I was reading Joe Posnanski's list The Athletic of the greatest players not in the Hall of Fame. His #22 player was Keith Hernandez. This profile contained a couple of interesting topics:
One topic of course was if Hernandez should be in the Hall of Fame. I did not think that Posnanski exactly pushed for his candidacy so much as to bemoan the fact that Hernandez has never gotten the proper consideration - pointing out that he never received more than 11% of the vote in the 9 years he was on the ballot.
Posnanski said the Hernandez is generally recognized as the greatest defensive first baseman of all-time and is a former MVP. While acknowledging that his lack of home run power hurt his candidacy, he used Hernandez's WAR numbers as proof of his worthiness. He compared his WAR numbers to three first basemen who are in the Hall of Fame - Tony Perez, Orlando Cepeda and Eddie Murry:
Here are those three in career WAR, seven-year peak WAR and JAWS, the Jay Jaffe invention that combines them both.
1. Tony Pérez (54.0 career WAR, 36.5 peak, 45.3 JAWS)
2. Orlando Cepeda (50.1 career WAR, 34.5 peak, 42.3 JAWS)
3. Eddie Murray (68.7 career WAR, 39.1 peak, 53.9 JAWS)
OK, now compare them to Keith Hernandez — 60.1 career WAR, 41.3 peak, 50.8 JAWS.
Posnanski makes a compelling case for those who love WAR as a way of measuring a players greatness. However I saw Hernandez play, and never for one second did I consider him a Hall of Fame caliber player. A very good player certainly, but the Hall of Fame should be reserved for the best of the best - the truly elite. I just think that Hernandez fell a little short of that designation despite his WAR numbers. I have to also admit that I do not put as much emphasis on WAR as do many other baseball fans in evaluating players.
In support of Hernandez, Posnanski also listed his all-time defensive players for each position other than pitcher:
C: Johnny Bench, HOF
1B: Keith Hernandez, not Hall of Fame
2B: Bill Mazeroski, HOF
SS: Ozzie Smith, HOF
3B: Brooks Robinson, HOF
LF: Carl Yastrzemski, HOF (maybe Barry Bonds, not a Hall of Famer though that has nothing to do with his defense).
CF: Willie Mays, HOF
RF: Roberto Clemente, HOF
I have no problem with this list, except for a slight quibble over Ozzie Smith. I thought Mark Belanger, Omar Vizquel and Luis Aparicio were better.
One topic of course was if Hernandez should be in the Hall of Fame. I did not think that Posnanski exactly pushed for his candidacy so much as to bemoan the fact that Hernandez has never gotten the proper consideration - pointing out that he never received more than 11% of the vote in the 9 years he was on the ballot.
Posnanski said the Hernandez is generally recognized as the greatest defensive first baseman of all-time and is a former MVP. While acknowledging that his lack of home run power hurt his candidacy, he used Hernandez's WAR numbers as proof of his worthiness. He compared his WAR numbers to three first basemen who are in the Hall of Fame - Tony Perez, Orlando Cepeda and Eddie Murry:
Here are those three in career WAR, seven-year peak WAR and JAWS, the Jay Jaffe invention that combines them both.
1. Tony Pérez (54.0 career WAR, 36.5 peak, 45.3 JAWS)
2. Orlando Cepeda (50.1 career WAR, 34.5 peak, 42.3 JAWS)
3. Eddie Murray (68.7 career WAR, 39.1 peak, 53.9 JAWS)
OK, now compare them to Keith Hernandez — 60.1 career WAR, 41.3 peak, 50.8 JAWS.
Posnanski makes a compelling case for those who love WAR as a way of measuring a players greatness. However I saw Hernandez play, and never for one second did I consider him a Hall of Fame caliber player. A very good player certainly, but the Hall of Fame should be reserved for the best of the best - the truly elite. I just think that Hernandez fell a little short of that designation despite his WAR numbers. I have to also admit that I do not put as much emphasis on WAR as do many other baseball fans in evaluating players.
In support of Hernandez, Posnanski also listed his all-time defensive players for each position other than pitcher:
C: Johnny Bench, HOF
1B: Keith Hernandez, not Hall of Fame
2B: Bill Mazeroski, HOF
SS: Ozzie Smith, HOF
3B: Brooks Robinson, HOF
LF: Carl Yastrzemski, HOF (maybe Barry Bonds, not a Hall of Famer though that has nothing to do with his defense).
CF: Willie Mays, HOF
RF: Roberto Clemente, HOF
I have no problem with this list, except for a slight quibble over Ozzie Smith. I thought Mark Belanger, Omar Vizquel and Luis Aparicio were better.
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