Discuss Planeteers....
http://uponfurtherreview.kansascity.com/?q=node/1582
All of which is just a long introduction to the question: is Johnny Damon a Hall of Famer?
He's sitting at 2,425 hits, so four more seasons and -- assuming the Yankees win one of the next three -- he'll have 3,000 hits along with (at least) two championship rings. Pretty good case, no?
He has scored more than 100 runs 10 times in his career. He will probably finish his career in the top 20 all-time, and perhaps even top 10 in runs scored.
It's a better career than you might think off hand, and in the end, his Hall candidacy probably depends more upon how closely voters draw their circle than anything.
For me, he falls just outside, as one of the really good players whose exclusion from the Hall makes the honor of being inducted even more special.
There are just too many holes in the argument. He's a top-of-the-order guy who strikes out more than he walks, is a career .288 hitter and never finished in the top 10 in on-base percentage (his career high was .382 in his last season with the Royals in 2000).
He is a corner outfielder with a legendarily bad arm who's led the league in something just three times -- runs (136) and steals (46) in 2000, and triples (11) in 2002. He's made just two All-Star teams, and never finished higher than 13th in MVP voting.
More than any of that, he's never been the best player at his position, or on his team. On Baseball Reference's similarity score, Lou Brock is the only Hall of Famer among the 10 listed with Damon (though Pete Rose is one of the others).
Anyway, the point here is not to bash a really good player the day after giving us a really great moment.
The point here is to solicit the thoughts of you fine readers while I prepare to jog off some of the cheesesteak from yesterday.
The Keltner List is a good tool to use in making judgments.
