Actually, I did check out the stats prior to posting (Baseballefence.com is the best baseball reference website, no?), and the point of my comparing the two is that Nettles, who played longer, had similar career stats. I'll grant you that Santo was the better 3rd baseman. But are his stats truly HOF material? When comparing him to Schmidt, Mathews, Traynor, Robinson, and Brett, I say no. I have no idea why George Kell is in, although I'll assume it was because of injuries (like Oliva); same thing with Baker and Lindstrom. I mean, Santo's 162 game averages were only 26 2b, 25 hr and 96 rbi for a power hitter.
I really don't know - is the push for Santo primarily for his tremendous fielding? His fielding ptc. is lower than that of the 5 primary HOF 3rd baseman except Traynor, who by all accounts made spectacular plays using lesser equipment on poorer fields (and was a superior hitter).
