SOME THOUGHTS ON 1966 HALL OF FAME CLASS
I am going to cast a ballot in this year's Hall of Fame vote. It will be the first time I participate as everything up to this year had been quick simmed. There are 46 names on the ballot with the range of career years stretching from 1871 until 1960.
Let's start with the first time eligible candidates in alphabetical order:
BOBBY AVILA - A solid second baseman for over a decade but he is certainly not an all-star. Due to playing in his native Mexico for several years, Avila does not show up in the game until the age of 24 in 1948. He missed almost all of his rookie pro season with an injury but bounced back and posted solid numbers in 1949 with AA Dayton (.306,4,63 in 131 games) and earned a late season call up to AAA San Diego. The following season he made the Indians roster out of spring training and would remain in the big leagues until his retirement following the 1960 campaign.
Avila's stay with Cleveland was short-live as, after hit .256 in 56 games as a rookie, he was dealt to the Brooklyn Dodgers at the trade deadline in exchange for 27 year old outfielder Hank Bauer. The trade would benefit both clubs as Bauer had some good years in Cleveland while Avila became the Dodgers starting second baseman for nearly a decade.
Avila made a pair of All-Star appearances (1951, 1952) and won a gold glove in 1956. He also was on a pair of pennant winning Dodger teams but hit just .170 in 11 World Series games as his club lost the Series both times.
In 1418 career major league games, Avila is a lifetime .284 hitter, numbers that compare very favourably with his real-life .281 average in 1300 games. In real-life Avila won an American League batting title in 1954. He came close once in the sim, hitting a career best .341 and finishing second in the National League behind Richie Ashburn.
VERDICT - A good player but there is no way he should get the 5% of the votes necessary to remain on the ballot.
AL DARK - The Camanche, Texas native played for 4 teams over his 14 year major league career. He was named American League rookie of the year in 1947 after hitting .311 for the Detroit Tigers and was an AL all-star for 4 consecutive seasons starting in 1949. In 1953 Detroit sent him to Cincinnati in exchange for young slugger Wally Post. Post did not pan out in Detroit and was dealt back to the Reds a couple of years later. Dark's stay in Cincinnati was also not very successful as he was moved to Milwaukee in exchange for Irv Noren a year later.
In 1956 Dark helped lead the Braves to the franchise's first World Series title since 1897. It was a 7 game series with the Yankees and Dark was named MVP after going 12-for-24 in the series. He would play two more years in Milwaukee before finishing his career with the Cleveland Indians. The trade worked out extremely well for the Indians, but not because of Dark. A throw in the deal which sent outfielder Bob Nieman to Milwaukee, was a then 19 year old Denny Lemaster. It would take Lemaster a few seasons to become a regular but the now 26 year old was 18-8 last season for the Indians and is 64-46 over 4 seasons.
Dark hit .296 with 118 homers and 859 rbi's in 1942 career major league games. He ended with 2202 base hits in his career. The real-life Al Dark played 1828 games and had 2089 hits to go with a .289 career batting average. He had a little more power in real life, belting 126 homers and drove in 757 rbi's. Like in the sim, Dark won 1 World Series title and was named Rookie of the Year. He was named to the all-star game 3 times, one less than in the sim.
VERDICT - Much like Avila, a decent player but by no means a Hall of Famer.