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VanillaGorilla · 10-14-2012, 04:39 AM

That big hitting names have been more scarce than big pitchers may be just my perception, but in RL 1953 there were 4 players who had reached the 500 HR plateau. In this league, there have been only 2.

Jim Gentile was the first player to hit 500 career HRs. In a nice "what might have been" universe, Gentile was not stuck in a reserve clause environment behind a HOF 1B man until he was traded at the age of 27 and got his chance to play regularly.

Drafted 4th over-all, Gentile immediately established himself in his 1932 rookie season by hitting 37 HRs, 107 RBI, scoring 117 runs, walking 100 times, and posting a line of 314/427/563 which rated a npa OPS + of 170. No matter what type of stats you favor, this is impressive across the board output.

In his 6 seasons before turning 27, he hit 201 HRs, and had scored and driven in over 100 runs both, in 4 seasons.

A career .303 hitter, of his 2796 hits, 527 were HRs, the most by anyone at the time of his induction. His career OBP is .418 and career slg is .522 for a npa OPS+ of 158.

1754 RBI (7th all time) and 1706 runs scored (11th) were but overkill ofr the selection committee which breezed Gentile into the Hall on the First Ballot standard.

He appeared in 15 All Star games, won 2 MVPs, and won 3 WS in 3 tries.

Black Ink: 51 (4)
Gray Ink: 261 (34)
HOFm: 222.5 (36)
HOFs: 59 (15)

--------------------------

I don't like falling back on the explanation that the Hall Committee selects one player over another simply because he was a good guy. But, if there ever was a good guy in baseball and for baseball, that guy is named Yogi Berra.

The standards were raised significantly with the Cobb/Reyes class of 1952 (mainly by Cobb, but Reyes pulled up the old numbers, also). Several players with name recognition were removed from the spread sheet who just feel short in what turned out to be their last chance to be inducted by the numbers.

Yogi Berra gets in on the Veteran Standard, but just barely.

But he is beyond a good guy, so I will be happy to make a case for him.

Like Gentile, Berra was drafted 4th overall. Debuting in 1898 and playing through 1914, Berra played during seasons that were anything but conducive for offense. Yet, he managed to accumulate 2228 hits and drive in 1025 runs in this environment. And he did this as a catcher.

He ranks 9th all time in GS and IP at C. He is 6th all time in number of base runners thrown out.

He won 2 GGs and was MVP in 1904 when he led the league in HRs with 9. His 289/340/383 line from that season, along with his GG defense, was good for a npa OPS + of 138 and a league leading WAR/VORP.

He captained his teams to 3 pennants, but fell short of winning a championship.

Did I mention that he's a good guy, also?

Black: 20 (0)
Gray: 109 (138)
HOFm: 111 (226)
HOFs: 28 (49)

10-14-2012, 04:39 AM	#30
VanillaGorilla All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 1,371 Blog Entries: 2	Class of 1953, Hitters - Gentile, Berra That big hitting names have been more scarce than big pitchers may be just my perception, but in RL 1953 there were 4 players who had reached the 500 HR plateau. In this league, there have been only 2. Jim Gentile was the first player to hit 500 career HRs. In a nice "what might have been" universe, Gentile was not stuck in a reserve clause environment behind a HOF 1B man until he was traded at the age of 27 and got his chance to play regularly. Drafted 4th over-all, Gentile immediately established himself in his 1932 rookie season by hitting 37 HRs, 107 RBI, scoring 117 runs, walking 100 times, and posting a line of 314/427/563 which rated a npa OPS + of 170. No matter what type of stats you favor, this is impressive across the board output. In his 6 seasons before turning 27, he hit 201 HRs, and had scored and driven in over 100 runs both, in 4 seasons. A career .303 hitter, of his 2796 hits, 527 were HRs, the most by anyone at the time of his induction. His career OBP is .418 and career slg is .522 for a npa OPS+ of 158. 1754 RBI (7th all time) and 1706 runs scored (11th) were but overkill ofr the selection committee which breezed Gentile into the Hall on the First Ballot standard. He appeared in 15 All Star games, won 2 MVPs, and won 3 WS in 3 tries. Black Ink: 51 (4) Gray Ink: 261 (34) HOFm: 222.5 (36) HOFs: 59 (15) -------------------------- I don't like falling back on the explanation that the Hall Committee selects one player over another simply because he was a good guy. But, if there ever was a good guy in baseball and for baseball, that guy is named Yogi Berra. The standards were raised significantly with the Cobb/Reyes class of 1952 (mainly by Cobb, but Reyes pulled up the old numbers, also). Several players with name recognition were removed from the spread sheet who just feel short in what turned out to be their last chance to be inducted by the numbers. Yogi Berra gets in on the Veteran Standard, but just barely. But he is beyond a good guy, so I will be happy to make a case for him. Like Gentile, Berra was drafted 4th overall. Debuting in 1898 and playing through 1914, Berra played during seasons that were anything but conducive for offense. Yet, he managed to accumulate 2228 hits and drive in 1025 runs in this environment. And he did this as a catcher. He ranks 9th all time in GS and IP at C. He is 6th all time in number of base runners thrown out. He won 2 GGs and was MVP in 1904 when he led the league in HRs with 9. His 289/340/383 line from that season, along with his GG defense, was good for a npa OPS + of 138 and a league leading WAR/VORP. He captained his teams to 3 pennants, but fell short of winning a championship. Did I mention that he's a good guy, also? Black: 20 (0) Gray: 109 (138) HOFm: 111 (226) HOFs: 28 (49) Last edited by VanillaGorilla; 10-14-2012 at 04:40 AM.