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VizquelCollector.com said:Wes said:I can't see the argument for Vizquel...
Wes said:Whether or not he or any other player is "deserving" is not my argument. Players and coaches are much more likely to want to put people into the Hall of Fame because of their proximity.
What I said is that the argument is weak because he was never one of the best players at his position. Even as a huge Vizquel fan, can you tell me what year he was one of the overall top three shortstops in the game? For most of his career he wasn't even top 6 or 7. I can think of a long list of shortstops who were his contemporaries who were superior players. Jeter, Nomar, Tejada, A-Rod, Ripken, Reyes, Hanley, Rollins, Michael Young, Tulo and the list goes on. Vizquel is a significantly below average offensive player over his career, putting up an 82 OPS+. His career WAR - which includes his defense - is just 42.3, despite playing 23 seasons so far. He's a good, even very good player, but not an all time great.
I was just pointing out that more than a few in the game, including some HOF'ers, strongly disagree with you. I'm happy that people are even debating it and personally think he's a 50% shot at best.
On a different note, do people really question whether Thome gets in? And not on the first few ballots? I just assumed it was a given but what do I know...
I can't see how they can let Ozzie in and not Vizquel. I guess Vizquel needs to learn how to do backward flips.