Baseball

Keith Hernandez is an interesting Hall of Fame case. Since he’s kept a fairly high profile since retiring, it’s prizes some people that he’s not in the Hall of Fame. I think he has a case, but there are also clear reasons why he wasn’t a slam dunk. I think he has a fair bit in common with two of his contemporaries, Don Mattingly and Dave Parker.

Keith Hernandez has a case for the Hall of Fame, but his Hall of Fame case comes down to being in the right place but not the right time, and probably not long enough.

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Sometimes you hear the phrase adjusted OPS. Adjusted OPS is sometimes also called OPS+, which may or may not help clarify things. So what does adjusted OPS mean? And what is a good adjusted OPS?

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Let’s talk about my dad’s favorite Hall of Fame case: Roger Maris. Maris broke babe Ruth’s single season home run record, but then you never hear much else about him. How can someone break a record that stood for 34 years and not be in the Hall of Fame? Let’s take a look at why Roger Maris fell short of the Hall of Fame.

Dad had no reason to like Roger Maris. He played for the team he rooted for as a kid that left Philadelphia and went west. And then right when he got good, The New York Yankees traded for him. And then of course, he had his best years with the Yankees.

But Dad admired a guy who played hurt. Maris played hurt a lot. And I think it bugged him that the Yankees didn’t really appreciate him outside of his magical 1961 season.Read More »Why Roger Maris isn’t in the Hall of Fame

Dave Parker, the slugging outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates among others, is an interesting Hall of Fame case. During his years of eligibility through conventional means, support for his candidacy was a bit tepid. He is a very good example of a borderline player, someone who fell just short of being a slam dunk case. So here’s why Dave Parker isn’t in the Hall of Fame, and who says he should be in, and why.

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When you think of dominance pitchers of the 1980s, Dave Stieb is right up there with Jack Morris. Arguably, the better of the two is not in the Hall of Fame. Why isn’t Dave Stieb in the Hall of Fame?

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Dale Murphy was one of the biggest stars of the early to mid-1980s. He was always among league leaders in home runs and was always playing centerfield in the all-star game. So why isn’t Dale Murphy in the Hall of Fame?

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Don Mattingly had only been a full-time player for five years when people started calling him a future Hall of Famer. He hit like Rod Carew and fielded like Keith Hernandez, except he hit with power. Opposite-field power at that, so he wasn’t just taking advantage of Yankee Stadium’s short porch in right field. So why isn’t Don Mattingly in the Hall of Fame?

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WHIP is my all-time favorite baseball statistic. I’ll get into why in a bit. What WHIP measures is how many base runners a pitcher allows in an average inning. It’s a pretty easy way to calculate a pitcher’s effectiveness.

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If you want to sound like you know baseball, one of the fun facts you can drop is that Nolan Ryan never won a Cy Young award. He was so good for so long, that sounds astounding. But if you look it up, it’s true. Here’s why Nolan Ryan never won a Cy Young award.

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Why isn’t Dwight Gooden in the Hall of Fame? That’s a fair question. I saw him pitch when he was at his best. And when he was at his best, he was at least as good as anyone else I’ve ever seen in my lifetime. Furthermore, one of his comparables is Roy Halladay, who is in the Hall of Fame. What’s the difference?

Read More »Why Dwight Gooden isn’t in the Hall of Fame