Lucky Hall Of Famer Number 9 - Rube Marquard

    Rube Marquard was a starting pitcher for the New York Giants, Brooklyn Bums (I mean Dodgers), and Boston Braves from 1908 through 1925. He had a lifetime record of 201-177 (.532). Marquard's 3.08 ERA looks good, but it is actually above the Hall of Fame average of 3.00 and was only good for an adjusted ERA of 103 (with 100 being the league average for his time). Any questions? 

    Now, Marquard was a good pitcher with over 200 wins and some pretty neat career accomplishments, but come on. He was only slightly above average for a dead ball era hurler. He simply stuck around for a while. Only about 1% of all MLB players make it into Cooperstown, but if every player as good as Rube Marquard were in, the Hall of Fame would lose most of its luster and become far less meaningful. 

My opinion: Rube Marquard is not a Hall of Famer. 

Never Mind

In my post titled Update II, I listed Cole Hamels as retired. Well, it appears that he has signed a one year contract with the Dodgers, which means that he is back for more. Hamels will still be a longshot Hall of Fame candidate, but this is a big step forward for him. 

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. 

WHY I THINK FRED LYNN SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN

WHY I THINK FRED LYNN SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN 

By- Damien 

Fred Lynn was always a five tool player. He won the AL Batting Title in 1979, hit as many as 39 home runs in a season, had a career fielding percentage eight points above the league average, three times led AL centerfielders in double plays, and was a fine baserunner. What really made Fred Lynn famous was his incredible outfield defense. He would make leaping (or diving) catches to rob doubles and triples. Lynn did that so many times that the spectacular play became second nature for him. He was so fearless that he often injured himself, and once broke a rib when he crashed into an outfield wall. Fred Lynn was compared with Hall of Famer Joe Dimaggio for his fielding skills and hitting style. Lynn started his career by batting .419 for the Red Sox in 15 games towards the end of the 1974 season. In 1975, Lynn became the first of two players ever to win the Rookie of the Year Award and the MVP Award in the same season. That season, he batted .331 (second in the AL) with 21 homers and 105 RBI’s and led the AL in four offensive categories. Lynn followed up his great rookie season by batting .314 in 1976. In 1977, however, Lynn slumped to .260 and 18 home runs, but had a great season in 1978, which set the table for the best season of his career. In 1979, he batted .333/.423/.637 (leading the league in all three statistics) with 39 home runs, 122 RBI’s, and 116 runs scored. He finished fourth in the AL MVP Award voting, and the three players ahead of him (Don Baylor, Ken Singleton, and George Brett) really weren't in the same league as Lynn was that season. In 1980, he batted .301 but broke his big toe with a foul ball late in the season, limiting him to 110 games. Lynn’s loss very likely cost the Red Sox the pennant that season. After the injury, Lynn was never the same again. He took an Albert Pujols like turn for the worse, both going from Superman to a bit above average after a foot injury. After this, Lynn was used as a DH more often, and he started to age, but he was still good for seven more 20 homer seasons (hitting 20 homers in the 1980’s was regarded as highly as hitting 30 today) and a .299 average for the California Angels in 1982. He retired after the 1990 season. Fred Lynn had all the skills and most of the numbers that people tend to look for in a Hall of Famer. Come on, how can they keep a phenom like Lynn out of Cooperstown? 

LIFETIME STATISTICS 

Games career: 1,969 season high: 150 in 1978 

At Bats career: 6,925 season high: 541 in 1978 

Hits career: 1,960 season high: 177 in 1979 

Doubles career: 388 season high: 47 in 1975 led AL: 47 in 1975 

Triples career: 43 season high: 8 in 1976 

Home Runs career: 306 season high: 39 in 1979 

Runs career: 1,063 season high: 116 in 1979 led AL: 103 in 1975 

Runs Batted In career: 1,111 season high: 122 in 1979 

Stolen Bases career: 72 season high: 14 in 1976 

Walks career: 857 season high: 82 in 1979 

Strikeouts career: 1,116 season high: 100 in 1985 

Batting Average career: 

On Base Percentage career: .360 season high: .423 in 1979 led AL: .423 in 1979 

Slugging Percentage career: .484 season high: .637 in 1979 led AL: .566 in 1975, .637 in 1979 

Total bases career: 3,352 season high: 338 in 1979 

Sacrifice Hits career: 25 season high: 6 in 1975 

Fielding Percentage career: .988 season high: .994 in 1980 and 1985 led AL CF: .994 in 1980 

Double Plays career: 33 season high: 5 in 1984 led AL CF: 4 in 1976, 1980 and 1983 

Putouts career: 4,556 season high: 408 in 1978 

Assists career: 114 season high: 13 in 1976 

DID YOU KNOW? 

-he and teammate Jim Rice were nicknamed the “Gold Dust Twins” 

-also finished 24th in the AL MVP Award voting in 1980 and 25th in 1978 

-was a nine-time all star (1975 - 1983), and won its MVP award in 1983 by hitting the only grand slam in the game's history 

-won the 1982 ALCS MVP Award (.611/.650/.889, one home run, five RBI’s), contributing to his .407 career postseason batting average 

-homered in the 1975 World Series 

-won four Gold Glove awards 

-won two career AL Player of the Month awards and six AL Player of the Week awards 

-led the AL in OPS in 1975 (.967) and 1979 (1.059) 

-led AL centerfielders in games (144) in 1975 

-hit three home runs and two triples with ten RBI’s in one game on June 18, 1975 

-hit for the cycle on May 13, 1980 

-hit exactly 23 home runs every year from 1984 through 1987 

-among MLB centerfielders, ranks 30th in career games, 27th in double plays, and 25th in putouts 

-also played 135 games in leftfield, 144 in rightfield, 69 as a DH, 122 as a pinch hitter, and three as a pinch runner 

-was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2002 and into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007

Lucky Hall Of Famer Number 7 - Johnny Evers

    Johnny Evers was the second baseman in the famous early Chicago double play combination of "Tinker to Evers to Chance." He was a good player, but not a Hall of Famer. Let us take a look at his case. 

    Let's start by comparing Evers's lifetime statistics with another second baseman from a rival team who was never thought of as a Hall of Famer. 

Johnny Evers - 1,784 games, 919 runs scored, 1,659 hits, 216 doubles, 70 triples, 12 home runs, 536 RBI's, 324 stolen bases, 778 walks, 293 strikeouts, .270 batting average, .356 on base percentage, .334 slugging percentage 

Player B - 1,514 games, 676 runs scored, 1,450 hits, 254 doubles, 41 triples, 28 home runs, 574 RBI's, 188 stolen bases, 627 walks, 584 strikeouts, .271 batting average, .347 on base percentage, .350 slugging percentage 

Player B is none other than... Tom Herr (1979 - 1991). Obviously, there are a lot of differences that make each man's statistics more or less significant according to his era, but that is for a future post. 

    Evers's Hall of Fame plaque says, 

"Middle-man of the famous double play combination of Tinker to Evers to Chance, with the pennant winning Chicago Cubs of 1906,-07-08-10 and with the Boston Braves' miracle team of 1914. Voted Most Valuable Player in N.L. in 1914. Served as player, coach and manager in Big Leagues and as a scout from 1902 through 1934. Shares record for making most singles in four game World Series." 

Seriously? Is that the best that one can say about Evers? Who cares if he hit the most singles in a four game World Series? The fact that he won an MVP Award is something of importance, however, but he was very lucky, to say the least, to beat out guys like teammate Bill James (26-7, 1.90 ERA) or Sherry Magee (.314, 15 home runs, 103 RBI's). Evers batted .279 with one home run and 40 RBI's. 

    Again, the plaque writer also made a simple mistake worth correcting. Joe Tinker and Frank Chance were not on the 1914 Boston Braves, as the plaque seems to imply. 

My opinion: Johnny Evers is not a Hall of Famer. 

Lucky Hall Of Famer Number 6 - Tommy McCarthy

    Why in the world would anybody induct Tommy McCarthy into the Hall of Fame? McCarthy, an outfielder from 1884 through 1896, slashed .292/.364/.375 for an adjusted OPS of 102. He carried a .198 lifetime batting average in 119 games into his first season as a regular, 1888. From then on he did okay, batting over .345 in three seasons, but he also had two seasons under .250. He was through after his age 32 season. 

    McCarthy was also never really among the best in his league in many offensive categories, as he led his league once in at bats and once in stolen bases, but that was it. This proves that McCarthy wasn't worthy for his offensive contributions, but he was also a terrible outfielder, as his .897 fielding percentage is a dozen points below the league average, and a poor pitcher, as he was 0-8 with a 4.99 ERA (he is among the all time leaders for the most pitching losses without a win). 

    His Hall of Fame plaque says, 

"One of Boston's "Heavenly Twins" under manager Frank Selee. Outstanding base runner who stole 109 bases for the Browns in 1888. Pioneer in trapping fly balls in the outfield. Holds N.L. record for assists in outfield - 53 with Boston in 1893. Played 1,268 games in Major Leagues." 

    According to baseball-reference.com, the plaque made some simple statistical errors. For example, it says that McCarthy had 28 outfield assists in 1893, that he stole 93 bags in 1888, and that he played in 1,273 games. This isn't that important as to whether McCarthy is a worthy Hall of Famer, but I thought that I'd correct some simple mistakes. 

    The best argument for McCarthy's induction is that he invented hit and run. This is probably not enough to merit his selection, but nothing else even comes close. 

My opinion: Tommy McCarthy is not a Hall of Famer. 

By the way, the other "Heavenly Twin" was Hall of Famer Hugh Duffy. 

    

Lucky Hall Of Famer Number 5 - Joe Tinker

    Joe Tinker was the shortstop on the early Cubs' famous double play combination of Tinker to Evers to Chance. He played his whole career with the Chicago Cubs from 1902 through 1916. He was quite a good defensive shortstop and a good hitter considering the era in which he played, but he slashed .262/.308/.353 for an OPS+ (adjusted OPS) of 96 (the league averages 100). This is not particularly poor for a shortstop, and it looks good when combined with a fielding percentage 12 points above the league average (.938 vs .926), but the Hall of Fame is the Hall of Fame. Tinker batted .300 in only one season, never led his league in any offensive category, and played only 13 seasons as a regular. 

    Some point to his 336 stolen bases as a Hall of Fame worthy total, but caught stealing was only counted in one of his seasons, 1913, and he was actually caught more times than he succeeded. 

    

My opinion: Joe Tinker is not a Hall of Famer.