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"That's who he is," Raul Lopez said. "My son could get a million dollars and he'd shrug his shoulders. He'd see a dog get hit by a car and he'd shrug his shoulders. It's no big deal for him. He's very cool and calm about everything."
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Doubt it. Realistically, he shouldn't be as far as his career numbers are concerned, but the way the voters view milestones like 3,000 hits, 500 HRs, 300 wins, etc. will probably be enough to get him in if he gets there.
Honestly, I think what happens with Craig Biggio will play into Damon's fate. Both players are super borderline as far as hall of fame-caliber players are concerned, and both will have only reached the 3k hit mark as a result of longevity, but many many years of being average players, with a short span of elite level production mixed in.Comment
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You are selling Biggio very, very short.
During his peak, he was a guy who consistantly put up a .400 OBA, SLG .500 some years with minimal HR's, stole 30-50 bases, and never missed a game.
Craig Biggio was a far superior player to Johnny Damon, and one of the best players in the game during the 90's. He is a mortal lock HOF player.Comment
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Biggio had the best career at 2B compared to any other 2nd baseman in the 90s-00s, besides Alomar. EDIT: Maybe Jeff Kent.
He doesn't have the the stats that scream HOF lock, but the 3000 hits and the fact that he was one of the few consistent 2nd baseman during that time will probably push him in.Comment
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Biggio has almost 700 doubles, over 400 SB's, 3000 hits, and nearly 2000 runs. And a .800 OPS playing 2B.
Not sure what there is not to like about his numbers.Comment
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Biggio compared with Alomar on season averages. Biggio played 4 more seasons.
Biggio/Alomar
Hits: 174/185
Runs: 105/103
2B: 38/35
RBI: 67/77
BB: 66/70
SO: 100/78
BA: .281/.300
OBP: .363/.371
OPS: .796/.814
Biggio: 7 time allstar, 4 gold gloves
Alomar: 12 time allstar, 10 gold gloves
Considering Alomar was second ballot HOF, Biggio might take a little longer, but he will probably go in.Comment
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W2B beat me to the Biggio comment. Damon is a nice player and certainly a borderline guy, but to compare him to Biggio is selling the latter a bit short. He should have no problems getting in.
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Biggio/Damon
Hits: 174/183
Runs: 105/110
2B: 38/34
RBI: 67/75
BB: 66/66
SO: 100/81
BA: .281/.287
OBP: .363/.354
OPS: .796/.790
I get that Biggio is among one of the better 2Bs to play the game, but I mean both guys were leadoff hitters for most of their career right? That's mainly the reason I chose to do that comparison. The numbers between the two are all super close to each other, with Biggio having a slight edge in OBP and OPS, while Damon leads in average, hits runs, RBI. So basically Biggio gets the nod in this case because he played 2nd base while Damon played center field?Comment
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Damon never had an OBP of .400, or slugged .500, or had an OPS over .900. His career high OPS+ is 118.
Biggio topped Damon's career high OPS+ of 118 seven times, and topped out in the 140's. He had about 160 more doubles. Biggio led the league in an offensive category 11 times to Damon's 3. And that's not counting stuff like G's and PA's, which adds 8 more league leads.
Per year averages are a bit deceptive, because Damon hasn't had his "hanging around" late 30's/post 40 bad years yet. Biggio is helped in counting stats in that regard when you factor those years in. But Damon is unlikely to catch him in the important ones anyway.
And when you look at their career peaks, Biggio blows him out of the water. Damon was a nice player. Still is, actually. Biggio was a great player. Damon never was.Comment
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For what it's worth, Bill James ranked Biggio the 35th greatest player of all time. I think that's a bit high, but that was also in 2001.
baseballreference.com fan EloRater has him at #62 (one spot ahead of Alomar, and one spot in the EloRater is like splitting the hair of a hair), and has Damon #181.
Biggio is 74th all time in WAR (62.2), Damon is out of the top 100 (50.5).
Biggio was 25th all time in Bill James' win share ratings as of 2001, which I suppose would probably put him somewhere near 40 today.Comment
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It depends on how you look at it. Biggio was a great player in the 90's, one of the best at his position. Damon was just consistently good.Biggio/Damon
Hits: 174/183
Runs: 105/110
2B: 38/34
RBI: 67/75
BB: 66/66
SO: 100/81
BA: .281/.287
OBP: .363/.354
OPS: .796/.790
I get that Biggio is among one of the better 2Bs to play the game, but I mean both guys were leadoff hitters for most of their career right? That's mainly the reason I chose to do that comparison. The numbers between the two are all super close to each other, with Biggio having a slight edge in OBP and OPS, while Damon leads in average, hits runs, RBI. So basically Biggio gets the nod in this case because he played 2nd base while Damon played center field?
It's the same reason why W2B will never consider Curtis Martin as a HOFer. Sure, the numbers are there, but you never looked at Martin and considered him as one of the game's elite running backs because in his prime Barry Sanders, Emmitt Smith, Terrell Davis, Jerome Bettis, and Marshall Faulk were all far better than him.
It's the same thing for Damon. Yeah, he put up solid stats, but there were always a bunch of outfielders that I would much rather of had than him.Comment
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