Players 30 or under who were destined to be HOFers, but faded away in their early 30s

[uniquebaseballcards]

Vada Pinson

 

[predatorkj]

Okay, not so sure about age and stats, but just going off the top of my head...some of these guys were really on top of their game and have just seemed to decline for any number of reasons. Would/could they have made/make the hall? I'm not sure. But I feel if they could have kept somwhere near what they were doing, they were on the right path.

Josh Beckett. Guy used to be a monster, went to a team with some hellacious bats in Boston, and now can't stay healthy half the time and also doesn't seem to tally up the wins anymore, run support or not. I know wins aren't the end all be all but HOF voters do look at them and he doesn't have the strikeout totals to merit it either.

Roy Oswalt. I'll admit the astros screwed him pretty good by blowing a bunch of possible wins for a couple of years there but I absolutely expected him to flourish and while he has done decent, he's like a shell of his former self. Plus he just seems wishy washy about wanting to play. I really feel the guy would be just fine by dropping off the face of the earth and hunting every day.

Lance Berkman. Dude was great last year, but I think age and injuries are catching up to him. He was a monster in Houston but really trailed off. He's another of those guys I could totally see wanting to just hang up the spikes and enjoy his retirement. He's got 359 homers as of right now but I am honestly wondering if he can make it to 400. If he doesn't, I can't see him going in. Which would be a damn shame.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

Del Ennis

 

[sportscardtheory]

Edgardo Alfonso

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/alfoned01.shtml

Edgar Renteria

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/renteed01.shtml

 

[Austin]

Most of the '80s great players and stats leaders seemed to fade away:

Dale Murphy
Don Mattingly
Dwight Gooden
Darryl Strawberry
Bret Saberhagen
Orel Hershiser
Frank Viola
Joe Carter
Eric Davis
Mike Greenwell
Willie McGee
Vince Coleman
Fernando Valenzuela
Tim Raines (he deserves to get in)
Jack Morris
Jesse Barfield
George Bell

 

[boomo]

how about carlos baergra, from 1990-1995 he was pretty damn good.
that was about it

 

[BoatsN304s]

Not a popular pick but if he would of stayed healthy........
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/dykstle01.shtml

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

Kerry Wood

 

[Frow]

Kerry Wood

I don't know if he fits the criteria as:
1. He had problems well before 30
2. Not much to go on to really say future HoFer


Austin: Half your list is already posted but some players like Joe Carter, Vince Coleman, McGee(50/50) just don't deserve it. I love Joe Carter and he's a big reason I'm still a fan of baseball, but he didn't have a post 30 drop off, he just doesn't have the numbers.

 

[BoatsN304s]

Gregg Jefferies.

 

[rehmus]

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/conigto01.shtml

 

[PujolsCollector]

Roger Maris

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/marisro01.shtml

im a firm believer that Roger Maris should be a Hall Of Famer and since Yankee fans hated him let him go in as a Cardinal even though he only played one year here and it was after he broke his wrist.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

Wood's early career compares very favorably to the players in this thread's sister thread (see this thread's original post). Its interesting to compare Wood to Stras actually, see K/9.

I don't know if he fits the criteria as:
1. He had problems well before 30
2. Not much to go on to really say future HoFer

 

[RL24]

I like Andruw Jones. I like how he's always smiling, unless he's smirking. I watched him play recently and he had a great catch in the outfield, a fantastic catch against the wall, and 2 home runs... all in the first half of a double header. I didn't watch the second game, but did see that he hit another HR. 3 in one day, not too shabby.

 

[ThoseBackPages]

Dwight Gooden

 

[MansGame]

Albert Belle - I won't even go into it... I could just link to the massive thread which was all about him and being (or not being) a HOFer, etc. etc. etc. etc.

 

[elmalo]

Ruben Sierras carreer looked promising and than he fell apart after age 25. Not sure he would have been a Hall of Famer, but.

 

[sportscardtheory]

Ruben Sierras carreer looked promising and than he fell apart after age 25. Not sure he would have been a Hall of Famer, but.

Perfect candidate for this thread. Dude was a beast up to around when he hit his 30s, then tail-spinned.

 

[leatherman]

Danny Tartabull had an OPS+ of 142 through age 30. He only played 322 games after that, but he did have a cameo on Seinfeld.

 

[ronfromfresno]

Will Clark

+1

I still think he has a chance to get in on a Veteran Committees vote though.