Sunday, June 19, 2011

Hall of Fame Material?

This week there's been an inordinate amount of Johnny Damon for the Hall of Fame talk. It reminds me of Bill James' book, "Whatever Became of the Hall of Fame?"

Both Player A and Player B had lengthy major league careers. Damon is Player A. Player B didn't have the stolen bases that Damon had, but had over 300 more RBI so far, and 160 more homers, AND won eight gold gloves. Very few writers talk about Player B as a Hall of Fame candidate, yet Bill James talked about him as one of the best outfielders NOT under serious consideration.

What do you think?

Player B is former Sox right fielder Dwight Evans. Not that anybody's giving me a vote, but I like the overall excellence of Evans, a superb defensive player over the more limited but speedy Damon.

1 comment:

Bill Hodgeman said...

YES! I'd swap out Evans for Rice yesterday. Keep blowing the trumpet. Maybe the Veteran's committee will eventually get it right.