Update [2005-6-26 15:55:54 by Marc Normandin]: I've heard that the announcer supposedly said defensively, but I've also heard that what I said was true. I'd appreciate it if some more people who know would speak up so we can clarify this.
Update [2005-6-26 16:29:18 by Marc Normandin]: To clarify, the USS Mariner game thread from yesterday said that the announcers said best defensive second basemen of all-time, not best period. Let's take a look at his career FRAA in comparison to the other second basemen in the Hall of Fame, and a few others:
Nap Lajoie: 146
Eddie Collins: 95
Rogers Hornsby: -69
Johnny Evers: 21
Frankie Frisch: 179
Charlie Gehringer: 79
Rabbit Maranville: 121
Jackie Robinson: 102
John Ward: 40
Billy Herman: 68
Bobby Doerr: 131
Red Schoendienst: 101
Joe Morgan: 18
Rod Carew: -34
Tony Lazzeri: -2
Nellie Fox: 64
Bid McPhee: 213
Bill Mazeroski: 237
Paul Molitor: 24
Ryne Sandberg: 67
Lou Whitaker: 52
Jeff Kent: -33
Craig Biggio: -108
Roberto Alomar: -6
Bobby Grich: 115
Bret Boone: 30
As you can see from that, Bret Boone is not even close to ranking defensively in his career along with many other Hall of Fame second basemen. I'm not sure why the announcer said that. I'd like to apologize for freaking out this morning on this, but if the media honestly thinks that highly of Boone's defense, it worries me. Mazeroski got in thanks to his defense prowess, but if Boone is perceived to be the same with a better stick, I fear for his inclusion. So basically, use the rest of this post to learn about some potential Hall of Fame second basemen, as well as the JAWS rankings of current Cooperstown inducted second basemen.
I don't mean to offend any Bret Boone fans out there, but this has got to stop. I've heard word over the past few days that Boone is a Hall of Fame second basemen, and most recently, I received this message from Richard Wade:
Off the top of my head: Mazeroski, Grich, Robinson, and Morgan were better. After a quick glance at the stats, so were Hubbard, LaJoie, and Gehringer.
Since Richard did the quick work, I'll do the heavy lifting on this one. Let's see how many more second basemen we can find with better career value than Bret Boone. Powered by Queens of the Stone Age, its time for some statistics.
Here are all of the Hall of Fame second basemen. The number after the name is their JAWS score. Once again, JAWS is [(Career WARP3 + Peak WARP) / 2]. This is a quick and easy method of throwing Career and Peak value together, and should help us greatly in our quest to rid the world of insanity. I thank Jay Jaffe daily for it.
Nap LaJoie: 107.25
Eddie Collins: 116.95
Rogers Hornsby: 107.80
Johnny Evers: 49.20
Frankie Frisch: 79.20
Charlie Gehringer: 89.90
Rabbit Maranville: 58.15
Jackie Robinson: 70.55
John Ward: 56.40
Billy Herman: 73.50
Bobby Doerr: 71.25
Red Schoendienst: 59.50
Joe Morgan: 109.85
Rod Carew: 82.70
Tony Lazzeri: 59.35
Nellie Fox: 60.05
Bid McPhee: 68.15
Bill Mazeroski: 61.40
Paul Molitor: 77.55
Ryne Sandberg: 74.01
Here is the JAWS score of players who will/should/could make the Hall of Fame:
Roberto Alomar: 86.75
Bobby Grich: 81.2
Craig Biggio: 80.5
Jeff Kent: 69.25
And here are the DT Card figues for an average Hall of Fame Second Basemen, to make it easier to see:
Career WARP3: 109.13
Peak WARP: 44.79
JAWS: 77.21
BRAR: 526
BRAA: 246
FRAA: 80
And here are Bret Boone's career values (you could say his career isn't over, but by all means, look at his numbers the past two seasons):
Bret Boone 1992-2005
Career WARP3: 70.5
Peak WARP: 39.8
JAWS: 55.15
BRAR: 298
BRAA: 69
FRAA: 30
Here are the differences between the average Hall of Fame Second Basemen and Boone (or how far away Boone is from average):
Career WARP3: -38.63
Peak WARP: -4.99
JAWS: -22.06
BRAR: -228
BRAA: -177
FRAA: -50
Bret Boone does not even belong in the Hall of Fame, nevermind asking if he is possibly the greatest second basemen of all-time. He is not even the greatest second basemen of his time period (thanks Roberto Alomar and Craig Biggio). He isn't better than Cooperstown-snub Bobby Grich. He is better than exactly one Hall of Fame Second Basemen, and that is the Veteran's Committee's fault.
The Veteran's Committee inducted Johnny Evers in 1946.
Career WARP3: 68.70
Peak WARP: 29.70
JAWS: 49.20
BRAR: 280
BRAA: 59
FRAA: 21
Evers' might have trouble getting inducted into the Ray Lankford Wing of the Hall of Fame, nevermind the real one if it weren't for the Veteran's Committee neverending blunders back in the day. By the way, blatantly idiotic moves like including Johnny Evers into the Hall of Fame by the VC is the reason overqualified players like Ron Santo can't get in today. The VC has had so much induction power stripped from them that they can't even get someone who would be one of the best third basemen in the Hall of Fame (and I mean top 4 or 5) in. If you guys didn't notice, I have a lot of love for the Hall of Fame and who goes in it, and the fact that the VC in the past messed up to bring us to where we are makes me sick and sad in a way. If the media is paying attention to the likes of Bret Boone for the Hall of Fame while ignoring Bobby Grich and Lou Whitaker, then I might go the way of Jules in Pulp Fiction to find myself in solitude, walking the earth, because I don't want to be around the day he is inducted. Do you want one more sticking point for how much Bret Boone does not belong?
Career WARP3: 68.1
Peak WARP: 39.3
JAWS: 53.7
BRAR: 340
BRAA: 141
FRAA: 24
That's Ray Durham, 33 years old compared to Boone who is 36. Durham has more value for this point in his career than Boone did in his age 33 season, and I will probably flip out if anyone says he should be in the Hall of Fame. Unless Durham goes nuts for the next few years (and it doesn't look like he will given his current status this year) I don't think he should even really be mentioned. So how does Boone get mentioned as possibly the greatest second basemen ever? My buddy Andrew and myself had a quick conversation that I'd like you to see about it:
Andrew: It's FOX.....statement finished
4 words that do the same work as everything I wrote above. My friends are the best.