The Baseball Corridor of Fame has had some type of “Veterans Committee” poll in its induction course of going all the best way again to 1939. The committees have taken varied types over time, however the newest course of breaks up potential candidates into three teams: Modern Period gamers (since 1980), Modern Period non-players, and the Traditional Period, which incorporates gamers and non-players previous to 1980. The committee consists of 16 former gamers, executives, media, and historians, and gamers should get 12 or extra votes for election.
This yr’s poll consists of eight former gamers, two of whom performed within the Negro League previous to integration. Let’s have a look at their circumstances and attempt to decide who ought to—and who may—get introduced as a Corridor of Famer on December eighth.
Dick Allen (1963-77), 1B/3B
58.7 WAR, .292/.378/.534, 156 OPS+, 1,848 H, 351 HR, 1,119 RBI, 1972 AL MVP
Allen had a pair issues working in opposition to his Corridor of Fame case. He was seen by the media as a malcontent and didn’t have many allies amongst writers. He was additionally at his finest throughout a time when offense was at its lowest level for the reason that 1910s. That makes his counting numbers look small—1,848 hits are lower than Vinny Castilla, and 351 homers are lower than Carlos Lee.
However dig somewhat deeper, and also you’ll discover that Allen was a prodigious slugger. He was a really affected person hitter, he flashed pace early in his profession, and he had massive energy; he twice led his league in homers and completed second with 40 in 1966.
Allen’s mixture of energy, common, and on-base expertise meant he led the league in OPS 4 instances. His huge profession 156 OPS+ ranks twenty first all time amongst retired gamers, forward of Willie Mays, Manny Ramirez, and Jeff Bagwell, to call a couple of.
Ken Boyer (1955-69), 3B
62.8 WAR, .287/.349/.462, 116 OPS+, 2,143 H, 282 HR, 1,141 RBI, 1964 NL MVP
Throughout Boyer’s seven-year peak in St. Louis (1958-64), he had a .303/.372/.500 batting line and averaged 6.4 WAR, 26 homers, and 101 RBI per season. He was by all accounts a superb fielder (fashionable metrics like him, and he gained 5 Gold Gloves between ’58 and ’63) and he was the 1964 MVP for the pennant-winning Cardinals.
By my rely, Boyer is among the high 15 third basemen ever, and with Adrián Beltré’s induction in 2024, everybody else I’d put forward of him is already in.
John Donaldson (1908-40), P
Donaldson is a form of legendary determine from the difficult-to-track panorama of the primary half of the twentieth century. He’s much more tough to evaluate as a result of he performed solely briefly within the official Negro Leagues, with the Kansas Metropolis Monarchs for 5 years from 1920-24. However, bizarrely, he barely pitched with the Monarchs and spent most of that point as a serviceable outfielder.
That transient tenure doesn’t even start to scratch the floor of Donaldson’s profession. All through the 1910s, he starred for quite a lot of barnstorming groups, and there are not any scarcity of legends round him throughout this time, like a 27-strikeout sport, or a season through which he was 44-3. After his five-year stint with the Monarchs, he continued to pitch within the higher Midwest and in Canada, generally as the one Black participant on the group, till he was in his late 40s.
A lot of this was accomplished in opposition to novice opposition, making Donaldson’s case arduous to guage in a standard sense. However he labored via all kinds of racial oppression to develop into a prototype for Satchel Paige, in that he was a legendary pitcher but in addition an excellent showman who may please a crowd (and enhance his paycheck).
Steve Garvey (1969-87), 1B
38 WAR, .294/.329/.446, 117 OPS+, 2,599 H, 272 HR, 1,308 RBI, 1974 NL MVP
That is the fifth time that Garvey has been on a Veterans Committee poll. Whereas I believe it’s in all probability time to present another person an opportunity, there are clearly individuals in highly effective positions who need Garvey within the Corridor.
On the floor, it is sensible. Garvey was one of many main figures of the Seventies. He made eight consecutive All-Star groups, gained 4 straight Gold Gloves, and gained the NL MVP in 1974 and was runner-up in 1978. He was an iron man who performed in 1,207 consecutive video games—nonetheless the Nationwide League report—and he had at the least 200 hits in six of seven seasons between 1974 and 1980, with league-leading totals in two of these years. He was a postseason star who was the MVP of the NLCS twice and was a lifetime .338/.361/.550 hitter in 55 playoff video games.
However fashionable stats have diminished Garvey’s star a bit. He has solely 38 WAR by way of Baseball Reference, a quantity that ranks decrease than fellow first basemen Kent Hrbek and Mark Grace. Defensive metrics are skeptical of his Gold Gloves. And Garvey didn’t stroll a lot and didn’t hit for the kind of energy sometimes related to star first basemen, so his OPS doesn’t examine effectively to the massive stars on the place.
Dave Parker (1973-91), RF
40.1 WAR, .290/.339/.471, 121 OPS+, 2,712 H, 526 2B, 339 HR, 1,493 RBI, 1978 NL MVP
Parker, the Cobra, has extra hits than Billy Williams, Nellie Fox, and Ted Williams, extra homers than Hank Greenberg and George Brett, and extra RBI than Eddie Mathews and Jim Rice. He’s bought an excellent peak: he had three top-three MVP finishes in 4 years from 1975-78 (with a win in 1978), and he was excellent in 10 video games within the Pirates’ profitable 1979 postseason run. After his age-28 season, he regarded like a Corridor of Fame lock.
However Parker bought tied up in medication and the 1985 Pittsburgh drug trials and his efficiency suffered badly within the first half of the Eighties, when he ought to have nonetheless been in his prime. He did bounce again later in his profession; at 34 years previous he had a renaissance season for the Reds in 1985 through which he led the league in doubles and homers and completed second in MVP voting, and later he had some stable counting numbers for the Athletics and Brewers.
However superior metrics should not form to Parker. He’d been a deserving Gold Glove outfielder early in his profession, however his protection within the ‘80s was an atrocity earlier than a swap to DH in 1988. He was stroll averse and had only a .322 OBP from 1980-91, and he had one or much less bWAR in 9 of these 12 seasons.
He’s a polarizing case; massive numbers, Corridor-of-Fame expertise, however many squandered years in the course of his profession. Clear Corridor-of-Fame nickname, although.
Vic Harris (1922-47), OF/Supervisor
Harris was an excellent outfielder and spent a lot of his profession because the player-manager of the Homestead Grays, with whom he was a participant from 1935-45 and supervisor for 11 years between 1936 and 1948. The Grays gained three Negro League World Sequence and 9 Negro Nationwide League pennants with Harris on the helm, and he was a six-time All-Star as a participant.
Harris’s enjoying profession alone wouldn’t be sufficient to place him within the Corridor, however whenever you mix it along with his work because the supervisor of the second NNL’s most profitable franchise, there’s a really compelling case.
Tommy John (1963-89), SP
61.6 bWAR/79.4 fWAR, 288-231, 3.34 ERA (111 ERA+), 3.38 FIP, 2,245 Ok
John is most well-known for the medical process that bears his title, which he had when he was 31 in 1974. He ended up enjoying till he was 46.
While you pitch that lengthy, you compile loads of numbers—his 288 wins are probably the most for any participant after 1900 who isn’t within the Corridor of Fame. The argument in opposition to John is that he didn’t have a powerful sufficient peak. He did put up 4 straight top-eight Cy Younger Award finishes within the late Seventies, however he by no means had a season value greater than 5.6 bWAR. Fangraphs is a bit sunnier on John, an excellent management pitcher who threw a sinker that induced loads of weak contact and restricted homers. His profession mark of 79.4 fWAR is unquestionably close to a Corridor of Fame degree, and his finest season by way of Fangraphs is a extra respectable 6.9 WAR.
Luis Tiant (1964-82), SP
66.1 bWAR/54.8 fWAR, 229-172, 3.30 ERA (114 ERA+), 3.47 FIP, 2,416 Ok
Tiant sadly simply handed away final month. He was a joyful participant, an actual character with a few of the finest facial hair in baseball historical past. However don’t let that overshadow how good he was.
In 1968, Tiant didn’t get any Cy Younger votes as a result of Denny McLain gained 30 video games, however whenever you look with fashionable eyes, Tiant was the perfect pitcher within the AL that season, through which he led his league in ERA, shutouts, FIP, and H/9.
Tiant’s profession didn’t observe a standard arc, and he went via the wilderness a bit over the subsequent few seasons earlier than discovering himself once more in Boston in 1972, when he gained his second ERA title. He had two high 5 Cy Younger finishes over the subsequent few years and had an enormous postseason in 1975.
Regardless of his twisty profession path, Tiant completed with 229 wins and a 114 ERA+, which for comparability is extra wins than Catfish Hunter and a greater ERA+ than Nolan Ryan.
Who will get in?
I’d put these gamers in three teams, and I’ll right here level out that I’m a “massive Corridor” particular person. To me, Allen, Tiant, and Boyer (in that order) are gamers that I’d put within the Corridor of Fame purely on their enjoying careers. Harris, Donaldson, and John are gamers whose complete tales make them figures who deserve enshrinement. Parker and Garvey, for me, fall a bit brief.
However every member can vote for under three individuals (making the mathematical max 4 inductees), and the baseball world appears extra aware of placing in gamers who’re nonetheless with us (which, on this group, consists of solely Parker, Garvey, and John). Understanding the historical past of those committees, my official guess is that Donaldson, John, and Allen—who was one vote brief in 2015 and 2022—will get in.
