Legends Among Us: Who’s Got A Pre-Punched Ticket To The HOF?
One in 75. This is the ratio of average professional baseball players to elite ones.In Major League Baseball’s 133-year history, 17,056 players have come and gone. From that, only 229 of those players are in the Hall of Fame (about 1 of every 74.5).
Yes, the roster sizes, number of teams and players churning up and down the farm system varies on an almost unquantifiable level, but for the sake of this hypothetical, let’s say that there are 25 players on a major league roster, multiplied by 30 teams …
… Hey! Don’t skip the math stuff just to get to the glossy pictures. Embrace the numbers.
Where was I? Oh right … 25 players multiplied by 30 teams equals 750 players currently playing baseball.
And no, I haven’t forgotten about the mere 16 teams in 1917 or 12 teams in 1897 or the dearth of players a century ago as compared to today. But this is a hypothetical, remember? If you trust that the overstuffed rosters of today cancel out the lack of expansion teams from yesteryear, then will too.
If one out of every 75 players makes it to the Hall of Fame and there are 750 players in the league right now, then the law of averages suggests there are 10 future Hall of Famers active in the league today. This suggestion is made more compelling when one considers what the Steroid Era will do to these averages (if anything).
Sidelines looks at the 10 most likely active players to make it into the Hall of Fame. Obvious Cooperstown-bound players like Alex or Ivan Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez and Andy Pettitte become less obvious because of their involvement with steroids. I’d still bet some of them get in, but I’d bet on the following 10 before any of the afore mentioned.
Fun facts about these 10 players: Six of them have played on the same team throughout their entire MLB careers. All but two of them played on one team for more than half of their careers. Half of these players played for either Seattle, a Canadian team or both at some point in their careers.
In no particular order:
Ken Griffey Jr.
Career highlights: 13-time All-Star, 1997 AL MVP, 600+ HRs
“The Natural” gets my vote because a) he made backwards baseball caps acceptable for grown men and b) because anyone who can ruin the lives of annoying sign-holders deserves special enshrinement.
Pedro Martinez
Career highlights: 8-time All-Star, 3-time AL Cy Young Award Winner, 3,100+ Ks
If Randy Johnson scared hitters stupid, Martinez – from 1997 to 2003 – just made them look that way. He was angrier than Greg Maddux, but just as smart. And then the year after his peak … he (and his wee friend) won a World Series.
Albert Pujols
Career highlights: 8-time All-Star, 2-time NL MVP, 2001 Rookie of the Year
Not even a gross last name can slow this guy. At his current pace, he’ll reach 500 homers by April of 2012, at the age of 32. Barry Bonds hit his 500th on April 17, 2001 three months before his 37th birthday and 15 days after Pujols made his MLB debut.
Mariano Rivera
Career highlights: 10-time All-Star, 3-time saves leader, 500+ career saves
The guy hasn’t started a game in over 14 years and at some point in all that time, you’d think someone would have convinced him that “Panama” was a better song to enter the ninth inning to than “Enter Sandman.”
Ichiro Suzuki
Career highlights: 9 seasons: 9-time Gold Glove Award winner, 9-time All-Star, 1999 AL MVP, 1999 Rookie of the Year
If the Hall loves two things it’s consistency and guys with silly names. But if the Hall loved three things, I’m sure the third thing would be Asians. So Ichiro’s at least 2-for-3. What? Did you think I was suggesting Ichiro had a silly name? Not cool, dude.
Derek Jeter
Career highlights: 10-time All-Star, 1996 Rookie of the Year, 6 World Series Appearances
If players were elected to the Hall of Fame based on past girlfriends, Jeter would get his own wing. As it stands, the people he’s dated are just a fringe benefit of being the face of the most recognizable franchise on Earth … and that’s nice too.
Trevor Hoffman
Career highlights: 7-time All-Star, 2-time season save leader, 575+ saves
I could go on about longevity and the ability to pitch in “high-stress” save situations year-after-year. But really, it’s simple: Hoffman is the all-time saves leader. Saves are recognized as a meaningful statistic (for now) and you can’t have the all-time leader in a meaningful stat excluded from the Hall of Fame. That would be stupid.
Roy Halladay
Career highlights: 2003 Cy Young Award Winner, 6-time All-Star, 4-time season leader in complete games
As of this writing, Doc Halladay is still a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, a team he’s been on for his entire 11-year career. If he gets traded to a contending team … well, then 11 years in medical school would not have gone to waste.
Chipper Jones
Career highlights: 1999 NL MVP, 11-straight playoff appearances
What jumps out at most people about Jones’ career is that nothing about his career really jumps out. He’s been solid for 16 years in an era where the Braves dominated the NL. And although the pitching staff of those teams were the motor that kept those teams humming, Jones was the chassis … or maybe the seats. Car seats are highly underrated.
Randy Johnson
Career highlights: 10-time All-Star, 5-time Cy Young Award Winner, 9-time season strikeout leader, 300+ career wins, 4,800 career Ks
Why is the Big Unit already as good as enshrined in Cooperstown? Because dead birds don’t get a vote.
Tip o’ the cap to Craig Robinson at Flip Flop Flyball
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Photos courtesy of Yahoo! Sports, Flickr
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