OT: Did Adam Dunn ruin his Hall chances

pbspelly · #1 09-02-2014, 09:41 AM

Not a Hall-of-Famer but he was actually a very productive player from 2004-2010, despite the strikeouts. During that time, he hit 231 doubles and walked 750 times, so he did more than just hit home runs (of which he hit 242 during that seven-year stretch). For that period, you had a guy who averaged 33 doubles, 35 home runs, 107 walks, and an OBP of .371 per year, which is typically somebody you want on your team. Keep that up for a few more years and you've got a bona fide Hall-of-Famer, regardless of the low batting average and poor fielding.

He aged quickly, though, and his production really fell off when he moved to the AL and into the designated hitter spot (which may have had something to do with it- some studies have found that players hit worse as DHs than as everyday fielders, but Dunn was not a good fielder so there would be a trade-off).

Sabermetricians tend to find him a fascinating player because more than almost any other player, his at-bats resulted in one the "three true outcomes," a home run, a walk, or a strikeout. See http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/201...omes-milestone

A lot of people found him boring to watch for the same reason.

Runscott · #2 09-02-2014, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pbspelly

Not a Hall-of-Famer but he was actually a very productive player from 2004-2010, despite the strikeouts. During that time, he hit 231 doubles and walked 750 times, so he did more than just hit home runs (of which he hit 242 during that seven-year stretch). For that period, you had a guy who averaged 33 doubles, 35 home runs, 107 walks, and an OBP of .371 per year, which is typically somebody you want on your team. Keep that up for a few more years and you've got a bona fide Hall-of-Famer, regardless of the low batting average and poor fielding.

Hopefully you are wrong, even by today's watered-down standards.

I'm amazed at what the Hall of Fame would apparently consist of if some of our members were allowed to fill it up. Who's next? Steve Balboni?

packs · #3 09-02-2014, 11:45 AM

How does Steve Balboni compare to Adam Dunn? All people are saying is that Dunn wasn't just some throw away player. He had special power and was a very productive player during his prime.

Runscott · #4 09-02-2014, 11:53 AM

lol.

They are exactly alike in every respect - size, stats, shoe size, even hat size. I think they even had the same 1st-grade teacher.

vintagetoppsguy · #5 09-02-2014, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Runscott

lol.

They are exactly alike in every respect - size, stats, shoe size, even hat size. I think they even had the same 1st-grade teacher.

Huh? Balboni is 3 inches shorter, 60 lbs lighter, and even their stats are far apart. I realize you were exaggerating, Scott, but as the previous poster pointed out, Dunn wasn't the person that everybody is making him out to be.

Runscott · #6 09-02-2014, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

Huh? Balboni is 3 inches shorter, 60 lbs lighter, and even their stats are far apart. I realize you were exaggerating, Scott, but as the previous poster pointed out, Dunn wasn't the person that everybody is making him out to be.

David, I wasn't exaggerating - I was being ludicrous.

My earlier (prior to my ludicrous one) post did not say that Balboni and Dunn are the same. Please re-read it. I realize that you guys are sensitive about Dunn, but my opinion is that he is not HOF material. That's all I'm saying. Sure he is desirable on a major league team. Sure he has had some great years. Sure he hits with power. But personally, I don't think his overall performance is HOF-worthy. I think that letting him in would be further watering down the HOF. That's all I was saying.

Back when Lefty Grove was voted in, I could have said "What's next, Phil Niekro?". Obviously that would not have been stating that Niekro and Grove are exactly alike, or even that they compare - only that Niekro is clearly a step or more below Grove.

pbspelly · #7 09-02-2014, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Runscott

I realize that you guys are sensitive about Dunn, but my opinion is that he is not HOF material. That's all I'm saying. Sure he is desirable on a major league team. Sure he has had some great years. Sure he hits with power. But personally, I don't think his overall performance is HOF-worthy. I think that letting him in would be further watering down the HOF. That's all I was saying.

I like the guy, but I don't know that I'm particularly sensitive about Dunn.

What I said was that he is NOT Hall of Fame material, but that if he had had a few more great years (like he did from 2004-2010) his overall performance would have been higher, and then he would have been HOF material. Which sounds a lot like what you just wrote.

Unless you are saying that someone who hits 40 homers, 35 doubles, and walks 100 times a year can NEVER be HOF material--no matter how many times he does it--so long as he's slow and strikes out a lot. Which may be a legitimate point of view, although it might mean we'd have to kick out people like Ralph Kiner and Harmon Killebrew. (Killebrew, by the way, has stats that are somewhat comparable to Dunn in his prime, but Killebrew maintained the high level of play for longer.)

But again, I specifically said that Dunn is not HOF material. Just that he could have been.

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