To All Baseball Fans: If you had the power to vote just one of the following into the Hall of Fame............

Question

who would it be and why?

Dwight Evans
Alan Trammell
Dave Parker
Don Mattingly
Andre Dawson

Best analogy wins the points.

Some of you are adding names and I understand why, however please stick to the names I've mentioned. We can debate others at a later date.

Answer 1

Damn that's hard.

Let's go through them -
Dwight Evans - greatly underrated player. Can't really say anything bad about him. He was unheralded because there were always bigger stars on his team and he was viewed as a defensive outfielder who was so-so at the plate. But he became a better hitter as he aged which is very unusual. But he's not a hall of famer.

Trammell - I loved his grittiness. He should really be mentioned when the evolution of slugging shortstops is discussed. Had some excellent seasons and a lot of good ones. Alot of his perceived worth in Tiger fans eyes is his teaming with Lou Whitaker - we shouldn't elect people to the hall based on their combined value with other players -they already made that mistake with Tinker to Evans to Chance. It's tough, and it would be no shame of the hall to have him in but in the end - not quite.

Parker - Wasted too much of his talent with drugs. His punishment - NO HALL FOR YOU!

Dawson - If they voted based on physique alone, the Hawk would be a first round shoe in. But they don't so... Not enough top years.

So, that leaves us with Donny Ballgame. And maybe I'm biased because he's one of my favorite Yankees of my lifetime. All-round great player. Superlative first baseman (I think he once went 162 game stretch without an error), hit for average, power. Set records for Grand Slams in a season, most games in a row with homeruns, doubles (Yankee record). But career cut short by injuries. That's what keeps him out. But in his favor is that I think he is one of those guys who provided huge intangibles by setting a tone and style for a whole organization. You ask guys like Derek Jeter or Paul O'Neil how they learned to be professionals and play all out, to put the team before themselves - and they'll point to Mattingly as the guy who showed them the way.

So, screw the career stats and what any of those other players accomplished - you gave me the power to choose and I'm using it to pick a player based on his playing the game the way it is supposed to be played and for the impact he had on other players!

Answer 2

Dwight Evans - Tough case, but ultimately I wouldn't vote him him. His career was good, sometimes very good, but I wouldn't rank him among the elite outfielders of his era.

Alan Trammell - Another tough case, but I think Trammell merits inclusion. He was a very good hitter and an excellent defensive player at a position that requires defense. During his prime he was the 2nd best SS in the American League (behind Ripken) and among the top shortstops in all of baseball for well over a decade.

Dave Parker - Had more big seasons that Evans, but I'd value his career about the same. Not a Hall of Famer.

Don Mattingly - These are hard cases which, I assume, is why you picked them. Like Kirby Puckett Mattingly's career was cut short by injury, albeit not as extreme an injury as Puckett's. However, he was the best first baseman in baseball for several years and, one could argue, the best player in baseball for a year or two. That, to me, is enough. And I haven't even addressed his work ethic and class (even though technically they don't count, but we all know they do). I'd put him in.

Andre Dawson - Again, he falls into the Evans/Parker mold, although I believe both of them were better than the Hawk. I'd pass on him.

Edit: I just read an answer that says the Hall of Fame is just for the "best of the best". Just look at who's in there and you'll quickly see this is not true. Not that I'm advocating continuing the practice of putting borderline, sometimes under the line, players in, but the Hall of Fame, from the early 40's until now, has not been about honoring the best of best. If anything, it's honored the "very good" along with the "best".

Answer 3

Probably not a popular selection but DAVE PARKER! For a time in the late 70's and early 80's he was dominate; he was the guy that EVERY Team feared. He was the first million dollar man, every one in the league feared facing him. He has rings to back up his stats...but really let himself go by the late 80's and turned into a good DH but not a great fielder, you could almost that to this point he ate himself out of the Hall. To me a Hall of Fame player is someone that beyond the stats has the intangibles, the guy that no one wanted to face, the guy that did the little things that are not reflective on the stat sheet.

My favorite on that list is Don Mattingly; not because I am a Yankee fan, I am actually not a true fan of the Yankees, I respect them but in the 80's he was the face of the Yankees; the face of the biggest team (although they were a bad team most of his years).

Answer 4

They all are good choices,but I believe that the HOF is being misunderstood by most baseball fans.This is a Shrine only for the Best of the Best. If every player that has had out-standing careers were put in there
what would be the point of having a HOF.
Now there are many,many players that deserve to be considered for induction,but as I said earlier its for the Best of the Best.
Just being a Professional baseball player you have a great amount of talent,and have
lived a Dream most of us have had since childhood.I believe your off-field behavior should count towards induction,now having said that alot of players currently in the HOF would never have made it,never less even been considered.O'ya back to your question,I would say Dave Parker,I was lucky enough to see him play in person and he had one of the best arms I'd ever seen,he would throw frozen ropes from the warning track to home-plate.Major Leagurers today can't throw anybody out like yesteryear.

Answer 5

Although I love Dewey, Mattingly is the obvious choice. 1985 MVP, 1985 ML POY, 6 time all star, 9 gold gloves, and the list of firsts goes on forever. All this over 14 years. Also, he's a Yankee that I actually like and a class-act IMO.
Dewey was a 3 time all-star and won 6 gold gloves over 20 years. (19 in Boston)
Dawson would be a close second to Mattingly. He was a ROY, 1 time MVP, 8 time all-star, and 8 gold gloves. He accomplished all this over 20 + years.

Answer 6

Don Mattingly:

Won 9 Gold Gloves as a first baseman (2nd all time).
All time leader in fielding percentage (.996).
1984 Batting Champion (.343)
1985 MVP (.324 AVG 35 HR 145 RBI).
Career batting average (.307)
6 Time All-Star.

Answer 7

Sorry, none of them really deserve to go in. They are all close, but not a one of them has a compelling argument. Besides, I always believe that the best player NOT in the hall should go in next.
Gavvy Cravath, Tony Oliva, Ron Santo, and Joe Torre (as a player) all are more deserving than any of these five.
"Because I love him" is pretty much "because I say so" and is a poor answer for anyone over the age of five.

Answer 8

Out of the 5 you listed, its Andre Dawson 400+ career hrs, an mvp, ton of gold gloves in right field. However If I had a vote to put someone in there, I'd be Luis Tiant, look at his career stats, they are superior to a lot of guys in the Hall right now including Catfish Hunter.

Answer 9

I would select Andre Dawson.

Of those five players, none of them had to go through as much as of a daily regimen just to get ready for any game - be it the playoffs or a meaningless spring training tilt - and considering how badly the astroturf ravaged his knees in particular, it was impressive just how his career was able to proceed...especially past his prime when he was perhaps an even better player, as opposed to what he accomplished in his Montreal days.

Answer 10

Curt Schilling - i admire his possibilities, and there are worse already in the hall of recognition (Drysdale) the bloody sock already is why no longer Curt sometime. Jeff Bagwell - i think of luggage has an solid hazard of one day being inducted yet surely no longer a generic pollhall of recognition, huge and robust yet profession cut back short. intense-high quality totals nonetheless for a fifteen 365 days profession. could be inducted along with his counterpart the different Killer B (Biggio) Jim Thome - Thome is an exciting case will end with extra suitable than six hundred abode Runs and extra suitable than 1500 RBI's yet a sub par Avg and Base Hits (2138) he would be there sometime in simple terms what 365 days which would be we would could wait a at an identical time as. Jim Edmonds - no longer genuine specific why he's in this checklist yet hall of very solid in simple terms no longer hall of recognition Juan Gonzalez - Its nevertheless a danger, i think of this one relies upon on his involvement with steroids. intense-high quality numbers for a profession cut back short by utilising injuries, in simple terms think of what he might have accomplished if he performed 162 video games in step with 365 days in his final 3 seasons. Vladimir Guerrero - he's definitely on his way and arguably already has the numbers to circulate in, If he continues to be healthful for yet another 3 or 4 season then it somewhat is a no-brainer if no longer then we can all in simple terms could wait and spot. he's 34 and could be turning 35 in spring training which you may in simple terms could wait and spot. Trevor Hoffman - they'll could define what a hall of recognition alleviation pitcher is till now i will remark on Mr Hoffman (or Mr Rivera for that count number) in extra suitable than one hundred seasons there are in ordinary terms 5 alleviation Aces inducted (palms, Gossage, Wilhelm, Sutter, Eckersley) Mike Mussina - Hmm exciting one that .638 prevailing pct cant be passed over that a million.192 WHIP cant be passed over yet that 3.sixty 8 era is very intense, there are way extra suitable yet lots worse already in, we can could see what them writers think of of his contributions, jewelry and his friends. Gary Sheffield - I say if he reaches 3000 Base Hits then it somewhat is a no-brainer if he would not then i don't be attentive to, surely on the bubble. Larry Walker - I consistently popular Larry however the only way he gets in the hall of recognition is the comparable way you or i will, purchase a value tag. solid question Merry Christmas