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ASTROBURN
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Eh, i know im partial to wanting him in, but after reading this and looking at the numbers, i wish he gets in. It would be even cooler if they let him and Biggio in at the same time.
The Case For Cooperstown ’14: Jeff Bagwell
December 10, 2013
The 2014 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot has been released, and it is one of the most loaded ballots the game has ever seen.
Greg Kaplan and Vinny Ginardi break down the big names on the ballot this year, and give their opinions on who should be in, who should be out and why.
Jeff Bagwell
Year(s) on ballot - 3 – received 59.6% of vote last year
The Numbers – 15 seasons (all with Houston Astros), 2,150 games, .297/.408/.540, 449HR 1,529RBI, 1,517 runs, 2,314 hits, 488 doubles, 202 stolen bases, 149 OPS+, 149 wRC+, 79.5 bWAR, 80.3 fWAR – 4-time All-Star, 3-time Silver Slugger, 1994 National League Gold Glove winner, 1994 National League MVP, 1991 National League Rookie of the Year, five times finished in Top 10 of MVP voting without winning
GK: There are a lot of players that will be appearing on the ballot for the second time that deserved to get in on their first go-around. This will be Jeff Bagwell’s fourth appearance on the ballot, which is an embarrassment to the Hall of Fame itself, because he should’ve got in on his first ballot as well.
Bagwell was one of the best all-around first baseman the game of baseball has ever seen. Baseball-Reference’s JAWS (Jaffe WAR Score System), a metric that takes a player’s career WAR averaged with their seven-year peak, has Jeff Bagwell as the sixth-best first baseman to play the game. Four of the names before him are legendary (Gehrig, Foxx, Anson, Roger Connor) and one is a guy named Albert Pujols. Bagwell’s 63.8 JAWS ranks higher than Hall of Famers Johnny Mize (59.8), Willie McCovey (54.6), Hank Greenberg (52.6) and George Sisler (50.6), to name a few. It also ranks higher than 2014 first ballot candidate Frank Thomas (59.5), who many considered to be a superior candidate. The Hall of Fame JAWS average of first baseman stands at 54.0.
While Bagwell’s career should do enough to put him in the Hall, let’s take a peak at some single-season marks to really hammer this point home. First off, we can blame the strike in 1994 for cutting short what might have been the most complete offensive season any individual player has ever put together in the history of the game. Bagwell played in 110 games in 1994, compiling the following stat line -
.368/.451/.750 (led the majors in slugging percentage), 39 home runs, 116 RBI (led the majors), 104 runs scored (led NL), 32 doubles, 15 stolen bases (79% success rate), 1:1 K/BB ratio, 300 total bases (led Majors), 213 OPS+ (led Majors)
That’s just absurd. Everything about that. And those 15 stolen bases Bagwell had were no fluke. He didn’t just steal when the opportunity presented itself. Bagwell as an accomplished on-base threat, posting two 40+ home run, 30+ steal seasons in his career and swiping 202 bases in his career at a success rate of 72%. Name any modern-day first baseman, or any first baseman in the history of the game, that was that much of a power/speed threat. It just doesn’t happen. Bagwell also led the league in runs scored three times in his career, scoring 120+ runs in four consecutive years from 1998-2001.
And yet, we’ve found a way to keep him out of the Hall of Fame because he played during the wrong era. Bagwell has never directly been connected to PED use, only having played during the era does the stigma exist that he’s guilty by association. I don’t believe PED use is a good enough reason alone to keep a player out of the Hall of Fame, but in Bagwell’s case, it doesn’t even apply.
If that’s the only reason Bagwell is being kept out of Cooperstown, everyone that chooses not to elect Bagwell should have their vote stripped. And if that’s not the reason keeping out him out, than every voter should have their vote stripped because they don’t understand the purpose of the Hall of Fame in the first place.
VG: At risk of repeating a lot of what Greg has said, I’m not going to spend too much time on Bagwell, because I know his absence from the Hall of Fame has caused my fellow author pain on an emotional, and possibly physical, level. But I do agree here — Bagwell is one of the best players in MLB history and his absence from the Hall is an embarrassment.
When looking at Bagwell’s stats, one thing jumped of the page at me: his consistency. From 1991-2004, his lowest single-season WAR was a 3.4. That’s his entire career, save for his final season in 2005 when injuries and age caused him to play in just 39 games. The 3.4 win season came in 2004, or his last full season. Other than that? His lowest was a 4.0.
Bagwell had all the tools you’d want from a first baseman. He could hit for power (a career ISO of .244, six seasons of 39+ home runs), had excellent patience at the plate (career 14.9 BB%) was above-average in the field and didn’t hurt you on the basepaths. His career wRC+ of 149 ranks him 30th all-time. Why isn’t this guy in the Hall again? He has no links to steroids, he just played in the Steroid Era. Isn’t that even more impressive?
Once again, I ask, why isn’t Bagwell in the Hall of Fame?
http://waiverwireblog.com/2013/12/10/the-case-for-cooperstown-14-jeff-bagwell/
The Case For Cooperstown ’14: Jeff Bagwell
December 10, 2013
The 2014 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot has been released, and it is one of the most loaded ballots the game has ever seen.
Greg Kaplan and Vinny Ginardi break down the big names on the ballot this year, and give their opinions on who should be in, who should be out and why.
Jeff Bagwell
Year(s) on ballot - 3 – received 59.6% of vote last year
The Numbers – 15 seasons (all with Houston Astros), 2,150 games, .297/.408/.540, 449HR 1,529RBI, 1,517 runs, 2,314 hits, 488 doubles, 202 stolen bases, 149 OPS+, 149 wRC+, 79.5 bWAR, 80.3 fWAR – 4-time All-Star, 3-time Silver Slugger, 1994 National League Gold Glove winner, 1994 National League MVP, 1991 National League Rookie of the Year, five times finished in Top 10 of MVP voting without winning
GK: There are a lot of players that will be appearing on the ballot for the second time that deserved to get in on their first go-around. This will be Jeff Bagwell’s fourth appearance on the ballot, which is an embarrassment to the Hall of Fame itself, because he should’ve got in on his first ballot as well.
Bagwell was one of the best all-around first baseman the game of baseball has ever seen. Baseball-Reference’s JAWS (Jaffe WAR Score System), a metric that takes a player’s career WAR averaged with their seven-year peak, has Jeff Bagwell as the sixth-best first baseman to play the game. Four of the names before him are legendary (Gehrig, Foxx, Anson, Roger Connor) and one is a guy named Albert Pujols. Bagwell’s 63.8 JAWS ranks higher than Hall of Famers Johnny Mize (59.8), Willie McCovey (54.6), Hank Greenberg (52.6) and George Sisler (50.6), to name a few. It also ranks higher than 2014 first ballot candidate Frank Thomas (59.5), who many considered to be a superior candidate. The Hall of Fame JAWS average of first baseman stands at 54.0.
While Bagwell’s career should do enough to put him in the Hall, let’s take a peak at some single-season marks to really hammer this point home. First off, we can blame the strike in 1994 for cutting short what might have been the most complete offensive season any individual player has ever put together in the history of the game. Bagwell played in 110 games in 1994, compiling the following stat line -
.368/.451/.750 (led the majors in slugging percentage), 39 home runs, 116 RBI (led the majors), 104 runs scored (led NL), 32 doubles, 15 stolen bases (79% success rate), 1:1 K/BB ratio, 300 total bases (led Majors), 213 OPS+ (led Majors)
That’s just absurd. Everything about that. And those 15 stolen bases Bagwell had were no fluke. He didn’t just steal when the opportunity presented itself. Bagwell as an accomplished on-base threat, posting two 40+ home run, 30+ steal seasons in his career and swiping 202 bases in his career at a success rate of 72%. Name any modern-day first baseman, or any first baseman in the history of the game, that was that much of a power/speed threat. It just doesn’t happen. Bagwell also led the league in runs scored three times in his career, scoring 120+ runs in four consecutive years from 1998-2001.
And yet, we’ve found a way to keep him out of the Hall of Fame because he played during the wrong era. Bagwell has never directly been connected to PED use, only having played during the era does the stigma exist that he’s guilty by association. I don’t believe PED use is a good enough reason alone to keep a player out of the Hall of Fame, but in Bagwell’s case, it doesn’t even apply.
If that’s the only reason Bagwell is being kept out of Cooperstown, everyone that chooses not to elect Bagwell should have their vote stripped. And if that’s not the reason keeping out him out, than every voter should have their vote stripped because they don’t understand the purpose of the Hall of Fame in the first place.
VG: At risk of repeating a lot of what Greg has said, I’m not going to spend too much time on Bagwell, because I know his absence from the Hall of Fame has caused my fellow author pain on an emotional, and possibly physical, level. But I do agree here — Bagwell is one of the best players in MLB history and his absence from the Hall is an embarrassment.
When looking at Bagwell’s stats, one thing jumped of the page at me: his consistency. From 1991-2004, his lowest single-season WAR was a 3.4. That’s his entire career, save for his final season in 2005 when injuries and age caused him to play in just 39 games. The 3.4 win season came in 2004, or his last full season. Other than that? His lowest was a 4.0.
Bagwell had all the tools you’d want from a first baseman. He could hit for power (a career ISO of .244, six seasons of 39+ home runs), had excellent patience at the plate (career 14.9 BB%) was above-average in the field and didn’t hurt you on the basepaths. His career wRC+ of 149 ranks him 30th all-time. Why isn’t this guy in the Hall again? He has no links to steroids, he just played in the Steroid Era. Isn’t that even more impressive?
Once again, I ask, why isn’t Bagwell in the Hall of Fame?
http://waiverwireblog.com/2013/12/10/the-case-for-cooperstown-14-jeff-bagwell/
