I wrote this as a comment to earlier posting, but didn’t want it hiding in there due to the likely discussion it merits:
Note to Aaron and all Frank Thomas HoF doubters: Although he’s a full-time DH now and has been for several years, he was a full-time 1B pretty much for the 1st half of his career. (Not saying he played it all that well). He’s a 2 time MVP, and if you look back, there’s a whole bunch of HoFers who didn’t win it twice. He’s had 11 seasons with 100+ RBI!!!
Here’s a comparison between Thomas and 3 other HoFers, each played several more years than Frank has:
Player RBI SLG OBP
Thomas 1620 .562 .423
Molitor 1307 .448 .369
McCovey 1555 .515 .374
Stargell 1540 .529 .360
All three comparators were “DH-type players” later in their careers (I’m including old, lumbering NL 1Basemen). McCovey and Stargell were lumbering 1Basemen and of course they didn’t have DH in NL. olitor’s value was certainly as a hitter, and he was not to be confused with gold glovers … pretty much a full-time DH or 1B over his last 8 years or so.
Frank’s run production (RBI + runs scored 1437) is undoubtedly HoF caliber, and his OBP of .423 is off the charts … only a few players in history are in that neighborhood. Jim Rice and Ron Santo were great players, but not in Frank’s class. Rice played LF (easiest position in baseball) and had the following stats: 1450 RBI, .502 SLG, .352 OBP and 1249 runs.
David Ortiz needs another 6+ years of real good production to boast a Thomas type career. One DH that folks think has a 50/50 chance of making it is the recently retired Edgar Martinez (1261 RBI, .515 SLG, .418 OBP, .312 BA, 1219 R). His career was about as long as Thomas’s and essentially during the same “era”. Frank has been far more productive.
Keep asking yourself: How many players have had 11 seasons with 100+ RBI??? Mike Schmidt had 9, Mantle had 4, Mays had 10. Frank Thomas to the HoF is a no-brainer!
Wally
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