Quote:
Originally Posted by Yastrzemski Sports
When we discuss a HOF candidate the player is compared to others at his position. Mauer played the majority of his career at catcher so any comparisons have to be done among other catchers. Mauers stats are 2123 hits, .306 ba, 923 rbi, 1018 runs along with 6 as, 3 gg and an mvp award. First, there are 4 other catchers who won mvp. 3 are in the hof and the other is Thurman Munson who would be and probably should be. Among hof catchers, His hit total is 3rd behind Berra and Fisk and his BA is 3rd behind Cochrane and Dickey (tied with Lombardi). His run and rbi totals are in the range of other hof catchers. His stats are good enough compared to others already there. The mvp award is huge and weighs heavily for a candidate because it shows dominance. Not every player who wins an mvp will be in the hof but for many it will make the difference to put someone in. When I put all of the factors together I think Mauer will be a HOF member as one of the best catchers of his generation whose numbers put him among the all time greats.
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Elston Howard won an MVP too. He's not in the HOF either. I don't think the MVP means much for Mauer. The season was a total aberration. He never came close to repeating that performance. Among catchers all time he's probably the best pure hitter, but that's it. He was never an elite all world catcher like Johnny Bench or Pudge (cheating aside). I don't think he was as dominating a player as you're making him out to be. His career OPS of 827 is lower than Jorge Posada's 848.