Hall of Fame Pyramid - Honorable Mention Left Fielders
May 1, 2019 7:25:37 GMT -5
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Post by sansterre - Milwaukee Brewers on May 1, 2019 7:25:37 GMT -5
I’m just going to remind people about the challenges of comparing players from different eras. Remember that anyone before 1961 is only competing against 8 teams’ worth of players; as early as 1969 teams were competing against 12 teams’ worth of players, and now in the PBL, 16 teams of players. The implications? Modern players are half as likely to win awards (twice as much competition) and half as likely to be in top tens (for the same reason). Fred Clarke was in the top ten of slugging eight times over his career (deadball era); Billy Williams did the same. But Williams was a much better power hitter because he was competing against many more players. It was much easier to rack up lots of top tens (and win hardware) before 1960. So bear that in mind.
Kicking off the Honorable Mention Left Fielders, Fred Clarke! Clarke is a very interesting deadball-era player, in that he was not only a strong hitter but was manager of his team by age 24, in 1897. As good as Clarke was as a player, he may have been better as a manager, though by virtue of the organization of this building we’ll be discussing those separately. As a player Clarke started for Louisville in 1894 at age 21 and was moved to Pittsburgh in 1900 (the same man owned both teams (which was allowed at that time - don’t ask) and when the NL contracted down to 8 teams and eliminated Louisville, all the best Louisville players became Pittsburgh Pirates). Clarke was a very good all-around hitter, with an OPS+ of 133 over 9851 plate appearances. His top tens include batting average (7), OBP (8), SLG (8), doubles (3), triples (11), walks (4), steals (5), and WAR (8). He was an excellent fielder (+91 runs over his career). Honestly, in light of his high number of PA, his high OPS+ and high fielding, you might imagine that he’d be Bronze.
Despite these very reasonable assumptions his WARs aren’t terribly high. He has an astounding fourteen 3+ WAR seasons, five 5+ WAR seasons but only one season above 6. The cause is relatively simple; as a combination of shorter schedules, injuries and focusing on his managerial duties Clarke simply did not play as many games per season as you might expect. He only played in 150+ games twice, only played in 140+ games six times, only played in 130+ nine times. This kept his WAR from hitting totals as high as you might think. Either way, Clarke was one of the best of his time (making our all-decade team for 1901-1909) even if he didn’t get much attention in his time as a player. Playing on the same team as Honus Wagner will do that.
A curious career with a curious name, Sherry Magee! Sherwood Magee was one of the best hitters for the NL over his career, comparable to Clarke. Magee broke in for the Phillies in 1904 at age 19 and played until age 34. Magee was an above average fielder and runner (+25 and +22 runs respectively) and an excellent hitter, going 291/364/427 (remember, deadball era) for an OPS+ of 137 over 8545 plate appearances. Unfortunately he demonstrates a principle that is especially common to left fielders: to make Bronze at Left Field it isn’t just enough to hit well with decent fielding over 8k PA; you either need to 1) do it longer, 2) hit better or 3) add a ton of runs through defense and/or running. Left field is one of the easiest fielding positions to find players for, so the burden of performance is really high. Magee was a really good hitter with the following top tens: batting average (6), OBP (5), SLG (11), total bases (9), doubles (10), triples (9), RBIs (9, led league 4), runs created (9, led league 2) and WAR (6, led league 1). Had the MVP award been around he should have won it in 1910, for a 331/445/507 year (175 OPS+) where he led the league in AVG, OBP, SLG, runs, RBI and total bases. Magee grades out with ten 3+ WAR seasons, seven 4+, and four 5+ with two top seasons at 6.9 and 6.8 WAR. Magee was never truly dominant, but he was really good over his career.
A manly man with a manly nickname, Joe “Ducky” Medwick! Medwick (who incidentally hated the nickname “Ducky” and preferred the less humble cognomen “Muscles”) came up with St. Louis during the Cardinals’ ascendance under Branch Rickey. Medwick got a starting role at age 21 in the 1933 season, quickly establishing himself as a quality player. Medwick’s career line of 324/362/505 isn’t as impressive as it looks (remember, the 1930s were a high-run environment) but it still qualifies for a 134 OPS+ over 8143 plate appearances. Medwick peaked in his early 20s with his age 23, 24 and 25 seasons being worth 6.1, 7.1 and 8.5 WAR. This last, his 1937 season, was an achievement of incredible batting. He hit 374/414/641 (OPS+ of 182), leading the league in: runs, hits, doubles, home runs, RBI, batting average, slugging, total bases and WAR. He won the Triple Crown, which was to be the last Triple Crown ever won in the National League. The terrifying thing is that he barely walked, taking a base on balls only 41 times that season. His 1937 line converted to the modern game would be like a 347/402/703 season; fantastic, yet excruciating that a 347 hitter could only barely break a 400 OBP. Anyhow, Medwick was rightly regarded as one of the very best hitters in the game after that season.
And yet, that age 25 season was as good as he would ever be. It wasn’t that his strikeout rate rose; in fact, his strikeout rate dropped over his career. It’s just that his power trailed off and then vanished. Starting at 24, from 1934 to 1938 he had five straight years with ISOs above 200 (obviously culminating in his 267 in 1937). In those five years he averaged 50 doubles, 12 triples and 21 home runs. The next five he averaged 31, 6 and 10. His BABIP dropped a little bit, but his reduced strikeout rate meant that his average stayed up and from age 28 to his retirement at 36 he kept his batting average above 300. The sad bit was, once his power dried up his value became limited; Medwick was a good fielder but when you don’t walk and can’t hit for power at corner outfield it takes a herculean effort just to crack 4 WAR. The totality of Medwick’s career is short of Bronze, but his peak, and especially that 1937 year, was historically excellent.
With a ten-year career (1946-1955) where he led the NL in home runs seven times in a row, Ralph Kiner! A young Kiner came up for the Pirates in 1946 at age 23, leading the league in strikeouts but also showing pop by leading the league in home runs (with 23; slow year). That offseason the team acquired 36 year-old Hank Greenberg (whom you’ll meet several floors up and who had just won the home run title in ‘46). Greenberg took Kiner under his wing, taught him to work harder and pull the ball more. Kiner proceeded to go on a tear, hitting 51, 40, 54, 47, 42 and 37 home runs in his age 24 through 29 seasons, leading the NL each year. Kiner was a complete flyball hitter (as his crazy-low career BABIP of 264 attests to) but he managed to bring his strikeouts low enough that he batted 279 for his career.
Kiner had a dangerously good batting eye, walking more than he struck out every year but two, finishing his career with 1011 walks and only 749 strikeouts. In fact, Kiner led the league in walks three times and finished in the top ten an additional six times. His rankings in Runs Created in the NL: one 1st, three 2nd, one 3rd and one 4th. What I’m trying to say is this: Kiner was one of the top four hitters in the National League for six years, and its best power hitter. So why only an Honorable Mention? I’m sure you can make some guesses. His career line was 279/398/548 for an OPS+ of 149 but only over 6256 plate appearances. By 30 he had begun having back problems that would ultimately end his career by age 32. Added onto that, he played corner outfield and not well (-40 runs over his career). Two different stats reveal how extreme Kiner’s career was: three 8+ WAR seasons and only six 3+ WAR seasons. It is very unusual for a player with such a peak not to make Bronze or above; it’s very unusual for a player with so few 3+ WAR seasons to even make Honorable Mention. Ralph Kiner: when he was great he was one of the very best (or the best). One of the many careers that would have been Bronze, if only fate had not intervened.
A model of consistency, Billy Williams! Williams was creepily reliable and very good for a very long time (1959-1976). Consider the following: from ages 25 to 32 he played 160+ games every season, he had ten seasons worth 3.5 WAR or more and his best hitting season was at age 34. How curious. Even his career arc is symmetrical: up to age 27 he hit 297/361/504 (134 OPS+), after age 27 (ages 28-38) he hit 287/362/486 (132 OPS+). He’s another classic guy who did everything well and little badly; he was a below average fielder but made up for it by rarely grounding into double plays and running the bases superbly (this is purely baserunning; he was a mediocre base stealer). He was the model of consistency, from age 22-36 he never hit below 276 and never above 333. His approach at the plate evolved as he aged; his good contact slowly dropped (BABIP) but he compensated by striking out less and walking more, and his power stayed consistently respectable over his career (426 career homers). Here are his career top tens: batting average (4), OBP (4), slugging (8, led league once), walks (5, all at the end of his career), extra-base hits (9, led league thrice), runs created (ten, led league twice) and WAR (4).
At this point you’ve seen a lot of players; you may assume that a player with these bona fides and this level of reliability must not have had many top seasons, otherwise he’d be Bronze. If you were thinking that you are correct; he had four 6+ WAR seasons and only one 7+. Most of his career was cranking out 4.5 WAR seasons, generating quality hitting from the corner outfield. And his reputation sort of matched his performance; for a decade this guy was one of the better hitters in the league for the Cubs and yet nobody seemed too interested in him. It didn’t help that he was overshadowed by Ernie Banks early in his career and Ron Santo later (who has his own complaint for being overlooked), or that the Cubs were generally poor during his career. Williams was consistently excellent and is right on the verge of Bronze. That said, his Rookie of the Year and only six All-Star games aren’t enough on the hardware side to push him over. But Williams was really, really good; the only reason he isn’t Bronze is that we care more about dominant years than anything, and in that regard Williams isn’t quite as good as the totality of his career. I’ll leave you with a great quote about him: "It's kind of funny," said teammate Bob Locker, a veteran pitcher. "Here's a guy who does it the way it's supposed to be done, day in and day out, according to the book. And people don't notice him because he's not flashy—only good. It makes you wonder."
He had a nickname because his real name was a mouthful, Minnie Miñoso! Saturnino Orestes Armas Miñoso (he went by Orestes until he came stateside) was a very interesting player. He grew up in Cuba, playing every position, primarily catcher. That is, until one game where a batter’s follow-through struck Miñoso in the head and his mother, watching from the stands, told him to find a new position. In 1946 he was came to the USA to play for the Negro League (given that, in 1946, that was the only professional league in the country that someone of his dark skin could play in). His discovery by the MLB is a different funny story; scouts from the Indians were checking out a pitching prospect, but when they spoke with him all the prospect wanted to do was talk about how good his roomate Minnie Miñoso was. Miñoso had already received a tryout with the Cardinals who opted against signing him so the Indians, after watching them play, signed both players in 1948, a year after Robinson and Doby had broken the color barrier.
Miñoso created a strange problem for Cleveland. The Indians were really, really good in the late 40s and early 50s (1948 they won the World Series, and they would win 92 games or more (adjusted for length of schedule) every year until 1956). They already had an established infield (Ken Keltner, Lou Boudreau and Joe Gordon all broke 6 WAR in ‘48) and a solid outfield (Larry Doby you’ve already met, but Dale Mitchell was respectably average and Bob Kennedy was considered a lock for the last corner spot). So the Indians were in the tough spot of having no open slots, and no desire to break in a rookie with a veteran team that was competing for the pennant every year. They kept him in the minors for two years (where he murdered every ball in sight) but found no openings for him on the major league roster. So, in not the finest moment of an otherwise excellent front office, Miñoso was traded to the White Sox. Miñoso would put up 3.7 WAR or more for the next nine years; Bob Kennedy (the guy they started in Miñoso’s place)'s peak year was 1950 when he put up 1.8 WAR. No, I’m not bitter.
Miñoso became an excellent player, hitting 298/389/459 on his career (OPS+ of 130) over 7712 plate appearances (ages 25-38). He lacked home run power (186 for his career, never more than 24) but had good gap power, averaging 29 doubles and 7 triples a year. He had an excellent eye and good bat control, walking more than he struck out, hitting for excellent average while getting on-base at a great clip. He was a quality fielder (+30 runs) and a good runner despite his stealing (+14 runs). He was notable for more esoteric things; he had a gift for crowding the plate and turning away at the last moment, getting hit by the pitch without getting hurt. He led the league in HBP ten different times; pitchers hated it but he added a hundred runs of value by getting hit 192 times over his career. He was also noted for his aggression on the bases, but not in a good way. While he led the league in stealing three times, he led the league in caught stealing six times, with a low career success rate of only 61%. Miñoso had eight years at 4+ WAR, only three seasons in the 2-3 range, only two seasons above 6 WAR and one monster year, 1954 when he hit 320/411/535 (OPS+ 154) with Gold Glove defense, worth 8.2 WAR; he should have won the MVP award that year. He finished ahead of Ted Williams (7.8 WAR), Bobby Avila (7.0) and Mickey Mantle (6.9). Who won? Yogi Berra with 5.3 WAR. What the ever-loving crap? The Yankees failed to win the pennant so you couldn’t blame it on that, and even if you could, Mantle had the better year. No, I’m not bitter.
Miñoso falls short of Bronze for several reasons. His lack of power puts a limit on his value and his fielding, while excellent at his best (he rightly won three Gold Gloves) wasn’t overwhelmingly good over his whole career. And ultimately, him not being able to play in the majors until age 25 hurt a lot, especially since he hit the ground running as a rookie. Given the era you could write it off to racism, except that the Indians were the team that broke the color barrier for the AL, and were starting two different African-Americans. If he were playing 50 years later he’d have been scooped up by an international scout at 16 and have been groomed for years. Instead the fairly circuitous route that Cuban players took in the 40s and 50s to reach the majors meant that he wasn’t even found by an MLB team until he was 23.
Miñoso is right in the middle of Honorable Mention. If you think Miñoso is a Hall of Famer I can’t fault you for it; under the circumstances we thought it was too speculative.
Speaking of good players few people have ever heard of, Roy White! For having played on the Yankees his entire career (1965-1979), his career is relatively unheralded (two All-Star appearances is the sum total of his awards). In some ways White is reminiscent of Willie Randolph, another Honorable Mention Yankee, whose bat was underwhelming but walked a lot and did all the little things right. White’s career line is 271/360/404 (OPS+ of 121 over 7135 PA), which is hurt by the low-run era he played in, but is still not dominant by any stretch. That a guy with a career ISO below 150 spent half of his career batting 3rd or 4th for the Yankees should suggest just how strapped those teams were for players.
White was an above average fielder (+35 runs over his career) and an above average baserunner (+41 runs), which contributed to his value. His best years never look impressive on the surface; at ages 26 and 27 he broke 6 WAR while hitting 294/387/471 (OPS+ 145), thanks to an extra 15 runs each year from his fielding and running. His top tens are interesting: hits (3), total bases (4), triples (5), walks (7, led league once), runs created (5) and WAR (4). He was reliably good (ten 3+ WAR years) but only four 5+ WAR years speaks to his shallow peak. I don’t want to sell White as some hidden gem; he’s the lowest of the Honorable Mention left fielders. But he was a quietly excellent player over his career, doing all the little things to help his team win.
Shockingly at the bottom of Honorable Mention, Willie Stargell! You may surprised to find Stargell here; he was let into Cooperstown on his first ballot. So what gives? First the good. Stargell was a great hitter, with a career line of 282/360/529 (OPS+ 147 over 9027 plate appearances). Over his 21 seasons he hit 475 home runs. First off, 147 is a fantastic OPS+, that’s on par with Ralph Kiner, Aaron Hicks, Mike Schmidt, Jim Thome, Lance Berkman or Jeff Bagwell; great hitters. His power top tens: home runs (ten, led league twice), slugging (ten, led league once) and extra-base hits (8, led league twice). Pretty great right?
Not so fast. Check out his strikeouts (13 top tens, led league once) and his walks (only two top tens). For a guy who was going deep in counts and got pitched around a lot he walked very little. Also, despite his clearly considerable power he was only in the top ten of runs created six times; why? It’s the same reason he played 21 (1962-1982, all with Pittsburgh) seasons but only managed 9k PA; he never played in 150+ games in a season in his entire career. Part of it was nagging minor injuries, but the other part were his extreme platoon splits. Against righties he hit 293/376/558 (OPS+ of 162 - compare to Jimmie Foxx, Stan Musial or Roberto Vasti); against lefties he hit 250/318/447 (OPS+ 107). He wasn’t a liability against lefties (a 107 OPS+ is above average), but coupled with the corner outfield position and his consistently poor fielding (-70 runs over his career) and suddenly against left-handed pitching he’s a 1 WAR player.
Was he great at his peak? Heck yes; he had two different 7+ WAR seasons where he slugged 600+ and hit 44+ home runs and in 1971 he did have the highest WAR in the NL. But aside from that he had seven seasons between 3 and 5.5 WAR and everything else was around average. At his best he was great, but his inability to play every day, take a pitch or field ultimately dragged him down to Honorable Mention.
A crossover player with another short career, Matt Holliday! Holliday hit well, 308/390/520 for an OPS+ of 139 over a short career of 6198 plate appearances. He got his start playing for Colorado at age 24 and by age 33, in St. Louis, he was already within 400 PA of his retirement. He made five All-Star teams but little else; he was an average fielder. So what part of his career merits an Honorable Mention? Honestly, he was simply quite good at a lot of things. While he struck out a decent amount his BABIP was an astronomical 344, which allowed him to hit above 300 for his career without great bat control. He didn’t walk a ton early in his career, but by age 28 he started taking a lot more pitches, exceeding 10% walk rate for the rest of his career. And while he only hit 30+ home runs thrice, he easily averaged an ISO above 200. Ultimately his value comes from his seven 4+ WAR years, three 6+ and one massive year at 8.2 WAR. That year, in 2012 when he was 32, he hit 333/446/580, leading the league in OBP and tying MVP Albert Pujols in WAR. Holliday was simply too good not to mention.
Another short career, Jorge Hernandez! Hernandez was drafted in the second round by the Padres but was snatched up by the Yankees in the Rule V draft. This acquisition happened in 2029, which is ironic, because he is exactly the kind of player GM Mike Miller (who didn’t come on until 2034) favors. Hernandez didn’t get to start until 24 but when he did he came on like gangbusters, putting up 4.4, 7.7, 8.0, 6.8, 6.9 and 5.2 WAR in his age 24-29 seasons. Halfway through the 6.9 WAR season (age 28), Hernandez was given a fat extension, seven years at $23 per. The contract quickly became inefficient and eventually an albatross (such as those can exist for the Yankees).
Hernandez’ career line of 272/379/469 doesn’t jump out at you, but it was good for an OPS+ of 137 over 6809 PA, and an OPS+ of 137 is actually average for a left fielder in this building. Hernandez took a ton of pitches (averaging 3.98 per PA), striking out a decent amount and walking a ton. In fact, over his entire career he never had a BB% lower than 10.7%. Hernandez made good contact in his prime (BABIP over 325 most years) which kept him batting around 290 most years, which meant that he was OBPing almost 400 most years. He had modest power (29+ home runs three years, but only 255 over his career) but he held his own. His top tens, OBP (6), Runs Created (3), wOBA (6) point to his value; from 2031-2034 he finished 3rd, 2nd, 3rd and 4th in WAR. He won an MVP, a Gold Glove (he was an above average fielder at +41 runs), a Silver Slugger, made four All-Stars and won a ring with the Yankees in 2035.
Hernandez’ decline was quick. His 30 and 31 season were 3.6 and 3 WAR and his next two years were cut short by injury (370 PA between the two). By the time he came back his BABIP was well below 300 and would never recover. Hernandez also had very strong splits, and by age 34 he was an outright liability against lefties. His power declined slowly, his patience not at all, but once his contact started going it was a quick drop. Hernandez could have been Bronze easily; it just didn’t work out that way.
Okay everybody, get a drink, hit the bathroom, stretch, do whatever you need to do, because the Honorable Mention Starting Pitcher section is loooooong!
Kicking off the Honorable Mention Left Fielders, Fred Clarke! Clarke is a very interesting deadball-era player, in that he was not only a strong hitter but was manager of his team by age 24, in 1897. As good as Clarke was as a player, he may have been better as a manager, though by virtue of the organization of this building we’ll be discussing those separately. As a player Clarke started for Louisville in 1894 at age 21 and was moved to Pittsburgh in 1900 (the same man owned both teams (which was allowed at that time - don’t ask) and when the NL contracted down to 8 teams and eliminated Louisville, all the best Louisville players became Pittsburgh Pirates). Clarke was a very good all-around hitter, with an OPS+ of 133 over 9851 plate appearances. His top tens include batting average (7), OBP (8), SLG (8), doubles (3), triples (11), walks (4), steals (5), and WAR (8). He was an excellent fielder (+91 runs over his career). Honestly, in light of his high number of PA, his high OPS+ and high fielding, you might imagine that he’d be Bronze.
Despite these very reasonable assumptions his WARs aren’t terribly high. He has an astounding fourteen 3+ WAR seasons, five 5+ WAR seasons but only one season above 6. The cause is relatively simple; as a combination of shorter schedules, injuries and focusing on his managerial duties Clarke simply did not play as many games per season as you might expect. He only played in 150+ games twice, only played in 140+ games six times, only played in 130+ nine times. This kept his WAR from hitting totals as high as you might think. Either way, Clarke was one of the best of his time (making our all-decade team for 1901-1909) even if he didn’t get much attention in his time as a player. Playing on the same team as Honus Wagner will do that.
A curious career with a curious name, Sherry Magee! Sherwood Magee was one of the best hitters for the NL over his career, comparable to Clarke. Magee broke in for the Phillies in 1904 at age 19 and played until age 34. Magee was an above average fielder and runner (+25 and +22 runs respectively) and an excellent hitter, going 291/364/427 (remember, deadball era) for an OPS+ of 137 over 8545 plate appearances. Unfortunately he demonstrates a principle that is especially common to left fielders: to make Bronze at Left Field it isn’t just enough to hit well with decent fielding over 8k PA; you either need to 1) do it longer, 2) hit better or 3) add a ton of runs through defense and/or running. Left field is one of the easiest fielding positions to find players for, so the burden of performance is really high. Magee was a really good hitter with the following top tens: batting average (6), OBP (5), SLG (11), total bases (9), doubles (10), triples (9), RBIs (9, led league 4), runs created (9, led league 2) and WAR (6, led league 1). Had the MVP award been around he should have won it in 1910, for a 331/445/507 year (175 OPS+) where he led the league in AVG, OBP, SLG, runs, RBI and total bases. Magee grades out with ten 3+ WAR seasons, seven 4+, and four 5+ with two top seasons at 6.9 and 6.8 WAR. Magee was never truly dominant, but he was really good over his career.
A manly man with a manly nickname, Joe “Ducky” Medwick! Medwick (who incidentally hated the nickname “Ducky” and preferred the less humble cognomen “Muscles”) came up with St. Louis during the Cardinals’ ascendance under Branch Rickey. Medwick got a starting role at age 21 in the 1933 season, quickly establishing himself as a quality player. Medwick’s career line of 324/362/505 isn’t as impressive as it looks (remember, the 1930s were a high-run environment) but it still qualifies for a 134 OPS+ over 8143 plate appearances. Medwick peaked in his early 20s with his age 23, 24 and 25 seasons being worth 6.1, 7.1 and 8.5 WAR. This last, his 1937 season, was an achievement of incredible batting. He hit 374/414/641 (OPS+ of 182), leading the league in: runs, hits, doubles, home runs, RBI, batting average, slugging, total bases and WAR. He won the Triple Crown, which was to be the last Triple Crown ever won in the National League. The terrifying thing is that he barely walked, taking a base on balls only 41 times that season. His 1937 line converted to the modern game would be like a 347/402/703 season; fantastic, yet excruciating that a 347 hitter could only barely break a 400 OBP. Anyhow, Medwick was rightly regarded as one of the very best hitters in the game after that season.
And yet, that age 25 season was as good as he would ever be. It wasn’t that his strikeout rate rose; in fact, his strikeout rate dropped over his career. It’s just that his power trailed off and then vanished. Starting at 24, from 1934 to 1938 he had five straight years with ISOs above 200 (obviously culminating in his 267 in 1937). In those five years he averaged 50 doubles, 12 triples and 21 home runs. The next five he averaged 31, 6 and 10. His BABIP dropped a little bit, but his reduced strikeout rate meant that his average stayed up and from age 28 to his retirement at 36 he kept his batting average above 300. The sad bit was, once his power dried up his value became limited; Medwick was a good fielder but when you don’t walk and can’t hit for power at corner outfield it takes a herculean effort just to crack 4 WAR. The totality of Medwick’s career is short of Bronze, but his peak, and especially that 1937 year, was historically excellent.
With a ten-year career (1946-1955) where he led the NL in home runs seven times in a row, Ralph Kiner! A young Kiner came up for the Pirates in 1946 at age 23, leading the league in strikeouts but also showing pop by leading the league in home runs (with 23; slow year). That offseason the team acquired 36 year-old Hank Greenberg (whom you’ll meet several floors up and who had just won the home run title in ‘46). Greenberg took Kiner under his wing, taught him to work harder and pull the ball more. Kiner proceeded to go on a tear, hitting 51, 40, 54, 47, 42 and 37 home runs in his age 24 through 29 seasons, leading the NL each year. Kiner was a complete flyball hitter (as his crazy-low career BABIP of 264 attests to) but he managed to bring his strikeouts low enough that he batted 279 for his career.
Kiner had a dangerously good batting eye, walking more than he struck out every year but two, finishing his career with 1011 walks and only 749 strikeouts. In fact, Kiner led the league in walks three times and finished in the top ten an additional six times. His rankings in Runs Created in the NL: one 1st, three 2nd, one 3rd and one 4th. What I’m trying to say is this: Kiner was one of the top four hitters in the National League for six years, and its best power hitter. So why only an Honorable Mention? I’m sure you can make some guesses. His career line was 279/398/548 for an OPS+ of 149 but only over 6256 plate appearances. By 30 he had begun having back problems that would ultimately end his career by age 32. Added onto that, he played corner outfield and not well (-40 runs over his career). Two different stats reveal how extreme Kiner’s career was: three 8+ WAR seasons and only six 3+ WAR seasons. It is very unusual for a player with such a peak not to make Bronze or above; it’s very unusual for a player with so few 3+ WAR seasons to even make Honorable Mention. Ralph Kiner: when he was great he was one of the very best (or the best). One of the many careers that would have been Bronze, if only fate had not intervened.
A model of consistency, Billy Williams! Williams was creepily reliable and very good for a very long time (1959-1976). Consider the following: from ages 25 to 32 he played 160+ games every season, he had ten seasons worth 3.5 WAR or more and his best hitting season was at age 34. How curious. Even his career arc is symmetrical: up to age 27 he hit 297/361/504 (134 OPS+), after age 27 (ages 28-38) he hit 287/362/486 (132 OPS+). He’s another classic guy who did everything well and little badly; he was a below average fielder but made up for it by rarely grounding into double plays and running the bases superbly (this is purely baserunning; he was a mediocre base stealer). He was the model of consistency, from age 22-36 he never hit below 276 and never above 333. His approach at the plate evolved as he aged; his good contact slowly dropped (BABIP) but he compensated by striking out less and walking more, and his power stayed consistently respectable over his career (426 career homers). Here are his career top tens: batting average (4), OBP (4), slugging (8, led league once), walks (5, all at the end of his career), extra-base hits (9, led league thrice), runs created (ten, led league twice) and WAR (4).
At this point you’ve seen a lot of players; you may assume that a player with these bona fides and this level of reliability must not have had many top seasons, otherwise he’d be Bronze. If you were thinking that you are correct; he had four 6+ WAR seasons and only one 7+. Most of his career was cranking out 4.5 WAR seasons, generating quality hitting from the corner outfield. And his reputation sort of matched his performance; for a decade this guy was one of the better hitters in the league for the Cubs and yet nobody seemed too interested in him. It didn’t help that he was overshadowed by Ernie Banks early in his career and Ron Santo later (who has his own complaint for being overlooked), or that the Cubs were generally poor during his career. Williams was consistently excellent and is right on the verge of Bronze. That said, his Rookie of the Year and only six All-Star games aren’t enough on the hardware side to push him over. But Williams was really, really good; the only reason he isn’t Bronze is that we care more about dominant years than anything, and in that regard Williams isn’t quite as good as the totality of his career. I’ll leave you with a great quote about him: "It's kind of funny," said teammate Bob Locker, a veteran pitcher. "Here's a guy who does it the way it's supposed to be done, day in and day out, according to the book. And people don't notice him because he's not flashy—only good. It makes you wonder."
He had a nickname because his real name was a mouthful, Minnie Miñoso! Saturnino Orestes Armas Miñoso (he went by Orestes until he came stateside) was a very interesting player. He grew up in Cuba, playing every position, primarily catcher. That is, until one game where a batter’s follow-through struck Miñoso in the head and his mother, watching from the stands, told him to find a new position. In 1946 he was came to the USA to play for the Negro League (given that, in 1946, that was the only professional league in the country that someone of his dark skin could play in). His discovery by the MLB is a different funny story; scouts from the Indians were checking out a pitching prospect, but when they spoke with him all the prospect wanted to do was talk about how good his roomate Minnie Miñoso was. Miñoso had already received a tryout with the Cardinals who opted against signing him so the Indians, after watching them play, signed both players in 1948, a year after Robinson and Doby had broken the color barrier.
Miñoso created a strange problem for Cleveland. The Indians were really, really good in the late 40s and early 50s (1948 they won the World Series, and they would win 92 games or more (adjusted for length of schedule) every year until 1956). They already had an established infield (Ken Keltner, Lou Boudreau and Joe Gordon all broke 6 WAR in ‘48) and a solid outfield (Larry Doby you’ve already met, but Dale Mitchell was respectably average and Bob Kennedy was considered a lock for the last corner spot). So the Indians were in the tough spot of having no open slots, and no desire to break in a rookie with a veteran team that was competing for the pennant every year. They kept him in the minors for two years (where he murdered every ball in sight) but found no openings for him on the major league roster. So, in not the finest moment of an otherwise excellent front office, Miñoso was traded to the White Sox. Miñoso would put up 3.7 WAR or more for the next nine years; Bob Kennedy (the guy they started in Miñoso’s place)'s peak year was 1950 when he put up 1.8 WAR. No, I’m not bitter.
Miñoso became an excellent player, hitting 298/389/459 on his career (OPS+ of 130) over 7712 plate appearances (ages 25-38). He lacked home run power (186 for his career, never more than 24) but had good gap power, averaging 29 doubles and 7 triples a year. He had an excellent eye and good bat control, walking more than he struck out, hitting for excellent average while getting on-base at a great clip. He was a quality fielder (+30 runs) and a good runner despite his stealing (+14 runs). He was notable for more esoteric things; he had a gift for crowding the plate and turning away at the last moment, getting hit by the pitch without getting hurt. He led the league in HBP ten different times; pitchers hated it but he added a hundred runs of value by getting hit 192 times over his career. He was also noted for his aggression on the bases, but not in a good way. While he led the league in stealing three times, he led the league in caught stealing six times, with a low career success rate of only 61%. Miñoso had eight years at 4+ WAR, only three seasons in the 2-3 range, only two seasons above 6 WAR and one monster year, 1954 when he hit 320/411/535 (OPS+ 154) with Gold Glove defense, worth 8.2 WAR; he should have won the MVP award that year. He finished ahead of Ted Williams (7.8 WAR), Bobby Avila (7.0) and Mickey Mantle (6.9). Who won? Yogi Berra with 5.3 WAR. What the ever-loving crap? The Yankees failed to win the pennant so you couldn’t blame it on that, and even if you could, Mantle had the better year. No, I’m not bitter.
Miñoso falls short of Bronze for several reasons. His lack of power puts a limit on his value and his fielding, while excellent at his best (he rightly won three Gold Gloves) wasn’t overwhelmingly good over his whole career. And ultimately, him not being able to play in the majors until age 25 hurt a lot, especially since he hit the ground running as a rookie. Given the era you could write it off to racism, except that the Indians were the team that broke the color barrier for the AL, and were starting two different African-Americans. If he were playing 50 years later he’d have been scooped up by an international scout at 16 and have been groomed for years. Instead the fairly circuitous route that Cuban players took in the 40s and 50s to reach the majors meant that he wasn’t even found by an MLB team until he was 23.
Miñoso is right in the middle of Honorable Mention. If you think Miñoso is a Hall of Famer I can’t fault you for it; under the circumstances we thought it was too speculative.
Speaking of good players few people have ever heard of, Roy White! For having played on the Yankees his entire career (1965-1979), his career is relatively unheralded (two All-Star appearances is the sum total of his awards). In some ways White is reminiscent of Willie Randolph, another Honorable Mention Yankee, whose bat was underwhelming but walked a lot and did all the little things right. White’s career line is 271/360/404 (OPS+ of 121 over 7135 PA), which is hurt by the low-run era he played in, but is still not dominant by any stretch. That a guy with a career ISO below 150 spent half of his career batting 3rd or 4th for the Yankees should suggest just how strapped those teams were for players.
White was an above average fielder (+35 runs over his career) and an above average baserunner (+41 runs), which contributed to his value. His best years never look impressive on the surface; at ages 26 and 27 he broke 6 WAR while hitting 294/387/471 (OPS+ 145), thanks to an extra 15 runs each year from his fielding and running. His top tens are interesting: hits (3), total bases (4), triples (5), walks (7, led league once), runs created (5) and WAR (4). He was reliably good (ten 3+ WAR years) but only four 5+ WAR years speaks to his shallow peak. I don’t want to sell White as some hidden gem; he’s the lowest of the Honorable Mention left fielders. But he was a quietly excellent player over his career, doing all the little things to help his team win.
Shockingly at the bottom of Honorable Mention, Willie Stargell! You may surprised to find Stargell here; he was let into Cooperstown on his first ballot. So what gives? First the good. Stargell was a great hitter, with a career line of 282/360/529 (OPS+ 147 over 9027 plate appearances). Over his 21 seasons he hit 475 home runs. First off, 147 is a fantastic OPS+, that’s on par with Ralph Kiner, Aaron Hicks, Mike Schmidt, Jim Thome, Lance Berkman or Jeff Bagwell; great hitters. His power top tens: home runs (ten, led league twice), slugging (ten, led league once) and extra-base hits (8, led league twice). Pretty great right?
Not so fast. Check out his strikeouts (13 top tens, led league once) and his walks (only two top tens). For a guy who was going deep in counts and got pitched around a lot he walked very little. Also, despite his clearly considerable power he was only in the top ten of runs created six times; why? It’s the same reason he played 21 (1962-1982, all with Pittsburgh) seasons but only managed 9k PA; he never played in 150+ games in a season in his entire career. Part of it was nagging minor injuries, but the other part were his extreme platoon splits. Against righties he hit 293/376/558 (OPS+ of 162 - compare to Jimmie Foxx, Stan Musial or Roberto Vasti); against lefties he hit 250/318/447 (OPS+ 107). He wasn’t a liability against lefties (a 107 OPS+ is above average), but coupled with the corner outfield position and his consistently poor fielding (-70 runs over his career) and suddenly against left-handed pitching he’s a 1 WAR player.
Was he great at his peak? Heck yes; he had two different 7+ WAR seasons where he slugged 600+ and hit 44+ home runs and in 1971 he did have the highest WAR in the NL. But aside from that he had seven seasons between 3 and 5.5 WAR and everything else was around average. At his best he was great, but his inability to play every day, take a pitch or field ultimately dragged him down to Honorable Mention.
A crossover player with another short career, Matt Holliday! Holliday hit well, 308/390/520 for an OPS+ of 139 over a short career of 6198 plate appearances. He got his start playing for Colorado at age 24 and by age 33, in St. Louis, he was already within 400 PA of his retirement. He made five All-Star teams but little else; he was an average fielder. So what part of his career merits an Honorable Mention? Honestly, he was simply quite good at a lot of things. While he struck out a decent amount his BABIP was an astronomical 344, which allowed him to hit above 300 for his career without great bat control. He didn’t walk a ton early in his career, but by age 28 he started taking a lot more pitches, exceeding 10% walk rate for the rest of his career. And while he only hit 30+ home runs thrice, he easily averaged an ISO above 200. Ultimately his value comes from his seven 4+ WAR years, three 6+ and one massive year at 8.2 WAR. That year, in 2012 when he was 32, he hit 333/446/580, leading the league in OBP and tying MVP Albert Pujols in WAR. Holliday was simply too good not to mention.
Another short career, Jorge Hernandez! Hernandez was drafted in the second round by the Padres but was snatched up by the Yankees in the Rule V draft. This acquisition happened in 2029, which is ironic, because he is exactly the kind of player GM Mike Miller (who didn’t come on until 2034) favors. Hernandez didn’t get to start until 24 but when he did he came on like gangbusters, putting up 4.4, 7.7, 8.0, 6.8, 6.9 and 5.2 WAR in his age 24-29 seasons. Halfway through the 6.9 WAR season (age 28), Hernandez was given a fat extension, seven years at $23 per. The contract quickly became inefficient and eventually an albatross (such as those can exist for the Yankees).
Hernandez’ career line of 272/379/469 doesn’t jump out at you, but it was good for an OPS+ of 137 over 6809 PA, and an OPS+ of 137 is actually average for a left fielder in this building. Hernandez took a ton of pitches (averaging 3.98 per PA), striking out a decent amount and walking a ton. In fact, over his entire career he never had a BB% lower than 10.7%. Hernandez made good contact in his prime (BABIP over 325 most years) which kept him batting around 290 most years, which meant that he was OBPing almost 400 most years. He had modest power (29+ home runs three years, but only 255 over his career) but he held his own. His top tens, OBP (6), Runs Created (3), wOBA (6) point to his value; from 2031-2034 he finished 3rd, 2nd, 3rd and 4th in WAR. He won an MVP, a Gold Glove (he was an above average fielder at +41 runs), a Silver Slugger, made four All-Stars and won a ring with the Yankees in 2035.
Hernandez’ decline was quick. His 30 and 31 season were 3.6 and 3 WAR and his next two years were cut short by injury (370 PA between the two). By the time he came back his BABIP was well below 300 and would never recover. Hernandez also had very strong splits, and by age 34 he was an outright liability against lefties. His power declined slowly, his patience not at all, but once his contact started going it was a quick drop. Hernandez could have been Bronze easily; it just didn’t work out that way.
Okay everybody, get a drink, hit the bathroom, stretch, do whatever you need to do, because the Honorable Mention Starting Pitcher section is loooooong!