Superman Hits Chavez Ravine

Dwight Howard sure isn't helping to kill those "Dwight Howard to the Lakers" rumors now is he?

The NBA All-Star and his girlfriend Christine Vest hit the Los Angeles Dodgers game Tuesday night and, apparently, were pretty well received by the Chavez Ravine faithful.

On in other Dodgers-related basketball news...team owner Magic Johnson is still out yachting with Dave Winfield and Samuel L. Jackson.

HOVG Heroes: Willie McGee

GORDON HOLMES on WILLIE McGEE

My family lived in Jakarta, Indonesia for a couple of years when I was a kid. It was a wonderful experience and I wouldn’t trade it for anything, but there was a downside…it created a two-year gap in my pop culture knowledge. When I was preparing to return to the United States in 1986, terms like ‘Crane Kick,’ ‘Decepticon,’ and ‘Flux Capacitor’ meant nothing to me. Worse than that, I figured the ‘Rah Rah’ Cardinals homerism that played so well when I was in second grade wasn’t going to fly with the more worldly fifth graders.

Suddenly it wasn’t enough to know that Ozzie Smith was the greatest human being who’d ever lived, or that Vince Coleman was the fastest man on the face of the planet, or that Jack Clark hit roughly a billion homeruns. Now people were talking about runs batted in, earned run averages, and (gasp!) even players from other teams.

So, unwilling to let me lack of statistical baseball knowledge turn me into a social pariah, I bought as many packages of Topps baseball cards as my meager allowance would allow. My foolproof plan consisted of two parts; first I’d hold onto the cards until I was older and become ridiculously wealthy, and second I’d study the back of each card as if I was preparing for some kind of baseball SATs.

And study those cards I did. I even went so far as to memorize any number in italics. You see, italics were good, italics proved that you were the leader of your league in that particular stat. It was during one cramming session that I noticed that the Cardinals’ center fielder had enjoyed quite a 1985 campaign. This unparalleled talent had three (count ‘em!) sets of italics in one season. Further research went on to show that this freak of nature had even been named the National League’s Most Valuable Player. My young mind was blown. The best player in the NL played for my beloved Cardinals and his name wasn’t Ozzie Smith, Vince Coleman, or Jack Clark? How is that even possible?

Needless to say, I was sold. I couldn’t wait to return to the states and watch the juggernaut that is Willie McGee prowl Busch Stadium’s outfield. The first game I was able to attend almost managed to live up to expectations. Ozzie Smith pulled off one of his trademark diving catches, Vince Coleman stole second and third base on consecutive pitches, and Jack Clark went deep. But Willie? Less than impressive.

Over the years, the real-life Willie McGee never could quite match the one in my Lik-Em-Aid-feuled imagination. But eventually I was able to appreciate him for what he was; a solid player who was always good for strong defense, speed on the basepaths, and some occasional power.

In fact, whenever the term ‘Hall of Very Good’ is brought up, he’s always the first name to pop into my head. And while I do regret never being able to witness Willie during his MVP season, the Beverly Hills mansion I purchased with the proceeds from the sale of my collection of 1986 Topps baseball cards does provide some solace.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gordon Holmes provides "Survivor" coverage and various other stuff for XFINITY.com. In his free time, he posts random musings on his personal site, morewhatnot.com. He is also an unapologetic St. Louis Cardinals fanboy who doesn't buy into the "Best Fans in Baseball" business, but does believe that Cardinals fans are superior to Phillies fans in every conceivable way.

 

Countdown to Cooperstown: Class of 2014

So, let's re-cap.

This weekend, regardless of the crowd size, we're looking at a pretty sub-standard Hall of Fame induction.  Then, in 2013, either the biggest class of first ballot guys gets in...or the most exciting crop of first ballot guys gets snubbed.

Either way, the Hall of Fame Class of 2014 looks to be one of most heralded classes ever.  Ever.  Not since 2001, has Cooperstown welcomed three or more first-timers through its doors. 2014 could (and should) add four.

Here are the players that will be appearing on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time in 2014.

IN.

Greg Maddux.
What can be said about Maddux that everyone doesn’t already know? 355 wins compared to 227 losses, a career 3.16 ERA and 3371 strikeouts. Add to that four straight Cy Young Awards, 18 straight Gold Gloves, eight All-Star Games, having his number retired by two teams…and that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

Frank Thomas.

"The Big Hurt” hung up his spikes with a career batting average of .301, 521 home runs, 1704 RBI and close to 2500 base hits. Did you know…the two-time MVP is the only player in baseball history to have seven consecutive seasons of a .300 average, 100 runs, 100 RBI, 20 home runs and at least 100 walks? Yup, the guy was Albert Pujols before Albert Pujols was.

Tom Glavine.
Only in a year where Greg Maddux is up for induction would Glavine be the second-best pitcher on the ballot. With a 305-203 record...dude is easily one of the best lefties over the last 25 years. Five years with 20-plus wins and two Cy Young Awards (four other seasons in the top five voting) stack up nicely alongside his ten All-Star appearances and one World Series ring. Not bad for a guy who, alledgedly, is a far better hockey player than a baseball player.

Jeff Kent.
Kent and his lip curtain have a long road ahead of them. Is his legendary prickliness toward the media enough to keep him on the bubble…or do his numbers as one of the best second basemen ever win out? The 2000 National League MVP amassed 2461 hits, 377 home runs and a .290 batting average. Four times a Silver Slugger, five times an All-Star and for six years…playing in that long shadow of Barry Bonds. I put him in, not because of the womb broom…but because he is just THAT much better than Ryne Sandberg and Joe Morgan.

OUT (in random order).

Kenny Rogers.
Since it has been close to 17 years since “The Gambler” tossed his perfect game (July 28, 1994), it is only appropriate he gets brought up as a 2014 Hall candidate. Unfortunately, he’s going to be watching from home like the rest of us. The guy was a wizard on the bump…five Gold Gloves, 219 wins and close to 2000 strikeouts, but what is most impressive is that he is the all-time leader in pickoffs with 93.

Moises Alou.
Alou had a much better career than a lot of people realize, but just because he is underrated...he doesn’t deserve a plaque in Cooperstown. Over his 17-year career, Alou boasted a .303 career batting average, just under 2200 career hits and 332 home runs. Considering he finally got his crack at the bigs at age 25…it’s hard to imagine what kind of numbers he would have had if he broke in five years prior.

Armando Benitez, Sean Casey, Jose Cruz Jr., Ray Durham, Damion Easley, Keith Foulke, Eric Gagne, Scott Hatteberg, Jacque Jones, Todd Jones, Jon Lieber, Esteban Loaiza, Paul Lo Duca, Matt Morris, Trot Nixon, Jay Payton, Richie Sexson, J.T. Snow, Shannon Stewart, Mike Timlin, Steve Trachsel and Jose Vidro.

ON THE BUBBLE.

Mike Mussina.
To me, Mussina is an interesting case. On paper, you see a HUGE winning percentage (.638), a brilliant 270 and 153 record and 2813 Ks. His career ERA is 3.68 and one could argue that had he not toiled for more than half of his career in Baltimore…he would be as much of a Hall candidate as Tom Glavine. However, Glavine had five seasons with more than 20 wins. Mussina, while he’s hit double digits in wins seventeen straight years, only his 20 once. The Cy Young award has eluded Mussina as well. Unfortunately, six top five finishes and no hardware doesn’t make for the best Hall of Fame case.  Although I admit it...I am coming around on "Moose".


Luis Gonzalez.
In 2001, “Gonzo” hit .325 with 57 home runs and 142 RBI and led the Diamondbacks to a World Series title. Dude finished up with 354 home runs, 2591 hits and 1439 RBI.  There are only four players that are Hall-eligible (Rafael Palmeiro, Harold Baines, Fred McGriff and Jeff Bagwell) that have more RBI and have yet to be enshrined in Cooperstown. There are no Hall-eligible players with more doubles than “Gonzo” that have yet to get called to the Hall.

Hideo Nomo.
Ask anyone what they think of Nomo and his Hall chances and they’ll likely laugh in your face. However, he is the guy who is credited with paving the way for Japanese players to make their way to the Majors. After a brief, yet successful, career in Japan, Nomo hit the states and won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1995. He’s the only Japanese player to have thrown a no-hitter (he threw two…one in each league) and finished his abbreviated MLB career with four seasons with more than 200 strikeouts and a 123-109 record. But…without Nomo, there would be no Ichiro. Let’s not forget how he took the league by storm in 1995 and made it okay for Major League teams to take a chance on Asian players.

You can check out re-hashes of the first-timers on the 2013 ballot.  Friday...it's your first look at 2017.

Theo Epstein Has a Stalker Now

When the Chicago Cubs brought in Theo Epstein, the feeling around the Windy City was that a rockstar was coming to town and bringing change with him.

And while the Cubs current record might not indicate a departure from the norm...Epstein can indeed be called a "rockstar".

According to the Chicago Tribune...dude has a stalker.

A Massachusetts woman warned to stay away from Chicago Cubs president Theo Epstein was arrested near his Lakeview home this week after telling police she was "inviting Mr. Epstein to go to church."

Kathleen Kearney, 44, was arrested about 6 p.m. Monday in the 1400 block of West Addison Street, about two blocks from Epstein's five-bedroom home.

Kearney told officers she had been watching the home that Epstein shares with his wife Marie and young son, Jack, and was going there to extend the invitation, police said.

I'm not going to make jokes about stalkers, but I will say this, if Kearney's mugshot below is any indication, I'm not sure why the Cubs boss won't take her up on her offer.

HOVG Heroes: John Donaldson

SCOTT SIMKUS on JOHN DONALDSON

If you go back to the days before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, you'll discover a treasure of forgotten baseball talent, performing on the fringe. Athletes who, because they had no other alternative, loaded up inside rattle trap cars, criss-crossing the nation, playing baseball for peanuts, in small towns and big cities alike.

African-American pitcher John Donaldson was born in Glasgow, Missouri on February 20, 1891, and became a folk hero in his own time; a left-hander with a blazing fastball and wicked curve, known for racking up unprecedented strikeout numbers in the early part of the twentieth century. In 1916, he was credited with 240 strikeouts over a 12 game stretch.

He was Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill and Johnny Appleseed, dressed up in a flannel baseball costume.

Donaldson first rose to prominence with J.L. Wilkinson's All Nations ballclub during the teens, pitching against small town clubs in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and the Dakotas. The All Nations were an interesting attraction, and as their name implies, their roster featured players from around the globe: Asians, Cubans, blacks, whites. A couple seasons, they carried two female players; one of whom, known as "Carrie Nation," anchored first base, dazzling fans with her steady glove work.          

They were a good club who, playing against mainly amateur competition, won more than 70% of their games, season after season. But it was Donaldson who really carried the club. He not only dominated with his arm, but hit well and played a steady centerfield when not on the mound, grabbing the majority of headlines. He was a regional sensation whose exploits were celebrated in newspaper wire stories across the country, in the years before the actual Negro leagues were formed.

Owner J.L. Wilkinson got out of the barnstorming baseball business during World War I and Donaldson took his services to several of the better known independent all-black clubs of the era, including the Indianapolis ABCs, Brooklyn Royal Giants and Detroit Stars. Finally getting an opportunity to compete against big league caliber black clubs, including top notch pitchers such as Smokey Joe Williams and Cannonball Dick Redding, Donaldson fared okay, finishing with a record around .500, and an ERA and rate stats (k/9, h/9, bb/9) slotting him firmly among the top black pitchers in the country.

When the Negro National League was formed in 1920, Donaldson returned to the Midwest, rejoining J.L. Wilkinson's new team, the Kansas City Monarchs. Curiously, Donaldson emerged as the team's fourth starter, behind Rube Curry, Sam Crawford and future Hall of Famer Joe Rogan. He finished 6-5 and his 3.54 era was highest among the starters. Donaldson made his biggest contributions as the team's starting centerfielder, batting .295 with a team-high 5 home runs in 75 games. The next season, the 30-year-old Donaldson appeared in 101 games, mostly in the outfield, batting .284 with a team-high 20 sacrifice hits. He pitched sparingly (and poorly), going 0-3 with a 4.97 era.

In 1922, Donaldson appeared in 25 games for the Monarchs (none as a pitcher), then left to spearhead Wilkinson's new side venture: a reincarnation of the old All Nations club, playing the same bush league amateurs as the original edition. Although Donaldson was rumored to have suffered some arm troubles*, he was immediately back on the mound, going 13-5 in games thus far uncovered by researcher Pete Gorton.

*It should be noted that NO one has yet found any confirmation (or even any evidence) of arm trouble for J.D., not in game stories or interviews. Its one of those assumptions which has been passed down from one historian to the next, based on (I believe) what was a rather pedestrian record in the official black leagues.

The next season, after another brief non-pitching stint with the Monarchs, Donaldson was shipped out to run Wilkie’s All Nations group again, which now served as the unofficial minor league team for the big club. Future Negro league stars William Bell and Newt Allen played for the All Nations at this time. Donaldson was the star attraction and manager of the group, marking what may have been the first time an African-American skipper was in charge of white professional ballplayers. According to Gorton’s figures, Donaldson went 18-3 in games that have been thus far uncovered.

In 1924, Donaldson bolted the Wilkinson-owned clubs, signing with an all-white semipro club in Minnesota. Although he’d make brief, periodic returns to the Monarchs in the 1930s, when he was well past his prime, Donaldson basically spent the rest of his active career playing in Minnesota, with an assortment of mostly white semi-pros.

John Donaldson’s career has had its own warming and cooling periods, in terms of how serious baseball fans and analysts view his accomplishments.

In 1952, five years after Jackie Robinson broke the Major League color barrier, the African-American Pittsburgh Courier newspaper ran a poll honoring the veterans of the old Negro baseball leagues. They compiled several all star clubs featuring the greatest black ball players from before integration, based on the input of 31 former players, team officials and sports writers. John Donaldson was selected as one of the top five pitchers of all-time, alongside Smokey Joe Williams, Satchel Paige, Bullet Joe Rogan and Bill Foster.

In 1970, author Robert Peterson featured Donaldson among the top twenty-five or so black ballplayers of all time in his watershed book, Only the Ball Was White. Then in 2006, Donaldson was included on the short list of candidates being considered for induction into the Hall of Fame during a special election honoring blackball veterans, but failed to gain enough support for enshrinement.

Donaldson went from hot, to less hot, to cold in a span of about 50 years. What’s interesting to me is during the entire time-- in fact, from the year Donaldson basically retired from major black baseball (1923) until to 2006, there was very little statistical information to verify or debunk the mythology.

The good news is a lot has changed in the last five years, thanks in large part to the efforts of baseball researcher Pete Gorton of Minneapolis. He’s assembled a team of baseball sleuths, running what they call The Donaldson Network, whose work is hosted at http://johndonaldson.bravehost.com.

Using data from the TDN, I've rebuilt one of Donaldson's prime seasons, before the Negro leagues existed. In 1914, when he was 23 and the ace of the All-Nations barnstorming troupe, he rolled up a 23-12 record with a 1.15 era, 304 innings pitched, 135 hits allowed, 72 base on balls and, wait for it, 509(!) strikeouts. Granted, he was pitching against mostly farm boys from small town teams in Iowa and Nebraska, but still. For comparisons sake, his teammate Jose Mendez (who IS in the Hall of Fame,by the way) went only 10-4 with a 3.56 era and 126 strikeouts in 134 innings pitched, although he was said to be battling a dead arm during this period. (Mendez's arm problems have been confirmed as accurate)

Using the latest and most accurate Negro league data, Donaldson finished his major black baseball career with a 22-22 mark and a fine 2.82 era. Although he regularly fanned 15-plus against white town ball clubs, he only struck out 5 men per nine innings in the black big leagues.

Against the stiffer competition, quite a bit of the luster is lost from Donaldson's glow. A very good pitcher? Yes. A Hall of Famer? Probably not.

But when all is said and done, when all the box scores have been collected and the figures added up, it's likely Donaldson will exceed 500 wins against all levels of competition. And more than 6,000 career strikeouts isn't out of the question (he fanned more than 500 several times before World War I), and there are already dozens of no-hitters which have been gathered up.

There HAS to be a place for a man like John Donaldson. And that place is probably the Hall of the Very Good.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Scott Simkus is editor of a subscription baseball e-zine called the Outsider Baseball Bulletin.  He also served as the lead consultant on the Negro league set issued by the Strat-O-Matic Game Company in 2009. His work has been written about in Sports Illustrated, The New York Times and the USA Today. He can be found on twitter at @scottsimkus1.

Countdown to Cooperstown: Class of 2013

Back in January, I was less than shocked that Barry Larkin made the leap from 62.1% to Hall of Famer, but as we all know...this weekend's induction is just the calm before the storm.

So far, the BBWAA has taken a pretty harsh stance against those that have used or been suspected of using steroids.  And with all due respect to Mark McGwire (who can't get more than 23.7% of the vote) and Rafael Palmeiro (12.6% this past voting cycle), this coming January is when we'll see where the line in the sand is drawn.

You see, in 2013, it is possible that three of the game's greats might be left out in that Cooperstown cold. But here’s the rub…as of now, none of them have been found guilty of using any banned substances.

Here are the players that will be appearing on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time in 2013.

NOPE (regardless of what they did “before they started using steroids”).

Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa.

IN.

Craig Biggio.
To the casual fan…the words “Craig Biggio” are synonymous with “consistency”. And it’s true, the dude was…to the tune of 3060 hits, 668 doubles (good for fifth all-time) and a career .281 batting average. His seven All-Star appearances, five Silver Slugger Awards and four Gold Gloves pale in comparison to one of his greatest/oddest achievements…the 285 times (two shy of the record) he was hit by a pitch.

Mike Piazza.
A number of years ago, rumors started swirling that the 1993 National League Rookie of the Year was a user of PEDs. Fortunately for the 12 time All-Star, the idiom “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” has (seemingly) not been fully investigated, but it's probably safe to say Piazza is going to suffer the same "but he might've done steroids" fate as Jeff Bagwell. As it is, the catcher finished his career with a bloated .308 career batting average, nine straight seasons with an average of .300 of higher, 427 home runs, including eight straight seasons with 30 or more and 1335 RBI. Not bad for a guy who was taken as a favor in the 62nd round of the draft.

OUT (in random order).

David Wells.
“Boomer” finished his career with a 239-157 record and 13 seasons with ten or more wins. Add to that his perfect game, two World Series rings and three All-Star appearances and you have a very, very good pitcher…but not a Hall of Famer.
Roberto Hernandez and Jose Mesa.
Easily confused as the same dude, Hernandez had 326 saves (12th all-time) and Mesa notched 321 (13th all-time). Hernandez is 12th all-time in games played with 1010, while Mesa is tied with Lee Smith with 1022…ninth all-time.

Mike Stanton.
After Jesse Orosco, Stanton is second on the all-time games pitched list with 1178.

Steve Finley, Shawn Green, Jeff Cirillo, Jose Valentin, Reggie Sanders, Jeff Conine, Royce Clayton, Bob Wickman, Ryan Klesko, Aaron Sele, Woody Williams, Rondell White, Mike Lieberthal, Tony Batista, Sandy Alomar Jr., Damian Miller and Todd Walker.

 ON THE BUBBLE.

Curt Schilling.
When he finally hung up his bloody sock and called it quits, plenty of people were already willing to hang up Schilling’s plaque and his recent business failure aside...they still are. Sure, his post-season performances are legendary, but his overall body of work was just very, very good. Sure, he won close to 60 percent of his decisions and won 216 games. Sure, he topped 3000 strikeouts with 3116, but did you know that he finished his career second all-time with a 4.38 strikeout to walk ratio? Yeah…me neither.

Kenny Lofton.
Ask anyone if Lofton is a Hall of Famer and they would say (without hesitation) “no”. And they’d probably be right. However, if you compare his stats to “could be HOFer” Tim Raines, they stack up. Raines has 2605 hits, carries a .294 career average and scored 1571 runs. Lofton finished his career with 2428 hits, a .299 average and 1528 runs. Throw in six straight All-Star appearances and four straight Gold Gloves and the case for Lofton looks halfway decent.

Julio Franco.
I always take a lot of flack for saying Franco is "on the bubble" but this is how I would vote...not the BBWAA and not the SABR community. I put him here for the simple reason that he was his generation’s Satchel Paige. If you believe what he told you…he played until he was 48. Some folks suggest that Franco was older. Dude holds the distinction of being the oldest player ever to hit a grand slam, pinch-hit home run, two home runs in one game and to steal two bases in a game. And goofy stuff like that means something to me.  Also, throughout his career, he has more than 4200 hits joining Ty Cobb and Pete Rose as the only three to surpass 4000. The breakdown: Major League Baseball-2586, Minor Leagues-618, Mexican League-316, Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball-286, Dominican Winter League-267 and South Korea's Korean Baseball Organization-156. Not too shabby!

Friday, we'll take a fresh look at the first time guys on the 2017 ballot. Until then...you can enjoy a week of re-hashes.

HOVG Heroes: Lou Whitaker

JOHN PARENT on LOU WHITAKER

"It hurt my family more than it hurt me. I said a long time ago, if I didn't make it in my first time, don't bring my name back up."

And they haven't. Yet.

Noted baseball historian Bill James rates Lou Whitaker as the thirteenth greatest second baseman ever to play in the major leagues. For parts of 19 seasons, Whitaker took the field alongside shortstop Alan Trammell for the Detroit Tigers, forming the longest-tenured double-play combination in the game's history.

Trammell and Whitaker were thought of together more than Stockton and Malone; they even appeared together as guest stars in an episode of “Magnum P.I.”, but the while they each carved out outstanding Major League careers, I think the presence of Whitaker hurts Trammell's Hall of Fame case a bit and I think playing next to Trammell for so long overshadows Whitaker as well.

As much as you cannot mention one without the other, Whitaker's career stands on its own.

In the history of the game, there have been two -- just two -- second baseman ever to play in at least 2000 games at the position while also collecting at least 2000 hits and amassing at least 200 home runs. Those players are Lou Whitaker and Hall of Famer Joe Morgan.

Sweet Lou began his career with a September call-up in 1977, a mere two years after the Tigers had used a fifth-round pick on him out of a Martinsville, Virginia high school. Whitaker started at second base, hitting second in the order, in the second game of a double-header at Boston on September 9. It was his Major League debut. In the top of the first, Whitaker lined a single off Boston starter Reggie Cleveland, and he wasted little time in adding his first Major League stolen base the same inning. By April of 1978, the Tigers had turned the everyday job over to Whitaker.

Whitaker, who had connected for only five minor league home runs before his first trip to Detroit, managed only three as a rookie in 1978, but fueled by a .361 On Base Percentage, Whitaker impressed the writers enough for them to award him with Rookie of the Year honors. That season he walked 61 times versus just 65 strikeouts. It was a sign of things to come.

In the early 1980s, the Tigers were a young, but extremely talented club. Along with Trammell and Whitaker, Detroit had brought outfielder Kirk Gibson, catcher Lance Parrish, and right hander Jack Morris up to the big leagues all within a season of one another.

A bottom-feeder for most of the 1970s, suddenly the Tigers were once again a club to be reckoned with and Whitaker was a big part of the reason why.

In 1982, playing at age-25, and already his fifth full year in the big leagues, Whitaker suddenly began to show some pop in his left handed bat. Coming into that year, Whitaker had amassed over 2000 plate appearances and had cleared the wall 12 times.

His career slugging percentage coming into 1982 was a paltry .344, or lower than the career numbers offered by guys like Luis Castillo, Juan Pierre, and Will Rhymes. That season, however, Whitaker produced his first season with more than 20 doubles.  He matched a career-best mark with eight triples, and he cleared the fence 15 times in producing a slugging percentage of .434 - nearly 100 points higher than his career average.

It wasn't an outlier season for Whitaker, however, extra-base power became his new normal.

In an era where middle infielders were often all glove and no bat, Whitaker began producing what were eye-popping numbers. If we consider the Steroid Era to have started somewhere around 1992, we'll use that as the cut-off point for Sweet Lou. In the 11 season between 1982 and 1992, Whitaker never hit fewer than 12 home runs in a season, maintained a slugging percentage of .442 during that span and produced an .802 OPS.

Let's not forget, we're talking about a period in baseball (specifically the 1980s) where we went 14 seasons between 50-home run hitters, where Fred McGriff once lead the National League by hitting 35 home runs in a season, and where Ryne Sandberg was widely considered the best offensive second baseman in the game.

It wasn’t only Trammell that stole the spotlight; Whitaker played in Sandberg’s shadow as well.

Sandberg, for what it's worth, posted an OPS of .809 during those same 11 seasons (including a MVP season and a 40-homer season), but Whitaker posted the higher OBP, higher adjusted OPS, walked far more often, and struck out far fewer times.

Unlike Sandberg and many other "elite" second basemen, Whitaker never really had that one explosive season where he piled up 8-10 WAR. His best early-career campaign was probably the 1983 season when he set a career-high in batting average and posted a slash line of .320/.380/.457/.837. In

1991, Whitaker completed his evolution as a hitter, setting a career-high in both slugging and OPS. That season, he posted twice as many walks (90) as strikeouts (45).

Whitaker's consistency was his calling card. During the course of his career, only four players worked more walks, yet Whitaker appeared no higher than seventh in walk totals in any given season.

From 1978-1995, only ten players collected more hits than Whitaker did, and all ten of them are in the Hall of Fame, yet Sweet Lou managed 200 in a season just once and more than 160 only two other times.

During his career, only four players (again, all of the Hall of Famers) amassed more WAR than did Whitaker, though he managed a 6+ WAR season only twice and never higher than 6.5.

In terms of his place in history, Whitaker is often overlooked. Despite his career comparing so favorably to that of Sandberg, and their careers spanned almost the exact same seasons, it was Sandberg who got all the press. While Whitaker was going to five all-star games for the AL, Sandberg had a strangle-hold on the NL squad, making 10 appearances. Despite a reputation as a solid to above-average defender, Whitaker won only three gold gloves and despite his consistent success at the plate, Sweet Lou won only four silver slugger awards. His name appeared in the MVP voting only once.

Sadly, when it came time for the BBWAA to cast their 2001 Hall of Fame ballots, Whitaker's first season of eligibility, he was left off of 500 of the 515 ballots cast. His total of just 2.9 percent of the vote meant he would drop off the ballot for future consideration.

2001 wasn't that long ago, but it was a lifetime when it comes to the advancement of how we view baseball. That year, Steve Garvey garnered 34.2% of the vote. His career OPS, as a first baseman mind you, was .775. Whitaker's was .789 at a position where offense is almost viewed as a bonus.

Unfortunately, in the seasons leading up to Whitaker's lone appearance on a Hall of Fame ballot, baseball was in the middle of the offensive explosion of the Steroid Era. In the seven seasons between 1995 and 2001, there were 27 instances of a second baseman hitting at least 20 home runs in one campaign. In the previous 15 seasons combined, there were only 17 instances and the majority of those came from Sandberg (five times) and Whitaker (four). In short, just as the writers were getting ready to consider the merits of Sweet Lou, suddenly his power numbers didn't look so great when guys like Bret Boone and Rich Aurilia are hitting 37 bombs in a year.

Many times, Hall of Fame voters talk about the eye-test. They use this term to describe how a player looked in the moment; how much he may or may not have dominated in his time or at his position. Jim Rice didn't have the raw numbers compared to other Hall of Fame outfielders, but he was dominant for a short period of time and that eventually carried him into the Hall.

Sandberg's career, take away the awards, is one of a few seasons of dominance and a host of decent to very good campaigns. Whitaker's career may not have had the peaks that Sandberg's had, but it also had fewer valleys. Sandberg played 16 seasons and accumulated 62.6 WAR according to Fangraphs. That works out to 3.91 WAR per season. Sandberg was inducted to the Hall of Fame in his third year on the ballot.

Roberto Alomar, who was inducted in his second year on the ballot after fans and writers alike were enraged that he wasn't a first-ballot guy, had exactly three seasons with more WAR than Whitaker's best campaign. Alomar played 17 seasons and amassed 68 WAR. That averages 4.0 WAR per season.

Whitaker played in 19 seasons if you count his 11-game cameo in 1977. That season he was worth -0.3 WAR. For his career, Whitaker was worth a total of 74.3 WAR and including that 11-game cup of coffee as a full season, he averaged 3.91 WAR per season.  Or the exact same total per year as Sandberg.

Remove that 1977 season and Whitaker's 18 year average was 4.14 WAR per year.

Sweet Lou wasn't the best second baseman of all-time; not by a long shot. He wasn't the most gifted fielder, though he was often very good. He wasn't a tremendous hitter, though he hit tremendously at times. He showed up every season, stayed relatively healthy and was remarkably consistent and very productive for a very long time.

Only 18 second basemen have been elected to baseball's Hall of Fame and only three in the game's history have more career home runs than Whitaker, who never hit more than 28 in a season. His total of 2369 hits would place him ahead of nine of those Hall inductees.

Only seven second basemen in history have accumulated as much WAR as Whitaker did in his career; all seven are in Cooperstown. Among those with fewer WAR are Sandberg and Alomar, Hall of Famers Nellie Fox and Joe Gordon, and future Hall of Famer Craig Biggio.

WAR may not be the be-all, tell-all stat but it does do a pretty good job of encapsulating the all around play of a given ballplayer. Going back to 1876, only 60 players, ever, at any position, have earned more career WAR than Whitaker did. Sixty. By the single most inclusive stat we have at our disposal, Whitaker was worth more wins than all but sixty players ever. Sandberg waited three years to get the Hall call. Alomar just two.

Lou Whitaker got one turn on the ballot and if not for a rules change would have never gotten another chance. Fortunately, the Veteran's Committee has an opportunity to right the wrong of the BBWAA when they can consider Whitaker for enshrinement in 2016.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Parent is the Senior Director of Human Resources for the FanSided Network. His writing appears semi-regularly at Call to the Pen, FanSided's flagship baseball site. You can reach Parent via email or through Twitter. 

It's Official...Billy Hamilton is Fast

You probably didn't need me to tell you this, but Cincinnati Reds minor leaguer Billy Hamilton is fast.

If you haven't seen the kid run yet, you're in for a treat.  Not only does the second base prospect have 109 stolen bases in 87 games this season, but he's also got blisterling home run speed as well.

According to the Tator Trot Tracker...he made it around the bases in 13.7 seconds Sunday.  By comparison, the quickest trek around the bases in the Majors this season was by Peter Bourjos, who did the deed in 14.26 seconds.