, and AL pitcher WAR in 47 and 48. And he was almost as good in 49. So: of his six great seasons from 44 to 49, just two were in the war. Yeah, you do have to discount his WWII seasons a little - but I see him as a below-average hall of famer more than an undeserving one. I care more about his high peak than him not sticking around to put up a few more average seasons.
ReplyDeleteThat's fair. I don't have a huge problem with his selection.
DeleteBy the way, this is Damien... I don't know why this device associates my personal email with my mom's account