Everyone with an opinion about the Hall of Fame falls somewhere on the continuum of peak value vs. longevity.  A player can’t be a Hall of Famer if he was never among the best players in the game, or at least those at his position.  Similarly, a player who dominates for a year or two and then fades into obscurity isn’t likely to garner much support from Hall voters or fans (though past Veterans Committees have felt differently).  But we all put different emphases on peak vs. longevity.

To me, some of the most interesting baseball careers are those of players who do achieve true greatness for a short time, only to burn out or fade away.  Following are two possible rosters of the Hall of Could’ve Been- lists of players who had multiple MVP-type seasons, but didn’t sustain their peaks long enough to be obvious Hall of Famers.

First, all retired players with at least three seasons since 1901 with 7 or more WAR (per fangraphs), but fewer than 60 career WAR.  A 7-WAR season generally puts a player in the MVP conversation, while 60 career Wins are typically enough to put a player in the Hall of Fame. Continue reading →

Like most baseball folk, I’ve been thinking of how to pay tribute to the late Stan Musial. Since I like to look at baseball history through a box-score lens, and since Musial played 3,049 games (counting World Series) — in a NL career that stretched from Gabby Hartnett (1922-41) to Pete Rose (1963-86), spanning Pearl Harbor and the Civil Rights March on Washington (“I have a dream…”) — I decided to honor Stan the Man with what I do best.

What follows is an unscientific sampling of Musial box scores and related comments — often tangential, sometimes frivolous — but let’s open with a couple of broad stat-facts:

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Stan Musial (1920-2013) is truly an inner circle HOFer. At his retirement, he was the NL career leader in hits, doubles, triples, runs and RBI and ranked 2nd in HR and walks. Today, 50 years after his last game, not a lot has changed – he’s still the NL career leader in triples, is 2nd in hits and doubles, 3rd in RBI, 4th in walks, 5th in runs and 10th in HR.

So, a few quizzes in memory of the Man. These may be toughies (unless I’ve been too generous with the hints).

Quiz #1 – What career accomplishment does Musial share with only the listed players? (Solved by GrandyMan)

Quiz #2 – What does Musial have in common with all of the players listed (and others too)? (Solved by Hartvig) 

Quiz #3 – Musial twice had seasons with 5 or more multi-HR games, as did all of the listed players. These players (but not Musial) have something in common with another player who had a season with 5 or more multi-HR games. Who is this other player and what do the listed players have in common with him? (Solved by Mort)

Congratulations to GrandyMan, Hartvig and Mort on solving the quizzes and thanks to everyone for playing.

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I once saw a tweet that mentioned Mickey Mantle‘s OPS+ in his second to last season as a player – it was 149. The person was impressed by the number. Mantle was 35-years-old and on his last legs. Then I thought about Mantle’s career as a whole and I remembered looking some of his numbers from his MVP winning years – 1956, 1957 and 1962 – when I was researching for another post. So I decided to take a look again at his stats and I was amazed.

All fans of the New York Yankees, young and old, know that Mickey Mantle was quite a player and I thought for this post, I’d focus on one of those MVP years in particular.

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After yet another playoff appearance in 2012, Derek Jeter has now played in 158 career post-season games, essentially an exact full season. Looking at his numbers, the results are staggering. Continue reading →

This post is for voting and discussion of the sixth round of voting for the Circle of Greats, which adds players born in 1963. Rules and lists are after the jump. Continue reading →

Donie Bush was the regular Tiger shortstop for 12 seasons, from 1909 to 1920. Over his career, Bush compiled totals exceeding 1800 hits, 1200 runs, 1100 walks and 400 stolen bases. Yet, he managed only a 91 career OPS+.

So, I wondered what other players there might be like Donie Bush. Let’s find out.

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Although there has already been much discussion in comments to other posts on the passing of Stan Musial and Earl Weaver, a separate thread for these all-time greats is more than appropriate.

Weaver’s teams were a cumulative 420 regular season games over .500 with him as manager. In the history of the American League, only Joe McCarthy was more games over .500 as a manager in the AL as well his for his career as a whole.

A Play Index search that I did produces just three guys: Stan Musial, Joe Carter and Felipe Alou. What did I search? Clue: it was a career, regular season search.

Here’s a pretty good all-time NL everday starting lineup by position:
C: Bench
1B: Musial (played more games there than any other individual position, if you count the three OF positions separately)
2B: Hornsby
SS: Wagner
3B: Schmidt
LF: Bonds
CF: Mays
RF: Aaron

Barry Bonds wins induction as the fifth member of the Circle of Greats, appearing on 55 of 88 ballots. No one else appeared on more than 30 ballots this round. More on Bonds and the voting after the jump. Continue reading →

Two rookie phenoms in 2012 had seasons for the ages, joining the very select group of players below.

Since 1901, what single season statistical feat has been accomplished only by these players?

Hint: several players on the list did this more than once.

Congratulations to Josh! He correctly identified these players as the record holders for seasonal WAR at each age, with a minimum of 2 WAR. That minimum covers the ages 19 through 42. The record seasons are after the jump, as well the best WAR seasons outside of this age range. Continue reading →