-
jsc1973 Simmons falls in the general vicinity of guys like Reggie Smith, Graig Nettles, Jack Clark, Jose Cruz, Willie Randolph, and Al Oliver -- fine players, all, but not worthy of Cooperstown. Of course, none of them ever caught 1771 games.
Just based on my impression of these guys when they played, I would put Nettles and Randolph ahead of Simmons in the line, and possibly Jose Cruz, whose career stats were ruined by having so many great seasons in the Houston Astrotomb. I don't remember Reggie Smith all that well, but Oliver made too many outs for what he produced and Clark was a one-dimensional slugger whose career was too short.
We wouldn't be having this debate if the Cardinals had made Simmons a full-time outfielder or first baseman when he was a young player, rather than try to force it on him as an old player, when he wasn't willing to do it.
In any case, if you want to do a piece on a player who was done in by ignorance on the part of HOF voters, the line starts with Darrell Evans.
-
ger8ry Until the very end of the essay, you analyze offense, and say nothing about defense. I don't feel qualified to say anything about defense myself, but is it possible that it's part of the reason Simmons and Carter were treated differently by the voters? -
ksalmon I would agree with jas1973 about Willie Randolph. He has 116 WARP3 (thanks, Baseball Prospectus), owing to his excellent fielding at 2B, and his fine (for his position) hitting. Also, the Hall of Merit considers him good enough for immortality.
THT: Young: Does Ted Simmons belong in the Hall of Fame?
BBTF's Baseball Primer Newsblog —
THT: Young: Does Ted Simmons belong in the Hall of Fame? Ok...enough with Mussina. This is all well and good, if a bit theoretical. What did the only folks’ whose opinion on the subject matters, i.e., the voters, have to say when put to the task? To put it bluntly, they weren’t the least bit impressed with Simmons’ candidacy. He received 17 votes (3.7 percent) in 1994, his first year of eligibility, and subsequently was bounced from the ballot for further consideration. That same year, Steve Carlton was the only player selected for enshrinement. Orlando Cepeda, Phil Niekro, ...
Is Ted Simmons a Hall of Famer?
Viva El Birdos —
I stumbled across this topic the other day over at The Hardball Times and thought it would make for some pretty good discussion around here. My understanding has always been that, despite Simmons’ excellent offensive exploits, his defensive shortcomings prevented him from being strongly considered for the HOF. Indeed, most HOF voters seemed to agree as he received votes from ...
Is Ted Simmons a HOFer?
Beyond the Box Score —
Is Ted Simmons a HOFer?
Lots of talk about it. That link is to THT's piece, this is to VEB's reaction.
Writing the Book (8 Dec 08)
Ducksnorts —
... Before we talk about the book, I wanted to mention an article of mine that ran at Hardball Times while I was gone. It asked whether new Padres bench coach Ted Simmons belongs in the Hall of Fame. Hopefully I’ve done Simmons justice, although a few readers think I haven’t come down strongly enough in his favor. ...
Historical WAR Review: Catchers
Beyond the Box Score —
... long time, and played a lot during those seasons, and as a result his WAR/yr totals are the lowest in our top-14; his 9574 plate appearances ranks 2nd all time behind Carton Fisk. There's value in all of that playing time, and WAR recognizes that, ranking him at #11. Simmons was an 8-time all star, received votes for the MVP award seven times, and appeared in the Brewers' World Series loss vs. the Cardinals. His failure to be elected into the Hall of Fame has long been debated. His case is more about counting stats than rate stats given his ...
