By Dan Trammel
@HighwaytoHall
Players who will receive 3 or fewer votes
Sandy
Alomar, Jr.
A
2-time Minor League Player of the Year but stuck behind Benito Santiago, Alomar
was traded by the San Diego Padres, along with Carlos Baerga and Chris James,
to the Cleveland Indians for Joe Carter in 1989. With the Indians, Alomar
immediately lived up to his billing, winning the AL Rookie of the Year Award,
easily outdistancing the Yankees brief sensation Kevin Maas. Alomar won the
Gold Glove Award and became the first rookie catcher to start the All-Star
Game. In a 20-year career, Alomar was named to 6 All-Star teams, winning the
All-Star Game MVP in 1997. That season, Alomar finished 14th in AL
MVP voting, batting .324 with 21 home runs and 83 RBIS, while leading the
Indians to its second World Series appearance in three seasons. In the 7-game
series loss to the Florida Marlins, Alomar batted .367, collecting 11 hits
while belting 2 home runs and tallying 10 RBIs.[i]
Released by the Indians in 2000, Alomar bounced around the next 7 seasons,
playing for 5 teams, but never again playing more than 90 games in a
season.
David
Wells
A
look at the highest winning percentages among left-handed pitchers with a
minimum of 200 wins:
Pitcher
|
Winning
Percentage
|
Whitey
Ford
|
.690
|
Lefty
Grove
|
.680
|
Randy
Johnson
|
.646
|
Andy
Pettitte
|
.633
|
Eddie
Plank
|
.627
|
Carl
Hubbell
|
.622
|
David
Wells
|
.604
|
Tom
Glavine
|
.600
|
Herb
Pennock
|
.598
|
Warren
Spahn
|
.597
|
Kenny
Rogers
|
.584
|
Hal
Newhouser
|
.580
|
Steve
Carlton
|
.574
|
Of
the 27 left-handers with 200 or more wins, 10 are in the Hall of Fame. In a
related note, let’s look at the list of the lowest ERAs among southpaws with
200 or more wins:
Pitcher
|
ERA
|
Eddie
Plank
|
2.35
|
Whitey
Ford
|
2.75
|
Wilbur
Cooper
|
2.89
|
Carl
Hubbell
|
2.98
|
Hal
Newhouser
|
3.06
|
Lefty
Grove
|
3.06
|
Rube
Marquard
|
3.08
|
Warren
Spahn
|
3.09
|
Eppa
Rixey
|
3.15
|
Steve
Carlton
|
3.22
|
Now
the list of the left-handers with the highest ERAs among 200 game winners:
Name
|
ERA
|
Earl
Whitehill
|
4.36
|
Kenny
Rogers
|
4.27
|
Jamie
Moyer
|
4.25
|
David
Wells
|
4.13
|
Andy
Pettitte
|
3.86
|
We’ve
found 3 of the non-Hall of Famers from our first table. Since the door is about
to be closed on Jack Morris’ candidacy in large part due to his 3.90 ERA, it is
difficult to argue for Rogers, Moyer, Wells, and Pettitte. Realistically,
Rogers, Moyer, and Wells never had a chance, and rightfully so. Pettitte will
be scrutinized more because of his association with the New York Yankees and
his postseason success.[ii]
A
winner of 2 World Series titles and a 3-time All-Star that twice finished 3rd
in Cy Young Award balloting, Wells will receive a few votes, but not enough to
remain on the ballot next year.
Shawn
Green
In
1998, Green clubbed 35 home runs and stole 35 bases, which makes him 1 of only
14 players in history to achieve the feat (which has been accomplished a total
of 19 times). He followed that campaign with a 42 home run/45 double season in
1999, becoming the 13th player with 40 doubles and 40 homers in the
same season (a club which now has 25 members who have achieved the feat a total
of 35 times). That year he made his 1st All-Star Game appearance and
won his only Gold Glove Award. On May 23, 2002, Green became the 14th
player to hit 4 home runs in one game, on the way to a single game total base
record of 19. He went on to notch his second All-Star Game appearance that
season and finished 5th in the MVP Award voting, the third time he
received votes.
Steve
Finley
As
discussed in a previous post on Johnny Damon, Finley is a member of what we at
the Highway to Hall refer to as the Vada Pinson All-Stars, comprised of players
with a unique blend of speed and power that enable them to be the answer to
many trivia questions. For example, 7 players in Major League history
accumulated 200+ doubles, 100+ triples, 200+ home runs, and 200+ stolen bases in
their careers. The list is as follows:
Paul
Molitor
|
Willie
Mays
|
George
Brett
|
Robin
Yount
|
Johnny
Damon
|
Vada
Pinson
|
Steve
Finley
|
We
have four Hall of Famers and 3 Vada Pinson All-Stars, including Vada Pinson
himself. The numbers of these three players are very similar:
Player
|
AB
|
R
|
H
|
2B
|
3B
|
HR
|
RBI
|
SB
|
BA
|
OBP
|
SLG
|
OPS+
|
TB
|
Damon
|
9736
|
1668
|
2769
|
522
|
109
|
235
|
1139
|
408
|
.284
|
.352
|
.433
|
104
|
4214
|
Pinson
|
9645
|
1366
|
2757
|
485
|
127
|
256
|
1170
|
305
|
.286
|
.327
|
.442
|
111
|
4264
|
Finley
|
9397
|
1443
|
2548
|
449
|
124
|
304
|
1167
|
320
|
.271
|
.332
|
.442
|
104
|
4157
|
Pinson
spent 15 years on the Hall of Fame ballot, peaking at 15.7%. Damon should
receive around 15% as well. Finley, an underappreciated player throughout his
career, will receive a few votes, but less than the necessary 5% to remain on
the ballot next year.
Reggie
Sanders
A
strong clubhouse presence, Sanders spent 8 of his 17 seasons as a Cincinnati
Red, and then played for 7 more teams, never again staying in the same place
for more than 2 years. Appearing in the postseason 6 times, Sanders represented
5 different teams, winning the World Series with the Arizona Diamondbacks in
2001.
In
2006, Sanders became the fifth member of the 300 home run/300 stolen base club,
beating Steve Finley by 4 days.
Players who will not receive any votes
Jeff
Cirillo
A
2-time all-star, Cirillo was the first player in MLB history to tally 45 or
more doubles in a season in each league. He also shares the Major League record
of 99 consecutive errorless games at third with John Wehner.
Royce
Clayton
A
17-year veteran, Clayton played for 11 Major League teams. He batted .346 for
the St. Louis Cardinals during the 1996 playoffs, collecting a hit in each of
the 7 games in which he appeared over two playoff series.
Jeff
Conine
Drafted
in the 58th Round by the Kansas City Royals in 1987, Conine went on
to become the face of the Florida Marlins, helping them to two World Series
Championships. A 2-time All-Star, Conine was named All-Star Game MVP in 1995.
Roberto
Hernandez
One
of 15 pitchers to have appeared in 1,000 career games, Hernandez ranks 13th
all-time on the career saves list with 326.
Ryan
Klesko
A
16-year veteran, Klesko belted 10 home runs in 62 career postseason games. He
batted .313 in the 1995 World Series against the Cleveland Indians, with homers
in Games 3, 4, and 5. In 2002, he reached base safely in 56 consecutive games,
which, at that time, was the 7th longest streak since 1900. A look
at the complete list:
Player
|
Year
|
Games
|
Ted Williams
|
1949
|
84
|
Joe DiMaggio
|
1941
|
74
|
Ted Williams
|
1941
|
69
|
Bill Joyce
|
1891
|
64
|
Orlando Cabrera
|
2006
|
63
|
George Van Haltren
|
1893
|
60
|
Barry Bonds
|
2003
|
58
|
Duke Snider
|
1954
|
58
|
Wade Boggs
|
1985
|
57
|
Cupid Childs
|
1892
|
57
|
George Kell
|
1950
|
57
|
Jake Stenzel
|
1895
|
57
|
Ed Delahanty
|
1896
|
56
|
Bill Joyce
|
1896
|
56
|
Ryan Klesko
|
2002
|
56
|
Arky Vaughn
|
1936
|
56
|
A
member of the 1,000 games pitched club with Hernandez, Mesa totaled 321 career
saves over the course of a 19-year career. His 4.36 ERA is the highest among
all members of the 300 save club (Todd Jones is second at 3.97). Mesa’s blown
save in the 9th inning of Game 7 of the 1997 World Series helped the
Florida Marlins’ to their first World Series Championship.
Aaron
Sele
A
2-time All-Star, Sele finished 3rd in Rookie of the Year balloting
in 1993 and 5th for the 1999 American League Cy Young Award. A
148-game winner, Sele was 0-6 in 7 career postseason starts.
Mike
Stanton
Major
League Baseball’s all-time holds leader, Stanton pitched in 1178 games, trailing
only Jesse Orosco on the career list.
Todd
Walker
Known
most for helping the LSU Tigers to the 1993 National Championship, Walker
played 12 years in the Major Leagues, batting .289 and collecting 1,316 hits.
He batted .370 with 2 home runs in Boston’s 7-game series loss to the Yankees
in the 2003 American League Championship Series.
Rondell
White
White’s
injury-hampered career saw him bat .284 over 15 seasons with 7 teams. As a
rookie in 1996, White ruptured his spleen while making a diving catch of a
Larry Walker line drive.
Woody
Williams
Williams
started game 1 of the 2004 World Series and gave up 7 earned runs in 2.1
innings, but inexplicably did not take the loss as the Cards tied the game at 9
in the 8th inning, before losing 11-9. He went 3-1 in 30 games for
the 1993 World Champion Toronto Blue Jays.
Eventually, the Baseball Hall of Fame voters will
come to agree with Davis, if not due to pressure from fans, than due to
pressure from the people who run the Hall of Fame museum itself. The Hall of Fame
is a museum documenting the history of baseball. It will be impossible to leave
out an entire era, or pick a select few to represent the era. On next year’s
ballot, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, and Frank Thomas will all be inducted. In
2015, Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez will join the club. In 2016, the Hall
will welcome Ken Griffey, Jr. But the Class of 2013 will feature no modern-era
inductees. Some of the players we have discussed will be inducted over the next
few years, namely Biggio and Bagwell in 2015, but for now, the “Steroid Era”
will remain unrepresented.
[i] In what may have been the
greatest World Series performance by a pair of catchers, Florida’s Charles
Johnson batted .357 with 10 hits.
[ii] For the record, Glavine's career ERA is 3.54 and Randy Johnson's is 3.29.
[iii] Seth Davis, Hoop Thoughts,http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/seth_davis/11/30/Hoop-Thoughts/index.html,
(November
30, 2012).
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