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Jim Kaat, 16-time Gold Glove winner.
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Tony Oliva, 3-time batting champion.
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Minnie Minoso, 9-time All-Star, 3-time Gold Glove winner.
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The Baseball Hall of Fame recently released the ballots for
the
Early Baseball Era and the
Golden Days Era. It’s the first time since 2006
that players from the Negro Leagues have been considered for the Hall of Fame.
The Early Baseball Era considers players whose primary contributions to the
game were before 1950, while the Golden Days Era examines players whose primary
contributions were between 1950-1969.
I do not know enough about the history of the Negro Leagues
to judge the players on the Early Baseball Era ballot, so I won’t say anything
about John Donaldson, Bud Fowler, Vic Harris, Grant “Home Run” Johnson, Buck
O’Neil, Dick “Cannonball” Reading, and George “Tubby” Scales. I do think Buck
O’Neil should be elected. The Hall had a chance to elect O’Neil in 2006, when
he was still alive, and they failed to do so, which was a shame.
Here are my thoughts on the other players on the Early Baseball
Era ballot:
Bill Dahlen: Dahlen has been mentioned for years as one of
the best players not in the Hall of Fame. His career lasted from 1891-1911, and
he put up some excellent career stats: 2,461 hits, 1,590 runs scored, 1,234
RBI’s, and 548 stolen bases. Baseball-Reference credits Dahlen with 62.5 oWAR
and 28.5 dWAR, for a total of 75.2 WAR. I have no idea how you calculate defensive
WAR for someone who started playing baseball 130 years ago, but whatever. Dahlen
was a shortstop, and Jay Jaffe’s JAWS score ranks him as the 11th
best shortstop in baseball history, ahead of Hall of Famers like Barry Larkin,
Derek Jeter, Lou Boudreau, Pee Wee Reese, and Joe Cronin. I think Dahlen should
be elected, it’s surprising with his numbers that he was never elected by the
Veterans’ Committee.
Lefty O’Doul: It would be nice if the Hall of Fame had a
kind of “lifetime achievement” award they could give people to honor their
overall contributions to baseball. Lefty O’Doul is the perfect type of person
to receive this award, rather than having him being voted into the Hall of Fame
as a player. O’Doul only played in 970 major league games over 11 seasons. That’s
a super short career for someone whose career wasn’t shortened by military
service, the color barrier, or a career-ending injury.
O’Doul had a fascinating career. He came up as a relief
pitcher with the New York Yankees in 1919. For the first four years of his
major league career, he was also used as an occasional pinch hitter. At the end
of the 1923 season, O’Doul had 14 hits and a record of 1-1. Not too impressive.
But then he went to the Pacific Coast League, became a full-time outfielder,
and tore up the league. From 1924-1927 his batting averages in the PCL were:
.392, .375, .338, and .378. In 1928 O’Doul was back in the major leagues with
the New York Giants and batted .319. He was traded by the Giants to the
Phillies after the season. In 1929, O’Doul had an astonishing season, setting a
National League record by bashing out 254 hits. (Bill Terry tied this record
the next year, and still stands as the NL mark.) To go along with his hits, O’Doul
cracked 32 home runs, drove in 122 runs, scored 152 runs, and batted .398. Lefty
followed that up with a .383 mark in 1930. 1929 and 1930 were two of the best offensive
seasons for batters, as the NL league batting average was .294 in 1929 and .303
in 1930. O’Doul captured another batting title in 1932 when he hit .368 with the
Dodgers.
1934 was O’Doul’s last major league season. O’Doul managed in
the PCL from 1935-1957, and he was instrumental in popularizing baseball in
Japan during several overseas trips. Great player? Yes. Interesting career? For
sure. Hall of Famer as an MLB player? Nope. O’Doul only had 6 seasons where he
played in more than 100 games. That’s just not enough. There’s no reason to
elect someone with such a short career when his career wasn’t shortened by
military service, the color barrier, or a career-ending injury. Was O’Doul a great
hitter? Yes, absolutely. His MLB batting average is an eye-popping .349. But
compare O’Doul to two other short-career Hall of Famers: Hank Greenberg and
Ralph Kiner. Look at O’Doul’s baseball-reference page next to Greenberg’s and
Kiner’s. O’Doul’s Black Ink score, the times he led the league in a category,
is 11. (The average Hall of Famer’s Black Ink score is 27.) For a guy who only
played 6 full seasons, 11 is a great score, it’s very impressive. Now look at
Greenberg’s Black Ink score: 46. Kiner’s Black Ink score: 52. That’s the kind
of dominance you need to have if you want to be elected and had a short career.
I would be in favor of Lefty O’Doul getting my imaginary “lifetime
contribution to baseball” award. But there’s no reason for him to be elected to
the Hall of Fame as a player.
Allie Reynolds: A flame-throwing right-handed pitcher for
the Cleveland Indians and the New York Yankees, Reynolds won 6 World Series during
his time with the Yankees. Reynolds was a Native American from Oklahoma, and he
was given the nickname “Superchief,” because of his heritage, and also an
homage to the train of the same name.
Reynolds fashioned an impressive career over 13 seasons,
finishing with a career record of 182-107, an ERA of 3.30, and leading the AL
in strikeouts twice. Reynolds was dynamite in the postseason, as he helped the
Yankees to 6 World Series titles, going 7-2 with a 2.79 ERA over 15 games.
Reynolds is an interesting choice for the ballot, and he’s a
player I haven’t thought of in a long time. He did pretty well on the BBWAA Hall
of Fame ballot, peaking at 33.6% of the vote in 1968. Reynolds was an excellent
pitcher who had several great seasons, but I don’t think he needs to be in the
Hall of Fame. The most similar pitchers to Reynolds are two Hall of Famers:
Lefty Gomez and Bob Lemon. Gomez was another Yankee pitcher with an excellent winning
percentage who won fewer than 200 games, and who also excelled in the
postseason. Gomez was elected in 1972, almost 50 years ago, and he surely got a
few extra points thanks to his collection of humorous quotes. Bob Lemon was
another pitcher with a short career, but Lemon won over 200 games, and he won
20 games in a season 7 times-Reynolds only won 20 games in a season once.
More recent pitchers on Reynolds’ top ten most similar list
are Dave Stieb, Dwight Gooden, and Adam Wainwright. Good pitchers, but not Hall
of Famers. (Well, unless Wainwright keeps reeling off more seasons like his
2021 campaign.) I just don’t see the need to elect a starting pitcher who won
fewer than 200 games, unless they have a peak that looks like Sandy Koufax’s.
Now let’s look at the Golden Days Era ballot. This is essentially
the same ballot as in 2014, when this group of players was considered, and no
one was elected. I wrote about that 2014 ballot here. This ballot is full of a lot of excellent players who had solid
careers but are on the cusp of the Hall of Fame. (Which is why they’ve never
been elected.)
Dick Allen: Dick Allen had to put up with a lot of racist
bullshit during his career. Fans in Philadelphia heckled him mercilessly, to
the point where he started wearing a batting helmet while he was fielding, in
order to avoid the debris that was thrown at him. That being said, Allen also needlessly
put himself at the center of a lot of controversies throughout his career. I
highly recommend reading the SABR bio of Allen if you want to know more about
this gifted player who had a knack for attracting controversy.
Dick Allen is kind of like Jim Rice. Allen and Rice don’t
earn any extra points for baserunning or defense, their cases are based upon a
12-year peak of hitting. Allen was assuredly one of the best hitters in
baseball from 1964-74, but his career numbers are low for the Hall of Fame, as
he only collected 1,848 hits and 1,119 RBI.
Ken Boyer: One of the best 3rd basemen of his
era, Boyer was a 5-time Gold Glove winner, and the 1964 NL MVP. Jay Jaffe’s
JAWS ranks Boyer as the 14th best third baseman in baseball history,
well above Hall of Fame third basemen George Kell and Pie Traynor. Boyer also ranks
higher than Dick Allen in JAWS. I don’t know that Boyer needs to be in the Hall
of Fame, but he was an excellent player who is underrated. At the time Boyer
retired, JAWS ranked Boyer as the 5th best third baseman. Based on
that, he really should have been elected to the Hall of Fame by the writers.
Gil Hodges: Like every other player on this ballot, Hodges
had some amazing seasons, but his career numbers fall short of what is
typically expected from a Hall of Fame player. When Hodges retired in 1963, his
370 home runs were good for 10th on the all-time list. Hodges played
for the great Dodgers teams of the 1950’s, he was the manager of the Miracle
Mets in 1969, and everybody liked him. Hodges died of a heart attack just
before the 1972 season began. All the intangibles would seem to be in place to
point towards Hodges’ eventual election to the Hall of Fame, but he continually
fell just short of election. All told, as Chris Bodig discusses on his excellent blog Cooperstown Cred, Hodges has won 3,010 votes to the Hall of Fame,
more than any other player.
It struck me the other day how similar Gil Hodges is to Dale
Murphy. Yes, they played different positions, but they were great players with
a terrific peak of 7 years of so, and then their production just fell off a
cliff. Hodges and Murphy were both widely admired fan favorites. Like so many
of these players, I don’t know that Hodges needs to be in the Hall of Fame, but
he was a terrific player from one of baseball’s great dynasties.
Jim Kaat: I’m a Twins fan, so I really like Jim Kaat. Again,
he could be an excellent choice for my imaginary “lifetime contribution to
baseball” award, since Kaat had a 25-year career as a pitcher, and he’s had a
lengthy career as a broadcaster as well. Kaat won 283 games during his career,
falling 17 victories short of the magic 300 wins milestone. So, if Kaat would
be a Hall of Famer with 300 wins, why isn’t he a Hall of Famer with 283 wins?
It beats me. I’d love to have a sportswriter explain that to me. And I get it,
Kaat didn’t get to 300 wins, he fell 17 wins short. Kaat was not a dominant
pitcher, and there were few seasons when he was one of the best pitchers in
baseball, he just kept going for 25 years. Kaat might have lost a few points with
the writers by hanging around as a relief pitcher and spot starter his last few
years in the majors. Still, Kaat won 260 games as a starting pitcher, which is pretty
impressive. As much as I like Jim Kaat, I do understand the reasons people
might think he doesn’t belong in Cooperstown.
Roger Maris: Maris had 3 great seasons: 1960, 1961, and
1962. That’s great, but it doesn’t make him a Hall of Famer. The most similar
player to Roger Maris is Bob Allison. Bob Allison was a great player for the
Twins, he’s in the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame, but no one thinks Bob Allison
should be in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Bob Allison didn’t even appear on
a ballot for the Hall of Fame. Allison never hit 61 home runs in a season, but
he has the same number of 30 home run seasons as Maris: 3. Allison beats Maris
in 20 home run seasons, 8 to 6. If you want to elect players like Roger Maris
to the Hall of Fame who had 3 great seasons, then you’d better start fundraising
to build an additional wing to your museum.
To beat the point into the ground, Maris doesn’t compare
well to other short career sluggers like Ralph Kiner and Hank Greenberg. Maris
was nowhere near as dominant as those two sluggers were. Maris’ Black Ink
score: 18. Greenberg’s Black Ink score: 46. Kiner’s Black Ink score: 52.
Minnie Minoso: Minoso was one of the best players in the
American League during the 1950’s. His career totals are low for the Hall of
Fame, but he was an excellent player during his peak. Minoso was a 9-time
All-Star, a 3-time Gold Glove winner, and he finished in the top 4 of MVP
voting 4 times. Ironically enough, given his fame for his late career pinch-hitting
appearances, Minoso’s MLB career cooled significantly after his age 35 season
in 1961. He had several more excellent seasons playing in the Mexican League
until 1973. I’d be fine with Minoso getting into the Hall of Fame.
Danny Murtaugh: Seems like an odd choice for this ballot. Murtaugh
won 1,115 games as a manager, but that only puts him in 55th place
for manager wins. Sure, Murtaugh led the Pirates to World Series titles in 1960
and 1971, but hey, Tom Kelly won 2 World Series titles as well. One of Murtaugh’s
greatest achievements was in fielding the first (and probably only) all Black
and Hispanic starting lineup in baseball history on September 1, 1971. I don’t
think there’s any reason to elect Murtaugh to the Hall of Fame.
Tony Oliva: I’m a Twins fan, so I love Tony O. I’ve had the
pleasure of meeting Tony several times over the past few years, and he always
has a huge smile on his face, ready to talk about baseball or the cold
Minnesota weather. My favorite story about meeting Tony was one cold April day
when my wife and I were walking to our seats at Target Field. We had just
passed Tony O’s Cuban sandwich stand, and I was telling my wife what a great
player Tony Oliva was in his prime. And then of a sudden, as if on cue, Tony O
was right there at the next section of seats! It was a special moment. I’d love
to see Tony Oliva elected to the Hall of Fame. He was a great player and he’s a
wonderful person. I know that Oliva’s peak as a player was short, but he was
one of the best hitters in baseball during the offensively challenged 1960’s.
If Oliva hadn’t gotten injured and messed up his knee in 1971, I think he would
have been in the Hall of Fame a long time ago. Despite the brevity of Oliva’s
career, he had many highlights, as he was an 8-time All-Star, won three batting
titles, led the league in hits five times, and in doubles three times. If you’re
looking for a peak value player, you could do a lot worse than Tony Oliva.
Billy Pierce: Pierce was one of the best left-handed
starting pitchers in the American League during the 1950’s. Pitching for the
White Sox, Pierce led the league in wins in 1957, and won the ERA crown in
1955. Pierce was an excellent pitcher, and his career record of 211-169 is
quite similar to Hall of Famer Don Drysdale, who had a record of 209-166. I
think Pierce was very good, but not a Hall of Famer.
Maury Wills: Wills led the National League in stolen bases
six years in a row, from 1960 to 1965, and he stole a then-record 104 bases in
1962. Wills got a late start, as he spent nine years in the minor leagues
before finally breaking in with the Dodgers at the age of 26 in 1959. Had his
career started at age 21 or 22, it’s easy to imagine that Wills would already be
in the Hall of Fame. Wills’ 586 stolen bases are still good for 20th
on the all-time list. JAWS ranks Wills 48th among shortstops, just
below Dave Concepcion and just ahead of Jay Bell. Wills was a great player in
his prime, but does he need to be in the Hall of Fame? I don’t know.
One of the oddest things about Maury Wills was that he did
not appear on a Topps baseball card until 1967. Usually, Topps swooped down on
any prospect who seemed like he had any chance of making the major leagues and
signed him to a contract to appear on a baseball card. But somehow Wills
slipped through their fingers when he was a prospect. By the time he was an
everyday player, Wills didn’t sign a contract with Topps, for whatever reason,
so he didn’t appear on any of their cards. If you were a Dodgers fan during the
1960’s it must have driven you crazy to know that one of the best players on
your team wasn’t on a Topps card. By the time Wills finally appeared on a Topps
card in 1967, he had been traded to the Pirates. Fortunately, Wills returned to
the Dodgers during the 1969 season, so his 1970 Topps card featured him with
the Dodgers.
And there you have it. None of these players would be an
awful choice for the Hall of Fame, but on the other hand, do any of them really
deserve to get in? It’s a question that doesn’t have a simple answer.
On the Early Baseball Era ballot, of Dahlen, O’Doul and
Reynolds, I think Dahlen is the best candidate. On the Golden Days Era ballot,
I think Maris and Murtaugh are the weakest candidates. As a Twins fan, I’d love
to see Kaat and Oliva elected. Honestly, the only candidates I’d be annoyed to
see elected on the Golden Days Era ballot would be Maris and Murtaugh. Every
other player on the ballot I can understand an argument in favor of their
election, even if I might not agree with it. If I were able to vote on the
Golden Days Era ballot, I’d vote for Kaat, Minoso, and Oliva. (And possibly Boyer
and Hodges as well if you caught me on the right day.)
We’ll see what happens when the Committees meet in December.
Hopefully at least one of these talented players will be elected to the Hall of
Fame.
