Casi casi Roberto, good showing for Edgar and a tear for El Gato

This past week was the election for the class of 2010 Baseball Hall of Fame. First off congratulations to Andre Dawson who was only player elected by the Baseball writers. Puerto Rican Roberto Alomar came very close to achieving election to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Falling 8 votes short of enshrinement, Alomar received 73.7% of the vote (75% is needed for enshrinement). Had Alomar received the necessary 75% of the ballot, he would have been the first Latino ballplayer since Rod Carew was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1991. Alomar would have been the first Puerto Rican elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility since Roberto Clemente was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1973.

Roberto Alomar was the model of consistency at both second base forming one of the best double play combinations (with future Hall of Famer Omar Vizquel) and at the plate. In 17 seasons, Alomar had a career batting average of .300 where he amassed 2724 hits (504 2B, 80 3B, 210 HR) and 1134 RBI. In terms of modern metrics, Alomar had a career OBP% of .371 and a SLG% of .443 for an OPS of .814 and had 474 SB. His best season was 1999 with the Cleveland Indians where he came in 3rd in the MVP race batting .323 with 182 hits (40 2B, 3 3B, 24 HR) and 120 RBI and led the league in runs scored with 138. That season Alomar also had an OPS of .955 (.442 OBP and .553 SLG). Alomar was a 12-time All-Star, a 10-time Gold Glove award winner and also won 4 Silver Slugger awards.

Current second-basemen like Robinson Cano and Dan Uggla can thank Roberto Alomar (and future Hall of Famer Jeff Kent) for laying the foundation for the second-baseman that can superb on both the field and at the plate.

The Latino presence on the Hall of Fame ballot was also augmented by the great show of support for Puerto Rican Edgar Martinez. The funny thing about the situation with Edgar is that there were many writers that predicted that he wouldn't even get the necessary 5% of the vote to remain eligible for next year's ballot. Why? These writers felt that since Martinez was a Designated Hitter and not a "complete" ballplayer (not playing the field) it would diminish his chances to make it into the Hall of Fame. We're not talking about Dave Kingman here, Edgar Martinez is not only a DH, he's the best DH (hey, the award for the best DH is named after him). Well, 195 votes good for 36.2% of the vote is an excellent starting point for Martinez.

In 18 seasons, Martinez had a career a career batting average of .312 where he amassed 2247 hits (514 2B, 15 3B, 309 HR) and 1261 RBI. In terms of modern metrics, Martinez had a career OBP% of .418 and a SLG% of .515 for an OPS of .933. Martinez also walked more (1283) than he struck out (1202) further cementing his status of a dependable hitter, His best season was the memorable 1995 season with the Seattle Mariners where he came in 3rd in the MVP race batting a league leading .356 with 182 hits (52 2B, 0 3B, 29 HR) and 113 RBI and led the league in runs scored with 121. That season Martinez also had an OPS of 1.107 (league leading .479 OBP and .628 SLG). Martinez was a 7-time All-Star and won 5 Silver Slugger awards.

In my opinion, if you are asked to do a job as Edgar Martinez was in being written in the lineup as a DH, and you are superb in that position, then why should you not be both considered the best in the game at your position and best in the game to be inducted in the Hall of Fame. The DH is used in mostly all levels of baseball from College, Minor League, Japanese League and the American League (The National League is the only one that does not use the DH for regular league play). At some point the anti-DH bias that is often seen with baseball traditionalist has to be broken and it would be amazing if the player to do it is the same player that raised the position to the level that it occupies today.

Sadly, Andres Galarraga is no longer eligible for the Hall of Fame. Galarraga who hails from Venezuela was unable to get the necessary 5% of the vote (22 votes for 4.1%). In 19 seasons, Galarraga had a career a career batting average of .288 where he amassed 2333 hits (444 2B, 32 3B, 399 HR) and 1425 RBI. In terms of modern metrics, Martinez had a career OBP% of .347 and a SLG% of .499 for an OPS of .846. His best season was 1996 with the Colorado Rockies where he led the league with 47Hr 150 RBI and had a .304BA. Galarraga a 5-time All-Star, 2-time Gold Glove award winner and also won 2 Silver Slugger awards.

Galarraga was a personal favorite of fine who played the game with class and grace even when faced with personal turmoil. I didn't think he would be elected in, but I wish that he would have at least been given the chance to get his 15 years to get the necessary votes. He can eventually get in by getting elected by the Veteran's committee. I don't think it will happen, but it doesn't diminish how good of a player he was.

What do you think. Any opinions or comments? Feel free to add to the conversation.
Hasta Luego,
FH.

Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente 1954

Imagine sitting in a stadium during a warm sunny day. The game is to start within a few minutes and the home team is taking their places in the field. As you scan the players on the field you recognize two players in particular. In center field you notice the “Say Hey” kid himself Hall of Famer Willie Mays. Next to him in right field is his fellow Hall of Famer, Roberto Clemente. Sounds unreal? Think of it as something that you could only do in a game like Strat-O-Matic or by flipping baseball cards? Well, it really happened. When you ask? Read on and find out.

The year is 1954 and the location is Puerto Rico. Playing in the Puerto Rican Winter league on the team known as the Santurce Cangrejeros. Now the 1954 season in the United States was punctuated by the arrival on the national scene of a young 23-year-old named Willie Mays. This was seen specifically with arguably with the over the head catch by Mays off of a blast of the Cleveland Indians’ hitter Vic Wertz during Game 1 of The World Series. In contrast, Roberto Clemente had come off of a frustrating rookie season with the Montreal Royals, which was an affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers. It was frustrating in that The Dodgers were trying to hide him from all of the other scouts and wanted him to get proper seasoning by playing a number of years in the minors. So his playing time was limited. In the end, their hesitance to play him worked against him as the Pittsburgh Pirates took Clemente with the 1st pick of the Rule V draft in the Winter of 1955. But let’s get back to Puerto Rico in late 1954.

So again, you’re sitting in this stadium watching two of the most exciting ballplayers to ever grace the diamond in any stadium and they are playing on not only the same field but on the same team! Now you may ask, how does this happen. The economic reality of the game in those years was much different than today. Where today’s player makes at least six figures at a minimum, players in the 1950’s didn’t make much money. So when the opportunity to play baseball year round in an ideal setting like the Caribbean came along the ballplayers took it. In addition to making more money, players who were either Black or Latino found that the exclusionary racial environment they faced on a daily basis in the United States was virtually non existent in the Caribbean. They were able to dine and go where they wanted and were treated with respect.

So, once again, you’re sitting in the stadium and have the luxury of knowing what kind of players Mays and Clemente would become. It’s easy for us to know how the players would develop, but in reality so did the Puerto Rican fans. Mays was already known and Clemente had been playing for the Santurce team from the age of 19 and he was known from his High School days as being an amazing player. So, though the Santurce team won their league and advanced to the Caribbean Series, Mays and Clemente were not the only ones who contributed. The vaunted lineup was also made up of sluggers Buster Clarkson, Bob Thurman, and George Crowe. Together with Mays and Clemente, they were known as El Escuadrón del Pánico (The Panic Squad). Also on the team was Puerto Rican legend Luis Rodriguez Olmo and a young shortstop named Don Zimmer.


Playing against the Legendary Almendares of Cuba, Carta Vieja of Panama and the home team Magallanes of Venezuela, The Puerto Rican team was able to win the round robin tournament by going undefeated (5-0). Mays ended the tournament with 2 homers and 9 RBI’s. Clemente also had one homer. Surprisingly, the MVP of the tournament was the unlikely hero, Don Zimmer, who hit 3 homers to take the honors.

There are many players that I personally could say that I wish I had the privilege to see in person. Though I could see footage of Mays and Clemente nothing could compare with seeing these Hall of Fame ballplayers in person. I can see in my head images of Mays making amazing catches with the ease that only he could. I also imaging Clemente running full speed to make an amazing basket catch then firing the ball to any base (And most times successfully) throwing runners out on the fly. I hope that as baseball fans you can imagine what I can and then some. Enjoy.