2010 Hall of Fame class

[AZGrizFan]

And if Mattingly belongs in the Hall, then Luis Gonzalez is a LOCK.

[Gil Dobie]

And if Mattingly belongs in the Hall, then Luis Gonzalez is a LOCK.

Mattingly was a much better player than Gonzo, not even close unless your are a fokkin' homer dude.

[JoltinJoe]

Hey look, if you say yank out Puckett, then you're being consistent.

In that 1984 season he also only had 23 HR's and ONE----that's right----ONE stolen base. He didn't score 100 runs and had an OBP BELOW .400, despite a .343 BA. Mattingly one ONE batting title-1984. Rose won 3. Mattingly NEVER led the league in OBP. Rose did twice. Mattingly had THREE seasons over 200 hits. Rose had TEN. Mattingly had 20 career triples. Rose had 135! It's proof beyond a reasonable doubt, counselor!

I might give you '85-'87, but including '84 and '88-'89 in your "best player" is friggin' laughable, Joe. Mattingly only had EIGHTEEN homeruns in '88, he didn't hit 100 RBI's or score 100 runs, and only hit .311.

You gotta stop drinkin' the koolaid, my friend. Mattingly was good. But you're right, he IS Kirby Puckett, and I don't think Kirby belongs in the Hall either.

I believe I DID say that.

Yes, I was acknowledging your consistency. But since Puckett is in, Mattingly has grounds to question his exclusion.

[dgreco]

And if Mattingly belongs in the Hall, then Luis Gonzalez is a LOCK.

Mattingly was a much better player than Gonzo, not even close unless your are a fokkin' homer dude.

Mattingly was only great for 3 years, you need at least 8-10 years of great baseball to really be a HOFer

[SuperHornet]

Isn't it interesting how most of you guys are basing your HOF arguments on the stick, especially power numbers. Has nobody heard of DEFENSE? Rose was an All-Star at FIVE freaking positions, an MLB record. NOBODY, not even Mattingly, can hold a candle to Rose in that regard, Yankee arrogance aside. In addition, Rose was an All-Star Game starter or reserve just about EVERY year of his illustrious career, which spanned more than 20 years. How many guys outside of Mays can say that?

[AZGrizFan]

I believe I DID say that.

Yes, I was acknowledging your consistency. But since Puckett is in, Mattingly has grounds to question his exclusion.

Two wrongs don't make a right.

[AZGrizFan]

And if Mattingly belongs in the Hall, then Luis Gonzalez is a LOCK.

Mattingly was a much better player than Gonzo, not even close unless your are a fokkin' homer dude.

Really? MUCH better? You need to take a look at the numbers, Gil:

Gonzo has more runs, HR, 3B, 2B, hits, RBI, SB, and a higher OBP, OPS and SLG percentages. Sure, he had more plate appearances and Donnie Baseball's career was "cut short" by injury, but even their AVERAGE years are pretty damned close. He had a 5 year span where he never hit fewer than 26 HR's and never had fewer than 104 RBI. Oh, and he has the ONE thing that eluded Mattingly his entire career: a World Series ring.

Don't get me wrong, Gil....if I got to choose either one to start a team with I'm taking Mattingly in his prime, but it has nothing to do with being a homer dude. Mattingly's numbers, while nice are no where NEAR HOF numbers. And as I said in response to JJ's post above, two wrongs don't make a right. We aren't clamoring for Gonzo or Steve Garvey to be inducted into the hall....why? Because they weren't venerable Yankees.

[Gil Dobie]

Puckett has better stats than Mattingly or Gonzalez, and over a longer period of time. I threw Mantle and DiMaggio in for comparison purposes.

Lifetime Batting Average
Joe DiMaggio .325
Kirby Puckett .318
Don Mattingly .307
Mickey Mantle .298
Luis Gonzalez .283

Slugging
DiMaggio .579
Mantle .557
Gonzalez .479
Puckett .477
Mattingly .471

Hits per season
Puckett 192
DiMaggio 170
Mattingly 154
Gonzalez 136
Mantle 134

RBI per season
DiMaggio 118
Puckett 90
Mantle 83
Mattingly 79
Gonzalez 76

MVP Top Ten finishes
DiMaggio 10
Mantle 9
Puckett 7
Mattingly 4
Gonzalez 1

Gold Gloves
Mattingly 9
Puckett 6
Mantle 1
Gonzalez 0

Silver Slugger
Puckett 6
Mattingly 3
Gonzalez 1

[JoltinJoe]

Isn't it interesting how most of you guys are basing your HOF arguments on the stick, especially power numbers. Has nobody heard of DEFENSE? Rose was an All-Star at FIVE freaking positions, an MLB record. NOBODY, not even Mattingly, can hold a candle to Rose in that regard, Yankee arrogance aside. In addition, Rose was an All-Star Game starter or reserve just about EVERY year of his illustrious career, which spanned more than 20 years. How many guys outside of Mays can say that?

Rose played five positions because he excelled at none defensively. Mattingly won nine Gold Gloves and is one of the best fielding first basemen in baseball history.

[dbackjon]

Best fielding first baseman is an oxymoron

[AZGrizFan]

Best fielding first baseman is an oxymoron

How many guys are in the Hall because of their defense? Two?

[SuperHornet]

Rose played five positions because he excelled at none defensively. Mattingly won nine Gold Gloves and is one of the best fielding first basemen in baseball history.

You can't have it both ways, dude. Did Rose whomp because he couldn't hit or because he had no defense? When one is elected to the All-Star Game, particularly as a starter, he is being recognized as the best in his league at his position. You don't get elected to start the All-Star Game when you don't excel. Badmouthing the toughest player in history as an excuse to keep him out over what he did AFTER his playing career was over is disingenuous at best.

[BlueHen86]

Rose played five positions because he excelled at none defensively. Mattingly won nine Gold Gloves and is one of the best fielding first basemen in baseball history.

You can't have it both ways, dude. Did Rose whomp because he couldn't hit or because he had no defense? When one is elected to the All-Star Game, particularly as a starter, he is being recognized as the best in his league at his position. You don't get elected to start the All-Star Game when you don't excel. Badmouthing the toughest player in history as an excuse to keep him out over what he did AFTER his playing career was over is disingenuous at best.

The All-Star game voting is a popularity contest. Undeserving players get voted in all the time.

[Gil Dobie]

You can't have it both ways, dude. Did Rose whomp because he couldn't hit or because he had no defense? When one is elected to the All-Star Game, particularly as a starter, he is being recognized as the best in his league at his position. You don't get elected to start the All-Star Game when you don't excel. Badmouthing the toughest player in history as an excuse to keep him out over what he did AFTER his playing career was over is disingenuous at best.

The All-Star game voting is a popularity contest. Undeserving players get voted in all the time.

Nobody gets to play in the all-star game 17 times because he is undeserving.

[AZGrizFan]

The All-Star game voting is a popularity contest. Undeserving players get voted in all the time.

Nobody gets to play in the all-star game 17 times because he is undeserving.

Agreed. He mighit have earned it a time or two, huh?