Should Roberto Alomar be elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility? The spitting incident with umpire John Hirschbeck does not help his case, but it really has nothing to do with his success on the field. Fans may also remember that Alomar’s career ended with a couple of mediocre seasons, but when you look at his statistics, it’s a no-brainer.
Alomar won 10 Gold Gloves, compiled a .300 lifetime batting average, stole 474 bases, and was a 12-time All-Star. He represented four different teams over 12 consecutive years in the Midsummer Classic and was named All-Star Game MVP in 1998. Alomar was also the 1992 ALCS MVP and had a monster World Series in 1993 (.480/.519/.640, six RBI and four stolen bases). He would have been named MVP of the ’93 Fall Classic had it not been for teammate Paul Molitor, who was even better (.500/.571/1.000, two home runs, eight RBI and 10 runs scored). Roberto Alomar was the best second baseman – both offensively and defensively – of the nineties, and should be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
How ‘bout that?
How about Albert Pujols’s dominance in the NL MVP balloting? Not only did he win by a wide margin, but Pujols claimed the award by unanimous decision – 32 first-place votes. His numbers speak for themselves: .327 batting average, 47 home runs, and 135 RBI’s, good for third, first, and third, respectively, in the National League. As if he weren’t contributing enough with the bat, Pujols helped his team on the bases, stealing 16 while being caught just four times. He led the majors in intentional walks (with 44) and had twice as many as the nearest competition, Adrian Gonzalez, who finished with 22. Around the majors, Pujols is both feared and respected.
How about Andy Pettitte? Despite his three-year hiatus from the Bronx Bombers, Pettitte has as many World Series rings (five) as teammates Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, and Jorge Posada, and even had the chance at another in 2005 with the Astros, who were swept by the White Sox in the Fall Classic that year. With four wins during his team’s run to their 27th World Series Championship, Pettitte passed John Smoltz for the all-time Major League lead with 18 career postseason wins, 17 of which have come as a member of the Yankees. Yankee fans are anxious to see whether Pettitte will decide to retire or play another year in the Bronx.
How about the Red Sox even thinking about moving Dustin Pedroia to shortstop? I like his willingness to change positions if it will help the team, but I don’t think it would be a wise decision for the Sox. It isn’t that Pedroia couldn’t handle shortstop; he played the position for Arizona State not too long ago. But he’s played a strong second base in the majors, making just six errors in each of his three full seasons in the big leagues and winning a Gold Glove in 2008. What if he moves to short, makes a few big errors early in the season, starts thinking about his defense all the time and goes into a slump at the plate? A smarter move is to spend the money on a proven shortstop and not mess with what works. Thankfully for Red Sox Nation, infielder Marco Scutaro signed a two-year contract today to become Boston’s shortstop, so Pedroia will continue to play second base for the foreseeable future.
You have got to be kidding me…two records that you wouldn’t believe
Mark Lemke played second base for the Atlanta Braves in the late eighties and better part of the nineties. He did not hit for a very high average (.246 for his career) and never made the All-Star team, but Lemke was a solid defensive player. I would have pegged him as a scrappy player, perhaps an earlier version of Fernando Viña or David Eckstein – a guy who tries to get on base at any cost. However, that was far from the case. As it turns out, Lemke is the all time record holder for most career plate appearances – 3,664 – without being hit by a pitch!
Another hard-to-believe record: in 1997, Craig Biggio became the first player not to ground into a double play in an entire 162-game season. In addition to how extraordinary this is for any player, it was an even more unlikely feat for Biggio for two reasons: first, as a right-handed batter, Biggio’s running time to first base was longer than it would have been for a left-hander with the same speed. Second, Biggio hit at the top of the order for the Astros and came to the plate more times that year (744 plate appearances) than every other player in the National League. To put into perspective just how unbelievable Biggio’s double-play-free season was, consider this: Jim Rice hit into 36 double plays in 1984, and two players have grounded into four double plays in a single game – Joe Torre while playing for the Mets in 1975, and Hall of Famer (and left-handed hitter) Goose Goslin, for the Tigers, in 1934.
Keywords: Adrian Gonzalez, Albert Pujols, Andy Pettitte, Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Craig Biggio, David Eckstein, Derek Jeter, Dustin Pedroia, Fernando Viña, GIDP, Goose Goslin, Hall of Fame, hit by pitch, Houston Astros, Jim Rice, Joe Torre, John Hirschbeck, John Smoltz, Jorge Posada, Marco Scutaro, Mariano Rivera, Mark Lemke, National League Most Valuable Player, New York Yankees, Paul Molitor, Red Sox Nation, Roberto Alomar
