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

[uniquebaseballcards]

Gil Hodges

 

[MaineMule]

Some great calls here........

How about Fred Lynn?? I honestly believe had he stayed with the Sox he was "in." His smooth left handed swing was perfect for hitting doubles off the wall. Stupid trade by the Sox.

Sad to bring this up but Thurman Munson was likely going to make it (and still might some day) but not for his tragic passing.

 

[DaClyde]

Garrett Atkins was headed for a hell of a career before forgetting how to hit. Glenn Davis? What happened there?

 

[thefatguy]

Sheffield
McGriff, even though I think he should be in.

 

[noaskiecards]

Hanley Ramirez?

Between 2006 - 2010 (5 seasons at ages 22-26):

Batting .292 or higher (.300+ 4 of 5 seasons)
OBP .353 or higher (.400+ 2 of 5 seasons)
OPS of .833 of higher (.940+ 3 of 5 seasons)
1 batting title
ROY Award
Averaged 25 HR, 40 doubles, 39 SB, 112 runs per year for 5 years to age 26

I'd say those are better stats than Jeter had by age 26 (playoffs and pinstripes aside)...just pure stats..

If Hanley kept it up, he'd go down easily a HOF'er IMO

Of course last year and this year have been unfortunate...at least he's kept his OPS over .700+

 

[leatherman]

I'll go a little further back and offer up Wes Ferrell.

175-115 with a 123 ERA+ through age 29, including 215 complete games. WAR of 47.2 during that period from his pitching, which is the 13th highest total all time for players under 30.

However, Ferrell was also a great hitting pitcher. He accumulated another 11.2 Wins Above Replacement from his hitting alone. He had seasons with 9, 7, and 7 HRs, and was good enough that he was used as a pinch hitter in 36 games in 1937, and 34 games in 1935.

When you factor in his WAR from his hitting, the only pitchers in MLB history with a higher WAR value through age 29 are Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Roger Clemens, and Tom Seaver. Not bad company to keep.


More recently, Bret Saberhagen was on his way to the HOF through age 25 (not 30). He was 92-61 with a 3.23 ERA and 128 ERA+, 2 Cy Young Awards (during seasons in which he went 20-6 and 23-6), and a World Series MVP.

 

[mlbsalltimegreats]

Eric "The Red" Davis - man I thought he was on his way for sure, A true 5 tool player. Had he not been so injury prone who knows.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

Vida Blue.

 

[jbhofmann]

Will Clark

 

[jbhofmann]

This one will make it to the other side, but what could have been....just check the 30 split :-(
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/griffke02.shtml

 

[Frow]

Was going to make a case for him even though I was thinking it was a huge stretch, but honestly looking at this stats I think he fits in perfectly in this group

Kenny Lofton
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/loftoke01.shtml#batting_standard::none

Led the league in Stolen Bases for his first 5 years and still managed to get 15th all-time. The tail end of his career he was passed around like......well use your imagination. It really looks like if he kept up his production you could be looking at a 3,000 hit/1,000 SB, but once 30 hit he basically lost his legs.

 

[Frow]

This one will make it to the other side, but what could have been....just check the 30 split :-(
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/griffke02.shtml

Was about to post Ken Griffey Jr. since I didn't see his name. Only played in ~75% of possible games played but still managed 2781 Hits, 630 HR's, 1836 RBI's, 1662 Runs. A couple of healthy seasons sprinkled into the twilight years and you're looking at someone setting some major milestones and possible a couple of All-Time records.

 

[AndruwHRJones]

On my phone so can't link but Andruw Jones. 30 was his last productive year and 5+ aweful years. Should be well over 500hr and 2000 hits by now so at least we would have the debate.

Sent from my LG-P925 using Sports Cards by Freedom Card Board.com

Andruw Jones definately belongs in this conversation, but I would disagree he has had 5 awful years since the age of 30. Yes his numbers are no where near what they were earlier in his career, but he has signed on the last 2-3 years as a bench player and has provided them with exactly what they expected and wanted. Hard to say a year is awful when you are providing teams with exactly what they wanted.

 

[leatherman]

Vida Blue.

Good call.

Although I think that teams protect their young pitchers too much with innings limits nowadays, I can certainly say that 312 IP for a 21 year old was too much (since 2000, the most anyone has thrown in a season is Roy Halladay's 266 in 2003).

 

[Frow]

Andruw Jones definately belongs in this conversation, but I would disagree he has had 5 awful years since the age of 30. Yes his numbers are no where near what they were earlier in his career, but he has signed on the last 2-3 years as a bench player and has provided them with exactly what they expected and wanted. Hard to say a year is awful when you are providing teams with exactly what they wanted.

Two counter points to that.

1. Not a lot of HoF players sign on to be bench players so it kind of shows how far he's fallen when he's doing nothing more than being average (average meaning he's not excelling just filling a role)
2. He's still being paid by his former team that had signed him based on the belief he would return to form after his injury

 

[nosterbor]

Eric Davis
Dale Murphy
Juan Gonzalez

 

[TraderJake]

Jose Canseco, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Albert Belle.

 

[AndruwHRJones]

Two counter points to that.

1. Not a lot of HoF players sign on to be bench players so it kind of shows how far he's fallen when he's doing nothing more than being average (average meaning he's not excelling just filling a role)
2. He's still being paid by his former team that had signed him based on the belief he would return to form after his injury

I guess you missed my point, I wasn't arguing that he hasn't declined in skills and stats since the age of 30. As I said, he belongs in this thread. I was just simply saying that if he is signing to be a bench player and giving the teams what they want from him, it surely can't be considered an awful year for him?

As for HOF's not becoming bench players, I agree. I am sure if many people voted today, he would not get in.

 

[pootshwan]

Questionable.......but he popped into my head.

Carlos Baerga

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/baergca01.shtml

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

Ted Simmons