The thread seems to have shifted into what my next thread was going to be and that’s okay.
This thread was to be for actual HOFers whose HOF credentials were confined to a five year portion of their career, like Koufax.
The next planned thread was to be for HOF wannabes who left the gates like gangbusters and then become ordinary ballplayers and never made it to Cooperstown, such as Mattingly or Albert Belle perhaps.
The second group could be considered “pseudo-HOFers” perhaps.
I would not distinguish between career ending injury and death, the ultimate career ending injury.
Both groups are now represented in this thread eliminating the need for a second thread. I will leave it to reader to decide which group the cited player is in.
Hint: If he is not in the list of HOFers, he is in the second group.