Quote:
Originally Posted by G1911
He would not have won the MVP in 1954 in a world without Mays. He finished 10th. Several other players had better years. He was never a serious MVP contender.
It is not a cheap shot to say he only ever led the league in games played and strikeouts. It is a statement of actual fact, relevant to the topic. High strikeout rates today have nothing to do whatsoever with Hodges performance in his time and place.
As to his post season record, it looks good when his poor performances are ignored. How about 1952 when he went 0 for 26? How about 1949? He was a .267 hitter in the post season. About the same as his regular season. His OPS percentages are lower in the post season. Which is to be expected, players do worse playing against the best teams, that’s normal. But this was an extremely misleading argument to cut out his poor series to make him look World Series great.
I said I’d vote for him on a combination of play and managing (but I’d vote for a lot of other guys on this logic as well, if the halls rules were up to me), but if a players argument relies on selective memory and cutting out poor performances, anyone one likes is a hall of famer.
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EDIT: By the way I edited this post as you will see in the comment immediately following this one. The original post was much too incisive and unfair to you, and I apologize. The comments I make here are how I should have phrased things. All the best - Gannon
Just getting back to you here quickly. As far as the 1954 voting for NL MVP, my point was that his numbers were MVP-worthy. I looked up the voting and Kluszewski was the only player to hit more home runs than him, and have more RBI's. Johnny Antonelli, the pitcher came in 3rd in the balloting. All of these players had great years in their own way. To say that Hodges wasn't a serious MVP candidate wasn't really his fault. There is some subjectivity involved here.
Regarding Hodges' WS play, anyone can have a bad series, during the season or in the post season, against strong teams or weak teams. Sure, Hodges had a .267 average if you take in all of his games. Mantle's WS average was .257. Maybe Mantle with his .298 lifetime average, and having a number of seasons with more than 99 strikeouts shouldn't be in the HOF, smh. The point is Hodges had some great World Series hitting .364, .292, .302, and .391 in 1953, 1955, 1956, and 1959 respectively. Yep, 1952 was a disaster. But Hodges didn't let that affect him going forward - which is the mark of a pro and a champion. And he contributed significantly to the Dodgers becoming champions in '55.