Gil Hodges

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by G1911

Belle played 10.5 seasons. His career totals pale in comparison to the numerous sluggers of his time.

Yes, career-ending injuries tend to do that to people. Sandy Koufax won a lot fewer games than Milt Pappas, too.

Originally Posted by G1911

For a guy whose whole argument is peak performance, his black ink is not very high, 28, 1 point over average. He never really deserved an MVP either, another hallmark for short-career-big-peak selections.

In 1995, he finished 2nd in MVP voting to Mo Vaughn despite having: more hits, more runs, more doubles, more homers, more walks, higher batting average, higher OBP, higher SLG, higher OPS+ (177 vs 144), more total bases, and higher WAR. That year he was the only player in MLB history to have 50 homers and 50 doubles in the same year. That is obviously MVP-level performance.

Beyond that, whether he was the most-deserving player in a given year doesn't mean he didn't put up MVP-level numbers. In 1994, he hit .357 with 36 homers in 2/3 of a season. That's CLEARLY MVP-level performance.

Fact is, the guy was a dominant hitter who put up monster numbers before being derailed by a career-ending injury. Numerous other players have had that overlooked including the three I mentioned previously (Koufax, Joss, Puckett). And, were it not for his (well-earned) surly reputation, it would be overlooked for Belle, too.