Posted on 01/25/2023 5:23:42 AM PST by oldskoolwargamer2
Scott Rolen, longtime favorite of sabermetricians, voted in by a close margin. I was skeptical of his candidacy at first, never thought he was really one of the great players of his era. But closer examination of his stats has convinced me he was deserving. Third base is a bit underrepresented in the Hall of Fame, I think.
No, he should not be in. He was a solid player but should not have been voted in.
Once Harold Baines and Tim Raines were inducted into the Hall of Fame, the HOF was basically admitting that it’s standards are pretty low anyway.
I guess I am old…I don’t recognize this guy at all.
Harold Bains especially.
Pretty good examination of his candidacy here:
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/jaws-and-the-2023-hall-of-fame-ballot-scott-rolen/
I would feel a lot better about his candidacy if he had put together some more solid counting stats. He missed a lot of time with injuries and he fell off rapidly late in his career. A lot of his value was from defense and that’s hard to evaluate with numbers. But I did seem him play a lot (Phillies fan) and he was a great third baseman.
Certainly could argue either way with him.
Well, one of the guys with the decent glove and batting stats, Pete Rose, isn’t allowed in. A lot of guys just aren’t quite good enough (Ron Cey, Graig Nettles’ bat). Some 3rd basemen wind up switching over to other positions. Cal Ripken Jr is in as a SS, but he played five years at 3rd base.
Finished MVP in 4th place once. Was not a dominant player in his era. Batted .281, 381 HR, 2077 hits over 17 yrs. Lifetime .968 Fielding pct.
Agree with you on Baines, he was a good player for a long time but probably not good enough for the HOF.
Raines kind of borderline as well, but he was a very dynamic offensive player for a long time. Did not have the big career counting stats for HR/RBI/BA but was just a little short of a lifetime 300 average and was considered the second best leadoff hitter of his era behind only the great Rickey Henderson.
Finished MVP in 4th place once. Was not a dominant player in his era. Batted .281, 381 HR, 2077 hits over 17 yrs. Lifetime .968 Fielding pct.
Yeah, that’s kind of the issue with Rolen as a candidate. As you note not considered dominant in his era and came up just a little short on some of the counting stats (400 HR, maybe 2500 hits). I think basically his defense and the relative weakness of 3B in the HoF is what got him in.
Sabermetrician: My new term of the week! Not someone who measures long swords for a living.
Seems that way.
The fact that Rolen is in and Don Mattingly isn’t is a crime.
My first reaction was ‘Who?’. Rolen was a very good player but not great and I don’t believe deserving of HoF election.
His career numbers are remarkable for what they DON'T say about his greatness as a ballplayer.
He was a dominant player for a few years early in his career, but that was it. It's amazing how long he hung around as a journeyman after his best days were over. He actually played 12 years in Major League Baseball after his last All-Star Game appearance.
If he hadn't been on two World Series with the Yankees in the late 1990s I would have forgotten the guy was even still active after 1990.
I'm usually not one to focus too much on major milestones in baseball when it comes to HOF eligibility, but when someone plays the outfield, has a 21+ year career, and is supposed to be worthy of the HOF on the merits of his offensive production, it's a glaring omission that he doesn't have 3,000 hits to his credit.
For some sports I will give a lot of leeway to players whose careers are cut short by injuries, but not baseball.
He not a HOF imho. I dont understand how he gets 10% of the vote in his first ballot and over 6 years he eventually pulls 76% or whatever to get in now? What was there to debate about for that time. He was average hitter and a great fielder... there are tons of those guys. This whole process is kinda of a joke at this point.
Raines is 5th All Time in Stolen Bases. That counts for a lot in my book. And he was a pretty good hitter.
Wins Above Replacement is all the rage. Rolen is supposedly the 9th best 3rd baseman of all time at adding more wins to his team than the average player.
https://www.cooperstowncred.com/scott-rolens-hall-of-fame-case-a-matter-of-war/
https://www.mlb.com/glossary/advanced-stats/wins-above-replacement
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