[Charles Henrickson]

Ozzie Smith was voted in on his first ballot. Meanwhile, Concepcion and Trammell likely will never make it. But really, I don't think there was a night-and-day difference among them, not THAT much. True, Smith was tops in defensive range, and his high number of stolen bases are a big plus. But he had no power whatsoever and did not hit for a high average. Don't get me wrong, I would still put Smith in my top 10 all-time at short, but not way up at the top.

I would judge the overhyped Smith to be roughly equal to the underrated HOFer Luis Aparicio:

Luis Aparicio (1956-73): 2599 G, 1335 R, 83 HR, 791 RBI, .262 AVG, .653 OPS, 506 SB/79 SB%

Ozzie Smith (1978-96): 2573 G, 1257 R, 28 HR, 793 RBI, .262 AVG, .666 OPS, 580 SB/80 SB%

Everybody knows Ozzie, but nobody remembers Little Looie. Yet their numbers were VIRTUALLY IDENTICAL and they were EXACTLY THE SAME TYPE OF PLAYER--very fast, excellent defensive shortstops, great basestealers. I guess Looie should have done a few backflips when he came out on the field.

An interesting case will be when Omar Vizquel becomes eligible. Same type of player, very comparable to Aparicio and Smith.

[TheBigB]

Alan Trammell would be on the cusp, but a .285 average, 185 homers, one ring, four Gold Gloves, one World Series MVP...not quite enough.