Defensive Indifference

Before I get started on this rant, let me add a little disclaimer: this morning I got my wisdom teeth out, and I am currently on about 5 medications, including percoset. So if I write things that seem a little loopy, it’s probably because I am a little loopy. Now, on to the news.

The HOF voting results were announced a few hours ago, and it turns out that only Loosey Goosey Gossage was inducted, garnering 85.8% of the vote. I can’t say I’m particularly surprised at these results, but it doesn’t stop me from being royally pissed off at how retarded the majority of BBWAA members are. I have about 177 gripes with this year’s voting results, but I’ll only treat you to the top five so you don’t get bored.

1. Goose Gossage isn’t that friggin’ great. As the previous post on this blog shows, Gossage isn’t exactly the sharpest (or most courteous) tool in the shed. Personality aside, however, he also isn’t exactly a slam dunk hall of famer. Yes, he was a very good relief pitcher in a long career (126 ERA+ in 22 seasons and 1809 IP), but he still is a relief pitcher. Personally, I feel like relief pitchers are like DHs—they should have to be great (not just good) statistically in order to make the HOF. After all, they make far less impact than starters (who pitch far more innings) and position players (who play the field in addition to hitting). However, given Gossage’s impressive innings totals—numbers that will never be approached by modern day relievers, I feel like he has an acceptable case for induction. It’s not so much that Gossage doesn’t deserve election, the problem is that there are about 5 guys on the ballot that deserved it more.

2. Tim Raines is better than Jim Rice, Andre Dawson, Lee Smith, Jack Morris, and Tommy John—all of whom received more votes than Raines. Perhaps the saddest thing about this year’s results is the low vote total accrued by Raines—only 24.3% percent. The thing is, Raines was one of the best leadoff hitters in the history of game. Not only did he steal 808 bases at a ridiculous 84% clip, he also had a career .385 OBP and 123 OPS+. For those who care about those types of things, he also was in 7 All-Star games. Any way you slice it, Raines was one of the best players of his generation, and should have been a first ballot Hall of Famer. Without getting too deeply into it, here is why Raines is better then the above-mentioned players who recieved more votes:

• Rice: a 128 OPS+ (similar to Raines’ 123) in a significantly shorter career with none of the huge baserunning value Raines added. Rice’s career OBP of .352 is less than stellar for a power hitter with a near .300 BA, and it pales in comparison to Raines’ .385.
• Dawson: essentially the same career length as Raines, with a 119 OPS+— as a power hitter, keep in mind. How is this possible, you ask? Because Dawson couldn’t take a walk to save his life, sporting a career .323 OBP. Ew.
• Smith: solid 131 ERA+ and impressive 478 saves. But saves are an abritrary, retarded, meaningless statistic, and he only pitched 1289 innings—approximately how much a modern starting pitcher compiles in 7 seasons.
• Morris: this deserves its own post. Suffice it to say that Morris has no business in the Hall of Fame.
• John: ridiculously long career and has a surgical procedure named after him. However, his career ERA+ of 110 is less than impressive, he couldn’t strike out a batter to save his life, and he only had 2 full, dominant seasons (30+ starts, 130+ ERA+) in his entire 26 year career.

3. Jack Morris is about as much of a Hall of Famer as Jose Oquendo. Granted, that is a bit of a stretch, but consider it hyperbole used for comedic effect. Jack Morris’s entire reputation is based on arbitrary and stupid facts and statistics that shouldn’t be used to justify a player’s election to the hall of fame. Yet despite this, he recieved 42.9% of the vote. The common justifications given for Morris’s hall-worthiness are his SICK win totals and his storied clutcherifficness in postseason games.

As any baseball fan with half a brain knows, wins are a dumb way to evaluate a pitcher’s performance. Yes, Morris ‘won’ a pretty impressive 254 games in his career, with 3 20-win seasons, but this doesn’t outweigh his oh-so-slighlty above average career ERA+ of 105. In 1992, Morris won 21 games with a 4.04 ERA. Does that make him a Hall-worthy pitcher since he racked up 20 wins? No, it sure as fuck does not. As far as Morris’s post-season success goes, his career post-season ERA is 3.80, which is barely above his career ERA of 3.90. Yes, he had a few amazing WS performances and won three rings, but these are not convincing criteria for election.

I could probably list 10 retired pitchers who I would put in before Morris. Just to name a few: David Cone, Vida Blue, Bret Saberhagen, Orel Hershiser…

4. For God’s sake, throw Bert Blyleven a bone!!! Blyleven is not only deserving of the Hall of Fame, he is probably more deserving than at least a quarter of the pitchers already in. He had very impressive longevity, an impressive peak, and finished with and ERA+ of 118 in almost 5000 IP. Blyleven’s 3701 Ks are 5th all time, and his amazing 60 career shutouts are 9th all-time, which is 11 more then the next closest pitcher who isn’t in the Hall. A lot has been written about Blyleven, so I’ll just leave it at this. Hopefully the 61.9% he received this year will continue to grow.

5. Miscellaneous observations.

• Alan Trammell deserves more support than the 18.2% he got this time around. He was a very good all-around player and one of the best shortstops of his generation. Trammell is a HOFer in my book, but I don’t get as riled up about him because Raines and Blyleven are clearly better.
• Davey Concepciony received 16.2%, almost as much as Trammell. This is depressing on so many levels. Concepcion’s career OPS+ of 88 in 2488 games is pretty heinous, as compared to Trammell’s 110 in 2293 games, very respectable for a shortstop. And while I understand that Concepcion was a good defensive shortstop (124 FRAA according to BP), Trammell was no slouch himself with 113. I’ll chalk this one up to Joe Morgan’s brainwashing tactics.
• Chuck Knoblauch got one Hall of Fame vote. Sweet.
• Shawon Dunston also got one Hall of Fame vote. Double Sweet.