[VanillaGorilla]

Mike Piazza is the greatest hitting catcher IRL in baseball history. In this alternate universe, he is the greatest hitting catcher as well.

I get the RL Writers making the statement they did for the 2013 ballot, and I give them a pass for not voting in Piazza, and others. If it should happen again in 2014, I will not be so forgiving.

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With the 7th pick of the 2060 draft, Los Angeles selected Piazza. How cool! He would play 15 of his 16 seasons in Los Angeles. Very cool! The rub is, that he was a career Angel...oh, well.

Piazza was awesome, and a horse. He ranks second on the All-Time List for games caught with 2134.

In 16 seasons he played in over 100 games 15 times. In ALL of his seasons, he hit at least 21 HR. In 2070 he played in 97 games and still connected for 33 bombs.

He hit 50+ HR three times. He did that in consecutive seasons from 2065 through 2067. He hit between 40 and 49 HR five times.

He broke in with a ROY winning season by slashing 344/393/636 for a npa OPS+ of 173. He connected for 46 HR, drove in 124 and scored 100.

Piazza would bat .300 in 12 of his first 13 seasons.

Having played out a 6 yr/ $90M contract in 2073, he signed a 1 year deal with Jacksonville for $6.5 M.

Following the 2074 season, the Angels offered him a 3 year $30M deal, which he accepted.

At the age of 38, the Angels did not offer him a deal. Piazza stayed active, but found no takers until he retired in 2081.

For his career Piazza had 660 HR (t-18th, Jose Canseco) amongst 2664 hits (34th, one spot ahead of Joe Torre). He had 1738 RBI (t-28th, Carlton Fisk) and scored 1495 runs (42nd, one more than Don Mincher).

He retired with a career slash line of 322/378/609 (44th, 0.0001 behind George H Burns/*/34th, between Duke Snider and Hank Greenberg).

Piazza ranks 42nd on the career OPS list, between Jim Ray Hart and Albert Belle.

Piazza never won a WS and he never won a GG. This is what differentiates his career from that of Gary Carter.

An 11 time All Star, Piazza enters the HOF at the age of 48.

Black Ink: 18 (0)
Gray Ink: 137 (101)
HOFm: 301.5 (207)
HOFs: 81 (62)

Gorilla Composite: 5.3 (3.3)

Using the standards in place here and applying the to RL, Piazza should be in Cooperstown.

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Ron Santo was the 11th player taken in the 2057 draft. He did not reach an agreement with the Braves and was selected with the 3rd pick in 2058 draft by the Mariners. He signed with them.

As a 20 year-old rookie, he hit 42 HR, drove in 104 and scored 100 times while slashing 318/377/613 for a npa OPS+ of 162.

Santo batted over .300 in each of his first 8 seasons.

Santo played in at least 100 games in each of his first 16 seasons and hit at least 21 HR in each.

9 times Santo drove in 100 runs. 8 times he scored 100 runs.

He hit at least 25 doubles in each of his first 16 seasons. Talk about money in the bank.

In his free agent season of 2064, Santo smacked 47 HR, drove in 128 and scored 123 times. His slash numbers were all career highs as he posted 352/464/702 for a npa OPS+ of 198. This came on the heels of a 2063 season where he posted career highs in HR, with 56, and runs scored, with 128 and drove in 132.

Santo was expecting a big pay day. No one wanted to pay. he sat out the 2065 season.

The Cardinals jumped on him following the 2065 season by signing him for 6 years and $92.4M.

In 2066 he rewarded them with 52 HR, 135 RBI, and a career high 208 hits.

In 2067, he fought through some injury time, but still slashed 335/411/521 (npa OPS+ 141). He, and HOFer Harmon Killebrew, led the Cardinals to the post season and a WS win.

After a stop with the Whte Sox (ironic), Santo found himself in Colorado for the 2078 season. At the age of 40, he was still getting it done. He hit .298 with 21 HR and led the Rockies to a WS win. No other player from that squad has yet to be inducted.

He sat out the 2079 season when he found no suitors for his talents. In 2080, he signed a 2 year deal with the Cubs (finally!). In a case of VR simulating reality, the Cubs traded him.

In 2081 he called it quits with 3090 hits (10th of 10 players with 3000 hits, between Stan Musial and Hank Greenberg) in a cool looking 2727 career games (5th, one slot behind Barry Bonds). He had a career slash line of 309/388/567. He ranks 81st on the career slugging list, one spot behind Manny Ramirez. He is 69th on the career OPS list, one spot ahead of Kent Hrbek.

Santo hit 636 career HR (26th, between Jim Gentile and Mickey Mantle), 589 doubles (18th, between George Burns and Pete Rose) and 43 triples. He drove in 1924 runs (13th, between Willie Stargell and Chipper Jones) and scored 1767 runs (11th, one fewer than Stan Musial). He drew 1276 walks in his career (16th).

A 6 time All Star, Santo won 7 Gold Gloves at 3B. He enters this HOF as a no-brainer on the first ballot at the age of 48.

Black Ink: 12 (11)
Gray Ink: 201 (147)
HOFm: 301.5 (88)
HOFs: 81 (41)

Gorilla Composite: 5.5 (2.8)

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Johnny Vander Meer enters his first OOTP HOF.
Ron Santo and Mike Piazza enter their second OOTP HOF.
Charlie J Ferguson enters his third OOTP HOF.

Ron Santo is the 44th RL HOFer amongst the 147 entrants, here.

Players of note entering the league this year include: Zack Wheat, Ellis Burks, Norm Charlton, Dennis Eckersley, Babe Ruth, Keith Moreland,Pete Runnels, Bert Campaneris, Tommy John, Brett Lawrie, Warren Cromartie and Nellie Fox.