Baseball's Hall of Fame or Hall of Shame (45 page)

Jeter has batted over .300 in 10 of his 13 big league seasons. He has topped the 20-homer mark three times, collected more than 200 hits six times, stolen more than 30 bases three times, and scored more than 100 runs eleven times. He had his finest season in 1999, when he established career-highs in home runs (24), runs batted in (102), runs scored (134), hits (219), and batting average (.349). He had another exceptional year in 2006, when he knocked in 97 runs, scored another 118, batted .343, collected 214 hits, and stole a career-best 34 bases. Jeter finished runner-up in the league MVP voting that year, one of six times he has placed in the top ten in the balloting. He has led the American League in hits and runs scored once each, finished second in the batting race twice, and been selected to the All-Star Team a total of nine times. Jeter has also won three Gold Gloves and two Silver Sluggers. Always an outstanding big-game player, in 2000, Jeter became the first player in history to be named MVP of both the All-Star Game and the World Series in the same year. In 495 career post-season at-bats, covering 123 contests, Jeter has compiled a batting average of .309, with 17 home runs and 85 runs scored. Going into the 2009 season, here are his career numbers:

Jeter will turn 35 during the 2009 campaign and is currently on pace to accumulate well over 3,000 hits for his career. That would make him only the fourth shortstop in major league history to accomplish the feat (Honus Wagner, Cal Ripken Jr., and Robin Yount, who compiled many of his hits as a centerfielder, were the other three). However, considering all the other contributions Jeter makes to his team, he probably doesn’t need to reach that milestone to be deemed a legitimate Hall of Famer. In all likelihood, many members of the BBWAA would vote for him even if he never played another game. Most certainly, another two or three solid seasons should virtually guarantee Jeter induction when his playing days are over.

Jimmy Rollins

One of major league baseball’s finest all-around shortstops for much of the past decade has been the Philadelphia Phillies Jimmy Rollins. Although he hasn’t received as much notoriety the last few years as his New York counterparts, Derek Jeter and Jose Reyes, Rollins has been as effective as either man, both in the field and at the bat. He has good power at the plate, hits for a fairly high batting average, has outstanding speed on the bases, and has excellent range and sure hands in the field.

Rollins took over as the Phillies starting shortstop in 2001. In his first full season, he hit 14 home runs, scored 97 runs, stole 46 bases, and batted .274. Rollins’ performance slipped somewhat the next two seasons, although he remained a solid offensive player and a strong defender. But, in 2004, Rollins began a string of four consecutive years in which he was among the National League’s most productive players. In each of those seasons, the leadoff hitter scored at least 115 runs, accumulated at least 190 base hits, and stole at least 30 bases. The 2006 and 2007 campaigns were Rollins’ best. In the first of those years, he hit 25 home runs, drove in 83 runs, scored 127 others, batted .277, and stole 36 bases. In 2007, Rollins swiped another 41 bases and established new career-highs in home runs (30), runs batted in (94), batting average (.296), hits (212), runs scored (139), and triples (20), leading the league in the last two categories. He also won the first Gold Glove of his career, and was named the National League’s Most Valuable Player for leading the Phillies to the Eastern Division title.

In all, Rollins has led the National League in triples four times, and in runs scored and stolen bases once each. He has been selected to three All-Star teams and has placed in the top ten in the league MVP voting twice. An exceptional defensive player, Rollins has not committed more than 14 errors in any of his eight years as a full-time shortstop. Generally considered to be the leader of the Phillies, both on and off the field, Rollins also possesses those intangible qualities statistics simply do not reveal. Nevertheless, here are his numbers heading into the 2009 season:

Rollins has a long way to go before his name can be mentioned in connection with the Hall of Fame. But he is only 30 years old as of this writing and appears to still have many outstanding seasons ahead of him. We will, therefore, have to see how the remainder of his career progresses.

Miguel Cabrera

Miguel Cabrera will not turn 26 until shortly after the 2009 campaign begins, and he has spent only five full seasons in the major leagues. But he has been such a productive player thus far that it would be impossible to exclude him from this list of Potential Hall of Famers
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In each of his five full seasons, Cabrera has driven in well over 100 runs. He has also hit more than 30 home runs four times, scored more than 100 runs three times, and batted well over .300 three times, thereby establishing himself as one of baseball’s best young players.

Splitting time between the outfield and third base after joining the Florida Marlins at midseason, Cabrera knocked in 62 runs in only 87 games in his rookie year of 2003. The following season, he made his first of four consecutive All-Star Game appearances, hitting 33 home runs, driving in 112 runs, scoring 101 others, and batting .294 for the Marlins. Cabrera improved upon those figures in 2005, hitting 33 homers and placing among the league leaders with 116 runs batted in, 106 runs scored, 198 hits, 43 doubles, and a .323 batting average. He placed fifth in the MVP voting at season’s end. Shifted to third base full-time prior to the start of the 2006 campaign, Cabrera hit 26 home runs, knocked in 114 runs, scored 112 others, finished among the league leaders with 50 doubles and a .339 batting average, and placed fifth in the MVP voting once more. Cabrera posted outstanding numbers again in 2007, finishing the year with 34 home runs, 119 runs batted in, 91 runs scored, and a .320 batting average. Although he struggled somewhat during the first several weeks of the 2008 campaign after being traded to the Detroit Tigers during the offseason, Cabrera ended up leading the league with 37 homers, driving in 127 runs, and batting .292.

Still, Cabrera is not without his faults. He is a below-average fielder, having committed a total of 40 errors at third base for the Marlins during the 2006 and 2007 seasons. Spending the majority of his time at first base for Detroit this past season, he committed another 14 errors in the field. Furthermore, Cabrera has often been described as being somewhat lackadaisical in the field, and both his work ethic and dedication to the sport have frequently been questioned. Over the past few seasons, Cabrera’s weight has ballooned to more than 250 pounds—up some 70 pounds from what it was when he first entered the league. These flaws appear to be the primary obstacles standing between Cabrera and an eventual place in Cooperstown. Perhaps the enigmatic slugger will eventually realize his full potential with the Tigers. Unlike the Marlins, Detroit has several veteran players capable of providing Cabrera with the leadership he apparently needs. If they are able to properly motivate him, there is no telling how good Cabrera might eventually become.

David Wright

Like Ryan Howard and Miguel Cabrera, David Wright has been performing at the major-league level for only a few seasons. However, since first becoming the New York Mets’ starting third baseman midway through the 2004 campaign, Wright has been one of the National League’s most productive hitters.

After batting .293 and hitting 14 home runs in 69 games as a rookie in 2004, Wright posted outstanding numbers in his first full season in New York the following year, hitting 27 homers, knocking in 102 runs, and batting .306. Following a similarly productive season in 2006, Wright had arguably his finest all-around year to-date in 2007. In leading the Mets to a close second-place finish in the N.L. East divisional race, the young third baseman hit 30 home runs, drove in 107 runs, scored another 113, accumulated 196 hits, batted .325, and stole 34 bases. Wright’s outstanding performance earned him a fourth-place finish in the league MVP voting. He then established new career-highs in 2008, with 33 home runs, 124 runs batted in, and 115 runs scored.

In his four full seasons in New York, Wright has averaged 29 home runs, 112 runs batted in, and 106 runs scored. He has driven in more than 100 runs and batted over .300 each season. Wright has appeared in three All-Star games and has finished in the top ten in the league MVP balloting three times. While Wright’s inclusion on this list of Potential Hall of Famers might seem a bit premature at this juncture, it must be remembered that he will be only 26 years old at the start of the 2009 season and still has most of his career ahead of him.

Eric Chavez

If he played almost any other position, Eric Chavez probably would not be included on this list of
Potential Hall of Famers
. Although he is a productive hitter and an outstanding fielder when he is healthy, Chavez has not truly distinguished himself from the other players of his era. But, due to the paucity of third basemen currently in Cooperstown, Chavez must be considered a possible candidate when his playing days are over.

Chavez is all that remains from the once-powerful Oakland Athletics infield that also included Jason Giambi and Miguel Tejada. After joining the Athletics two years earlier, Chavez became the team’s regular third baseman in 2000. In his first full major league season, the lefthanded hitting slugger hit 26 home runs, drove in 86 runs, scored 89 others, and batted .277. In each of the following three seasons, prior to Alex Rodriguez being shifted to third base after he joined the Yankees in 2004, Chavez was the league’s best all-around third baseman. In each of those years, he knocked in over 100 runs, hit at least 29 home runs, scored at least 87 runs, and batted at least .275. He had perhaps his finest season in 2001, when he hit 32 home runs, drove in 114 runs, scored another 91, and batted .288. He also established himself as the league’s finest defensive third baseman that year, winning the first of his six consecutive Gold Gloves. In all, Chavez has surpassed 25 home runs six times, topping 30 on two separate occasions. He has also driven in more than 100 runs four times, scored at least 90 runs three times, and batted over .275 five times. As of this writing, here are his career statistics:

Chavez will be only 31 years old at the start of the 2009 season, so he figures to add to those numbers significantly. Furthermore, from 2001 to 2003, he was clearly the best all-around third baseman in the American League, and one of the two or three best in baseball. And, from 2001 to 2005, he was among the best players in the game at his position. Yet, other than leading the league with 95 walks in 2004, Chavez has never finished any higher than fourth in any major statistical category, and he has never placed any higher than 14th in the league MVP balloting. And, amazingly, Chavez has been selected to the All-Star Team only once. In addition, injuries have caused him to experience a significant drop-off in his offensive production the past three seasons. After missing almost a month of the 2006 campaign, Chavez appeared in a total of only 113 games the next two years. In the three seasons since 2005, he has combined for only 39 home runs and 132 runs batted in, while posting batting averages of just .241, .240, and .247 in the process. At this point in his career, Chavez must be considered a long-shot to eventually gain admittance to Cooperstown.