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| Steve Garvey. The official caption for this photo is "Hello ladies!" |
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| Yankees catcher Thurman Munson. |
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| Tommy John, throwing one in there for the Dodgers in the 1970's. |
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| Cardinals catcher Ted Simmons, nicknamed "Simba" for his mane of hair, was also an antiques collector and a trustee of the St. Louis Art Museum. |
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| It looks like Dale Murphy is swatting a home run against the Cubbies. |
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| Proof that Dave Parker was a serious badass. |
This week the Baseball Hall of Fame announced the 2020
Modern Baseball Era Hall of Fame ballot. The Modern Era examines the era
between 1970-1987. Seven of the 10 men are returning from the 2018 ballot,
which I covered here. Two years ago, this committee elected Alan Trammell and
Jack Morris to the Hall of Fame. Dwight Evans, Thurman Munson, and Lou Whitaker
are all being considered by the committee for the first time. (Luis Tiant was
on the ballot two years ago, but he was dropped this time.)
Personally, I’m happy that Evans and Whitaker are being
considered. Whitaker is one of the best players who fell off the writers’
ballot after just one appearance. And Evans was only on the ballot for three
years before dropping off, so I feel like he deserves another look. In my post
from two years ago, Evans and Whitaker were two of the names I threw out as
being worthy for future consideration by the committee. Other players I’d like
to see on future Modern Era ballots are Keith Hernandez, Al Oliver, Darrell
Evans, Graig Nettles, and Buddy Bell.
I disagree with the practice of putting managers and
executives on the same ballot as players, since there’s no way you can compare
them. The only executive on this ballot is Marvin Miller, the Executive
Director of the MLB Players’ Association from 1966 to 1982. Miller greatly
strengthened the players’ union and fought for an end to the reserve clause
that bound players to their original team for perpetuity. When the reserve
clause ended and players gained the right to become free agents, they were able
to make much more money. Every baseball player who has played since 1976 owes
Marvin Miller their undying gratitude. Miller should unquestionably be in the
Hall of Fame, but of course owners have always opposed his entry.
Let’s look at the 9 players on the ballot. While I have my
favorites among this group, it’s a strong group of players. I might not agree
with some of these players getting into the Hall of Fame, but I can understand
why they might be elected.
Dwight Evans: Evans played almost his whole career for the
Boston Red Sox. During his career, Evans was regarded as an excellent defensive
right fielder, winning 8 Gold Gloves. The AL Champion 1975 Red Sox had an
outfield of Jim Rice, Fred Lynn, and Evans. Oh, and they had Carl Yastrzemski
at first base, Carlton Fisk at catcher, and Cecil Cooper as their DH. Evans was
something of a late bloomer, as his best seasons with the bat, according to
OPS+, all occurred after the age of 28.
Evans was an excellent player who is very deserving of a
second look. He didn’t get to any of the magic numbers for Cooperstown, but he
put together an excellent career. Because Evans walked so much, he’s helped by
sabermetric stats, which were not really a thing when he was last considered
for the Hall of Fame. Evans is just below the average Hall of Fame right
fielder, according to JAWS, but so is Tony Gwynn, who’s directly ahead of Evans
on the list. According to JAWS, Evans is ranked higher than HOFers Dave
Winfield, Vladimir Guerrero, Enos Slaughter, and Sam Rice, among others. Evans
also ranks higher on JAWS than future HOFer Ichiro Suzuki. I wouldn’t mind
seeing Evans get into the Hall. At the very least, he’s somebody who deserves
this consideration.
Steve Garvey: On paper, Steve Garvey should be a Hall of
Famer. He won an MVP award, he was twice the NLCS MVP, and twice the MVP of the
All-Star game. He was a 10-time All-Star, he won 4 Gold Gloves, he appeared in
5 World Series. And yet, after getting 41.6% of the vote on his first ballot,
Garv Sauce just didn’t gain any traction during the remaining years he was on
the writers’ ballot. No one ever called Steve Garvey Garv Sauce, but because
Twins catcher Mitch Garver’s nickname is Garv Sauce, I’ve started referring to
Steve Garvey as “Garv Sauce-Original Flavor.”
Garvey’s strengths are the old-school stats. He was a
batting average man, and an RBI guy. Because he didn’t walk very much, the
sabermetric stats don’t help his case. And honestly, his old school batting
average and RBI stats were totally overshadowed by the steroid stats of the
1990’s and 2000’s. A first baseman with 272 home runs just doesn’t sound that
impressive anymore. But still—those forearms! That hair!
Because Garvey garnered such a plethora of awards, and was a
great hitter in the postseason, batting .338 over 55 games, he’s in the odd
spot of scoring 130 on the Hall of Fame Monitor—where the average Hall of
Famer is a 100—but he’s only the 51st best first baseman,
according to JAWS. To give you an idea of good you must be in order to make it
to the Hall of Fame as a first baseman, Willie McCovey and Eddie Murray are
below the JAWS standard for first basemen! At 51st place, Garvey is
keeping company with guys like Boog Powell, Bill White, Kent Hrbek, and Cecil
Cooper. While they were all very good players, they’re clearly not Hall of
Famers.
Tommy John: I think Tommy John should be in the Hall of
Fame. No, he’s not as dominant as some other pitchers from his generation. But
still, the dude pitched for 26 years, and won 288 games. If John had managed to
win 12 more games and had finished at 300 wins, he’d have been elected to the
Hall of Fame long ago.
John never won a Cy Young Award; he never led the league in
wins. But he just kept showing up and getting the job done. John ranks 53rd
in WAR for pitchers, ahead of Hall of Famers like Whitey Ford, Early Wynn, Jim
Bunning, Juan Marichal, and Don Drysdale. Unfortunately, on the JAWS scale,
John only ranks 85th, around Frank Tanana, Mark Buehrle, Wilbur
Wood, Orel Hershiser, and Chuck Finley.
John is the only pitcher on this ballot, so I wonder if that
will help his case.
Don Mattingly: Like some other guys on this ballot, (Dale
Murphy, Dave Parker) Mattingly was one of the best players in baseball for
several years. Through 1989, he certainly looked like a Hall of Famer. But back
injuries took their toll, and Mattingly ended up short of the counting stats
that would put him over the top. Mattingly just wasn’t excellent for long
enough.
Thurman Munson: An excellent catcher, Munson’s career was
cut short due to his death in a plane crash at the age of 32 in 1979. Munson
definitely had the “fame” part taken care of, as he was a 7-time All-Star, in
addition to being the AL Rookie of the Year in 1970, the AL MVP in 1976, and
winning 3 Gold Gloves. Munson also became the first captain of the New York
Yankees since Lou Gehrig’s retirement in 1939. Munson helped to lead the
Yankees back to the World Series in 1976, the team’s first trip to the fall
classic since 1964. While the Yankees were swept by the Cincinnati Reds that
year, they returned and triumphed over the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1977 and
1978. Munson was a great hitter in the postseason, batting .357 over 30 games. Munson
received MVP votes in seven of his eleven seasons.
Personality-wise, Munson had a reputation for being cranky.
Teammate Sparky Lyle famously said of Munson: “Munson’s not moody, he’s just
mean. When you’re moody, you’re nice sometimes.”
So, does Thurman Munson belong in the Hall of Fame? He
certainly deserves to be considered by the Modern Era Committee, since he
hasn’t appeared on a Committee ballot recently. Because of the tragic
circumstances of Munson’s death, it feels a bit callous to just say he doesn’t
belong in the Hall of Fame.
Being a catcher is hard. Being a Hall of Fame catcher is
even harder. Here are the names of all the Hall of Fame catchers who have
played during the last 70 years: Roy Campanella, Yogi Berra, Johnny Bench,
Carlton Fisk, Gary Carter, Ivan Rodriguez, and Mike Piazza. That’s it, just
seven players over 70 years. And they combined excellent defense with outstanding
offense. (Well, Mike Piazza’s defense wasn’t that great, but he hit 427 home
runs.) They were all power hitters: the fewest career home run total among the
seven is Roy Campanella, who career was truncated by segregation and a car
crash that left him paralyzed. Over 10 seasons, Campanella still blasted 242
home runs. Does Thurman Munson deserve a plaque among these catchers? Let’s
look at some of the evidence.
Because Munson’s career was so short—1,423 games over 11 seasons—his
counting stats inevitably don’t seem up to par for the Hall of Fame. I decided
to look at Munson compared to the 14 catchers in the Hall of Fame after their
age 31 seasons. (I left out Buck Ewing, because he played from 1880 to 1897.) For
Munson, this was after the 1978 season. I left out his 1979 season, because it
wasn’t a complete season. I looked at four counting stats: runs, hits, home
runs, and RBI, and four rate stats: batting average, on base percentage,
slugging percentage, and OPS+. These 8 statistics may or may not be an accurate
picture of a player’s offensive value, but I think they give a good indication.
All statistics are taken from Baseball-Reference.
Here's how Munson fared against the 14 Hall of Fame
catchers:
Johnny Bench: below Munson in BA and OBP, ahead in all other
stats
Yogi Berra: ahead in all stats
Roger Bresnahan: ahead in OBP and OPS+, below in all other
stats
Gary Carter: ahead in all stats except for BA, with a tie in
OBP
Roy Campanella: ahead in HR, OBP, SLG, and OPS+, tied in BA,
below in runs, hits, and RBI
Mickey Cochrane: ahead in all stats, with a tie in HR
Bill Dickey: ahead in all stats, except for hits
Rick Ferrell: below in all stats, except for OBP
Carlton Fisk: below in runs, hits, RBI, BA, ahead in HR,
OBP, SLG and OPS+
Gabby Hartnett: ahead in HR, OBP, SLG, and OPS+, tied in BA,
below in runs, hits, and RBI
Ernie Lombardi: below in runs, hits, HR, and RBI, ahead in
BA, OBP, SLG, and OPS+
Mike Piazza: ahead in all stats, except for hits
Ivan Rodriguez: ahead in all stats, except for OBP and OPS+
Ray Schalk: below in all stats
Munson clearly beats Bresnahan, Schalk, and Ferrell in these
8 categories. He ties Fisk and Lombardi. He loses narrowly to Campanella and
Hartnett. Bench, Berra, Carter, Piazza, Rodriguez, Dickey, and Cochrane are all
way ahead of Munson. Out of 14 comparisons, Munson’s record is 3-9, with 2
ties. That’s not especially impressive. What this says to me is that Munson wasn’t
demonstrably better offensively than most of the Hall of Fame catchers.
Because Munson was so young when he started catching for the
Yankees, the comparison I did is the one that is the most advantageous to him. Let’s
examine Munson’s two ties. Munson had played 379 more games than Carlton Fisk
after their age 31 seasons. By the time Fisk’s games catch up to Munson’s
career totals, after Fisk’s age 35 season, Fisk is ahead in everything except
for hits and BA. Munson had played 276 more games than Ernie Lombardi after
their age 31 seasons. Lombardi’s career games pass Munson’s after Lombardi’s
age 35 season. After age 34, Lombardi is 50 games behind Munson, after age 35,
he’s 50 games ahead of Munson, but the results are the same: Munson is ahead in
runs and hits, while Lombardi is ahead in HR, RBI, BA, OBP, SLG, and OPS+. So,
if we go by games played rather than age, Munson’s two ties turn into losses
for him. Munson’s record then becomes 3-11.
But what happens if we compare all 14 of the Hall of Fame
catchers to Munson’s games played, rather than through the age 31 season? Would
any of the other comparisons change? I looked at where these catchers were when
they were around 1,326 games played—Munson’s total after his age 31
season. Munson still beats Bresnahan, Ferrell, and Schalk, but, as noted in the
paragraph above, he loses his ties to Fisk and Lombardi. A couple of categories
change among the guys Munson loses to, but nothing that changes the ultimate
outcomes. If we run the comparison by games played for all 14 Hall of Fame
catchers, Munson is still 3-11 against them. Clearly, as an offensive player,
he’s below the standard of the catchers already enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
And beating Roger Bresnahan, Rick Ferrell, and Ray Schalk
isn’t that impressive, since they’re considered by pretty much everyone to be
the worst offensive catchers in the Hall of Fame. (Some might even say they’re
some of the worst Hall of Famers, period.) Bresnahan played from 1900-1915,
with 6 games in 1897, and he was the first 20th century catcher elected
to the Hall of Fame, chosen in 1945 by the Old Timers’ Committee. Bresnahan was
only the second catcher elected to the Hall of Fame, after Buck Ewing. Based on
Bresnahan’s somewhat limited offensive resume, I assume that he must have received
lots of extra points from the Committee for popularizing shin guards as
catching equipment. Or maybe at that moment in history the Committee suddenly
realized, “Oh, crap, we’re 45 years into the 20th century, we should
probably have a catcher who played in this century in the Hall of Fame.” Ray
Schalk played from 1912-1929 and was one of the White Sox who didn’t throw the
1919 World Series. This may have earned him extra points from the Veterans’
Committee who elected him in 1955. Rick Ferrell was another Veterans’ Committee
selection, in 1984. Ferrell’s top performance on the writers’ ballot was in
1956 when he garnered a whopping 0.5% of the vote. Some baseball historians
argue that Rick’s brother, pitcher Wes Ferrell, would be a more deserving Hall
of Famer. Fun fact: Wes outhomered Rick for their careers, 38 to 28.
Okay, so Munson doesn’t seem to compare very well
offensively against the catchers currently in the Hall of Fame. How does Munson
fare when compared offensively against non-Hall of Fame catchers? I compared
Munson’s stats after his age 31 season in the same 8 categories to a selection
of catchers who are not in the Hall of Fame. The selection of catchers I chose
was somewhat arbitrary, but I deliberately tried to compare Munson to his contemporaries
and more recent catchers.
Here are the results of the offensive comparison to 14 non-Hall
of Fame catchers: (Mauer, Molina, and Posey aren’t eligible for the Hall yet.
Oh, and yes, Joe Torre is in the Hall of Fame, but he’s in as a manager, not as
a player.)
Wins: Lance Parrish, Darrell Porter, Bill Freehan, Manny
Sanguillen, Bob Boone, Jim Sundberg, Yadier Molina
Losses: Ted Simmons, Joe Mauer, Buster Posey, Joe Torre
Tie: Gene Tenace, Jorge Posada, Jason Kendall
Munson’s record against these 14 catchers is: 7-4-3.
Overall, when Munson is compared after his age 31 season to other catchers
after their age 31 seasons, adding this to the first comparison of Munson to
the Hall of Fame catchers, we get a total of: 10-13-5.
The comparison to Joe Mauer encompasses all of Mauer’s
career as a catcher and includes his first season as a first baseman. Joe Torre
isn’t a perfect comparison, as Torre stopped catching after 1970, his age 29
season. Gene Tenace spent a considerable amount of his career at first base,
but baseball-reference lists Tenace just below Munson in the JAWS score for
catchers. Even with Munson’s superior defense, Tenace comes out ahead in total
WAR, 46.8 to 46.1.
Some of these comparisons are obvious. I didn’t really need
to run the numbers to tell you that Thurman Munson was a better hitter than Bob
Boone or Jim Sundberg. Munson obviously fared better against this group of
non-Hall of Fame catchers, but what doesn’t help Munson’s argument is that the
players he beat who have appeared on a Hall of Fame ballot are all marginal
Hall of Fame candidates. (Joe Mauer, Yadier Molina, and Buster Posey could turn out to be
Hall of Famers, we’ll have to wait and see.) No one is clamoring to put
Lance Parrish, Darrell Porter, Bob Boone, and Jim Sundberg in the Hall of Fame,
so telling me that Munson is better than these guys offensively doesn’t really
move the needle much.
And can I just say that I don’t understand Gene Tenace at
all. He’s just the weirdest combination of skills ever. In 1974 he hit .211,
while walking 110 times to lead the league, leading to an OBP of .367. Tenace
must have had great strike zone judgment to walk so much, but how come when he
hit the ball he made so many outs? It also just boggles my mind that Tenace
isn’t anywhere near any of the Hall of Fame stats on baseball-reference, black
ink, gray ink, HOF Standards, HOF Monitor, and yet JAWS is like, “Oh, yeah,
he’s actually the 13th best catcher ever.”
WAR helps Munson’s case against the Hall of Fame catchers.
If we look at total WAR, through 1,400 games, here’s where Munson stands:
Munson is ahead of Ferrell, Schalk, Bresnahan, Campanella,
Lombardi, Hartnett (though Hartnett ends up above Munson thanks to very strong
seasons in his mid-30’s) and Berra (who will also pass Munson).
Munson is behind Cochrane, Dickey, Piazza, Fisk, Rodriguez,
Carter, and Bench.
What the WAR comparison says to me is that Munson is clearly
behind the “Gold Standard” for modern catchers: Johnny Bench, Gary Carter,
Carlton Fisk, and Ivan Rodriguez, but that he finally beats out some catchers
who are above the bottom three of Bresnahan, Schalk, and Ferrell. (When I write
a novel, I’m going to have a law firm in it called Bresnahan, Schalk, and
Ferrell.) The WAR comparison is pretty much the same as the JAWS chart, the WAR
just reminds us that Hartnett and Berra pass Munson due to excellent seasons
late in their careers. Roy Campanella is another “what might have been” player,
since his career got a late start—because of integration, he didn’t play
in the major leagues until he was 26 years old—and at the age of 36, a car
crash paralyzed him, ending his baseball career.
We’ve looked at offense, now how does Munson stack up on
defense? In baseball-reference’s version of DWAR, Munson is at 11.9 for his
career. Through 1,400 games, this puts him above Cochrane, Hartnett, Lombardi,
Ferrell, Bresnahan, Dickey, Campanella, Piazza, and Berra. Munson is behind
Schalk, Rodriguez, Carter, and Bench. Munson is just a bit ahead of Fisk, who
was at 11.6. This is positive for Munson, since this is a category where he’s
ahead of most of the Hall of Fame catchers.
For all players, Munson is tied with Manny Machado for 186th
place all-time in DWAR at 11.9. That’s certainly good, but there are other
catchers who were better. Butch Wynegar, a much weaker offensive catcher than
Munson, put up 14.1 DWAR in fewer games than Munson.
What hurts Munson is that he doesn’t beat the elite
defensive catchers through 1,400 games: Bob Boone, Jim Sundberg, and Yadier
Molina were all ahead of Munson in DWAR through 1,400 games and they have all
more than doubled his 11.9 DWAR for their entire careers. Munson was never in
the league’s top ten for Defensive WAR. Defensive WAR doesn’t see Munson as an
elite defender, even given the fact that he was playing a premium defensive
position. Other catchers from Munson’s era appeared in the top ten for
Defensive WAR numerous times: Jim Sundberg was in the top ten 7 times, Bob
Boone was in the top ten 8 times, as was Johnny Bench, and Gary Carter had 9
seasons in the top ten. Yogi Berra, despite only putting up 9.2 DWAR, still
made the top ten 5 times.
Munson was in the top 10 for Offensive WAR four times, but
he had only two seasons when he was in the top ten for total WAR for position
players. Which is surprising, given the fact that he was a good defensive
catcher. In Munson’s 1976 MVP year, his teammate Graig Nettles was actually
worth more WAR, 8.0 to 5.3.
Let’s look at throwing out baserunners, another integral
part of catching. Is there anything among the statistics that demonstrate that
Munson was elite in this category? Munson was in the top ten for caught
stealing 5 times, but never led the league. He was in the top ten for caught
stealing percentage 7 times, including his final season of 1979. He led the
league in that category twice.
How does that compare to Johnny Bench, who is widely
regarded as having one of the best throwing arms for catchers? Bench was in the
top ten for caught stealing 7 times, but never led the league. He was in the
top ten for caught stealing percentage 11 times, and he led the league 3 times.
Munson seems like a good comparison to Bench in this statistic.
Where does Munson rank over his career for caught stealing
percentage? Munson is at 44.48%, the exact same percentage as Rick Ferrell.
They are tied for 110th place all-time. The league average over Munson’s
career was 38%. Bench was at 43% for his career, and the league average was
35%. So, Bench was higher over the league average than Munson, but not by a
lot. The all-time leader in caught stealing percentage was Roy Campanella, at
57.4%, with Gabby Hartnett in second place at 56.11%. Of course, there are a
lot of variables in here, as Campanella had far fewer stolen base attempts against
him than Munson did. For his career, Munson threw out 427 would-be base
stealers, which would put him about 30 above a league average catcher. Which is
great, but I don’t think that stat, in and of itself, adds much to Munson’s
Hall of Fame case. However, it does add to the overall picture of Munson as a
very solid defensive catcher.
Lance Parrish is an interesting comparison to Munson, as
Parrish won the same number of Gold Gloves, 3, and was an 8-time All-Star,
besting Munson by one. Parrish never won an MVP, but he received MVP votes in 3
seasons. Through 1,400 games, Parrish and Munson are dead even in DWAR. Parrish
won one World Series with the Tigers in 1984, the only year he appeared in the post-season.
How did Parrish fare in the Hall of Fame voting? He appeared on the Hall of
Fame ballot once in 2001 and received 1.7% of the vote.
Manny Sanguillen is another good comparison to Munson, since
they were almost exact contemporaries. Sanguillen appeared in 25 more games
than Munson. Sanguillen was a 3-time All-Star and received MVP votes in four
different seasons. He never won a Gold Glove, thanks to Johnny Bench, but he
was in the top ten for defensive WAR 3 times. Sanguillen was in the top ten for
batting average 3 times, while Munson made it 5 times, very impressive for a
catcher. Like Munson, Sanguillen played for two World Champion teams, the 1971 and
1979 Pirates. Sanguillen is at 11.4 DWAR, just below Munson’s 11.9. How did
Sanguillen do in the Hall of Fame voting? He appeared on the ballot once, in
1986, and got 0.5% of the vote. Sanguillen hasn’t been considered by a
Committee since then.
If you want Munson to be a Hall of Famer, I think you have
to put a lot of stock in the peripherals: his awards, his success in the
postseason, his “grit” and “leadership.” Munson was a good hitter and a very
good defender. However, I don’t think he’s elite enough at either thing to be a
Hall of Famer. I think it’s fine to consider him again for the Hall of Fame,
but I wouldn’t vote for him.
What’s really tough in thinking about Thurman Munson is that
you’re guessing at the unknown. Maybe he would have played until he was 40 and
put up 60WAR and he’d be a slam-dunk Hall of Famer. Or maybe he would have
retired when he was 35. My deep dive into catching statistics this week has
made me appreciate Thurman Munson more than I did before. He was a very good
player, and it’s extremely hard to put a value on all the different parts of
being a catcher.
Dale Murphy: One of the best players in the game from
1982-1987. His last great year was 1987, and he simply didn’t get to any of the
statistical benchmarks people thought he would reach. Murphy put together an
average OPS+ of 145 from 1982-1987. After recording the highest OPS+ of his
career, 157 in 1987, Murphy never again had an OPS+ above 106. Talk about
falling off a cliff. Baseball-Reference says the most similar player to Murphy is
Andruw Jones, ironically another fantastic Atlanta Braves center fielder whose
career just suddenly tanked.
I like Dale Murphy a lot, and an article I read about him
recently make it clear that he’s a pretty great person who took his position as
a role model seriously. While the Hall of Fame’s character clause is usually
used as a reason to keep steroid abusers out of the Hall of Fame, Murphy’s
children argued in his last year on the writer’s ballot that it should be used
in a positive way for once, as a way to give their father an extra point or two
on the Hall of Fame score. Okay, maybe it’s kind of cheesy to have kids
advocating for their Dad’s election to the Hall of Fame, but I really like the
idea of using the character clause that way for once—no one ever seems to use it
this way.
When the Twins were playing the Braves this year, I saw a
guy with a Dale Murphy jersey, and I complimented him on it. I think he was a
little surprised, but I said, “Everybody’s a Dale Murphy fan.”
Dave Parker: One of the best players in baseball from
1975-1979. When I was growing up in the 1980’s, Dave Parker was one of those
guys who seemed like such a power hitter. 339 home runs! Wow! That’s amazing!
Parker is now tied for 102nd on the all-time home run list.
Dave Parker could hit. His first full season in the majors,
he led the league in slugging percentage. He won back-to-back batting crowns in
1977 and 1978 and was the NL MVP in 1978. (Finishing a distant second that
year? Steve Garvey.) Drug problems took a toll on Parker’s career, and from
1980-1984 he was clearly a star in decline. But in 1985 he came roaring back
with a huge comeback season with his hometown Cincinnati Reds, leading the
league in doubles, RBIs, and total bases, and finishing 2nd in the
MVP voting.
Parker’s last stop as a player was a brief, three-week stint
with the Toronto Blue Jays in September of 1991. Playing in 13 games down the
stretch, Parker rapped out 12 hits for an average of .333. Pretty good for a
40-year-old.
Ted Simmons: Simmons fell just one vote short of election in
2018, the last time this Committee met. I think Simmons deserves to be in the
Hall of Fame. Simmons was overshadowed by Johnny Bench during the 1970’s, and
he certainly wasn’t the great defensive catcher that Bench was. Simmons ranks
10th among catchers in JAWS, and he’s the highest-ranked eligible
catcher who’s not in the Hall of Fame. (Joe Mauer ranks 8th, but
he’s not eligible yet.)
Simmons’ career is dragged down a bit by some legitimately
bad seasons he had at the end of his career—1981, 1984, and 1986-88, which
he spent basically just pinch-hitting for the Braves. But Simmons was amazing
when he was with the Cardinals—his OPS+ with them was 127, and he put
up four seasons above 5 WAR.
Furthermore, Ted Simmons just seems like a cool dude. He
almost became baseball’s very first free agent in 1972 when he began playing
the season without signing his contract. Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally did
the same thing in 1975, pitching for the entire season without contracts, and
an arbitrator ruled that they were free agents, thus ending baseball’s reserve
clause. (Simmons eventually signed during the season.) Simmons was a collector
of antiques and a trustee of the St. Louis Art Museum. In an article from Sports
Illustrated from 1978, Simmons is quoted as “authoritatively discussing the
evolution of the fireplace in American households.” This is clearly a cool
dude.
Lou Whitaker: I think Whitaker deserves to be in the Hall of
Fame. He’s one of the worst snubs by the writers, getting only 2.9% of the vote
in 2001, his first and only year on the ballot. Whitaker is certainly due for
another chance at the Hall. Whitaker doesn’t have much of a peak to his career,
but he was quietly excellent throughout his 19 years with the Detroit Tigers.
Whitaker racked up 75.1 WAR for his career, good for 49th all-time
for position players. JAWS puts Whitaker as the 13th best second
baseman of all-time, and he ranks ahead of Hall of Famers Roberto Alomar, Craig
Biggio, Joe Gordon, Bobby Doerr, and Nellie Fox, among others. Whitaker is below
the JAWS standard for second basemen, which is partly because there are four
second basemen who have more than 100 WAR: Rogers Hornsby, Eddie Collins, Nap
Lajoie, and Joe Morgan.
We’ll see what happens when the committee meets in December,
but hopefully we’ll have at least one new Hall of Famer.
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