The Hall of wWAR: Designated Hitters

by adarowski on Mar 12, 2011 12:00 AM EST in History & Hall of Fame

This is a quick one. Just one current Hall of Famer played DH more than any other position, and that's Paul Molitor. It's time to welcome another.

Who's Out?

None.

Who's In?

This one player is not in the Hall of Fame, but is now being inducted to the Hall of wWAR:

Edgar Martinez: From 1995 until the end of his career Edgar Martinez is clobbered with a –140 positional adjustment because of his time spent at DH. It seems some view the fact that he DHed as a complete deal-breaker. They won't put a DH in the Hall of Fame. Kind of like how they won't put a Coors hitter in (Larry Walker). What if Babe Ruth had DHed? (Let's face it, he would have if he played today.) What if he played in Coors? I'm not saying Larry Walker and Edgar Martinez were Babe Ruth. But they're a lot closer to Babe Ruth than they are to Babe Dahlgren. Edgar was worth 559 batting runs. That's way beyond an eilite bat. And here's the thing about Edgar. People assume he was moved to DH at an early age because he was a terrible fielder. First of all, it wasn't at an early age. His age 32 season is when he became a DH. And second of all, it was a move to keep him on the field. He actually rated as a slightly above average third baseman. There are few players I'm as passionate about for the Hall than Edgar. Molitor, the only other DH in the Hall, is a decent comp. They actually finish within 0.6 wWAR of each other.

Who's Next?

This player is either still active or retired and not yet eligible for the Hall, but has already met the threshold to be inducted to the Hall of wWAR:

Frank Thomas: We'll get to test people's "no-DH" rule when Thomas hits the ballot. I'm actually convinced it's a "no-Edgar" rule and not a "no-DH" rule. I'm pretty sure Thomas will coast in the Hall. Edgar, for whatever reason, didn't "feel" like a Hall of Famer to some. They obviously never pitched to him. Thomas is the owner of 75.9 WAR that boosts to 112.2 wWAR. Thomas' 766 batting runs are nearly unfathomable. In this offensive era, he still posted a 156 OPS+. Thomas maintains those WAR figures despite being cut down –195 runs for the positional adjustment, –67 for Total Zone when he actually did play the field, –26 on the bases, and –27 in grouding into double plays. His bat was that good.

That's it for the position players. We'll kick things back off next week with the pitchers. For now, feel free to go back and peruse the past posts:

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Comments

What if Babe Ruth had DHed? (Let's face it, he would have if he played today.)

He also would have played longer.

Blogger and Editor, Rational Pastime Blog. Twitter: @RationalPastime.

by J-Doug on Mar 12, 2011 12:39 AM EST reply actions

maybe not

Sitting on the bench while the other team batted, he’d have a lot more time to eat hot dogs.

by tomsteele on Mar 12, 2011 1:05 AM EST up reply actions

Wait a sec

1. How much longer do you think he would have played?
2. He played ‘til 40, I think.
3. And I’m pretty sure he was close to terrible near the end,
4. And he died at 58!

Maybe DH’ing would have extended his career, but maybe it would have accelerated his physical decline? I’m betting (completely unscientifically) on the latter, actually.

See Data Differently: Beyond the Box Score | @justinbopp

by Justin Bopp on Mar 12, 2011 1:28 AM EST up reply actions

Sure

But he’d still be a DH. Would they put him in?

On Twitter: @baseballtwit

by adarowski on Mar 12, 2011 7:13 AM EST via mobile up reply actions

Once difference between Edgar and Frank Thomas

Big Hurt may have played more games at DH, but he accumulated more WAR (and definitely more wWAR) before he made the switch to DHing most of the time. After he switched to DHing most of the time at age 30, he only had one season with over 6 WAR, only one other with over 4 WAR, and two more with over 3 WAR. And there’s his 7.6 WAR age-23 season, when he also DHed more than he played first. In between those he ripped off six straight seasons of over 6.5 WAR while playing first.

Edgar is the opposite — he had a nice three-year peak of 5.1/6.2/5.9 WAR seasons when playing the field, but outside of that pretty much all his value came while he was DHing. (Because he could only pick up about another season’s worth of ABs in the field.)

So there’s some reason for people to remember Thomas as 1B and Martinez as a DH. —Not that this is any reason to keep Martinez out of the Hall, but if people keep Martinez out and let Thomas in they’re not being completely inconsistent.

Not actually affiliated with whygavs.

by WHYG Zane Smith on Mar 12, 2011 9:11 AM EST reply actions

or put it this way

If you don’t count any of Thomas’s seasons after he switched to DHing most of the time, I think he has 78.2 wWAR. That almost puts him in the wWAR for first basemen right there.

Not actually affiliated with whygavs.

by WHYG Zane Smith on Mar 12, 2011 9:15 AM EST up reply actions