Johnny Damon -HOF?

[packs]

Why would his playing third base make a difference unless Seattle made it to the World Series? I don't think they even reach the playoffs without Edgar. And I will always remember him for hitting 500 against the Yankees to end Donnie's dream of making it to the Series.

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by packs

Why would his playing third base make a difference unless Seattle made it to the World Series? I don't think they even reach the playoffs without Edgar. And I will always remember him for hitting 500 against the Yankees to end Donnie's dream of making it to the Series.

If Edgar plays third so that the team could get a decent end of career DH type, I guarantee that team would've made a few series...They probably would've been better than the Indians in the late 90's..

[Orioles1954]

The lack of real "wear and tear" that Hall of Fame position players are exposed to and that bandbox he called home for the majority of his career also has to be put in consideration. However, to be fair his best season did come at Safeco.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Stats are not everything but the similarity scores on baseball reference.com are always interesting.

For Edgar, not exactly HOF company here.
1.Todd Helton (912)
2.Will Clark (902)
3.John Olerud (885)
4.Moises Alou (879)
5.Bobby Abreu (874)
6.Bernie Williams (860)
7.Bob Johnson (857)
8.Magglio Ordonez (855)
9.Paul O'Neill (852)
10.Ellis Burks (850)

And for Damon:
1.Tim Raines (887)
2.Vada Pinson (880)
3.Steve Finley (861)
4.Willie Davis (858)
5.Roberto Alomar (849) *
6.Jimmy Ryan (849)
7.Jose Cruz (840)
8.Mickey Vernon (839)
9.Al Oliver (837)
10.Kenny Lofton (834)

[rhettyeakley]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Stats are not everything but the similarity scores on baseball reference.com are always interesting.

For Edgar, not exactly HOF company here.
1.Todd Helton (912)
2.Will Clark (902)
3.John Olerud (885)
4.Moises Alou (879)
5.Bobby Abreu (874)
6.Bernie Williams (860)
7.Bob Johnson (857)
8.Magglio Ordonez (855)
9.Paul O'Neill (852)
10.Ellis Burks (850)

Actually, I think Helton is a HOFer, and there is a chance that Abreu, Williams and even possibly Clark make the Hall someday.

People are always wanting the HOF to only admit the absolute best of the best but that simply isn't what they do (that has never been the case), nor do I think there is anything wrong with it. Many here would rather the Hall have 20-30 members but it just wouldn't be any fun if that were the case. Accept the HOF for what it is, not what you want it to be.

Thia is also interesting... Edgar Martinez
Hall Of Fame StatisticsPlayer rank in (·)

Black Ink Batting - 20 (106), Average HOFer ≈ 27

Gray Ink Batting - 107 (201), Average HOFer ≈ 144

Hall of Fame Monitor Batting - 132 (104), Likely HOFer ≈ 100

Hall of Fame Standards Batting - 50 (82), Average HOFer ≈ 50

Would Edgar be the best HOFer ever, or even among the elite HOFers? NO
Would he be a "Average" HOFer? Yes, he would.