Dick Allen and Fred McGriff and Core Value

In creating the CAWS Career Gauge, I have defined a player’s Core Value (CV) to be the sum of a player’s win shares for his ten best seasons. This concept is at the heart of the Gauge. But why is a player’s CV important in determining whether he has HOF numbers? Let’s take Dick Allen and Fred McGriff as examples to illustrate this point. Does either player (or both) have obvious Hall of Fame numbers?

Dick Allen played for 15 seasons and had 351 home runs. Fred McGriff played for 19 seasons and had 493 home runs. Allen had 342 career win shares and McGriff had 326. If one were to stop here, it might appear that there is very little difference between these two players. This is one example of where the concept of Core Value (CV) may be helpful.

Dick Allen’s Core Value is 304. Only 28 position players in the 20th century have had a CV of 304 or better. That means that for his ten best seasons, Dick Allen averaged better than 30 win shares per season – an extraordinary accomplishment. Worthy of the Hall of Fame? Oh, yes!!

Fred McGriff was a good, solid player for a long time. McGriff has a CV of 240 – which means that he averaged 24 win shares per season for his ten best seasons. That is a good CV but not exceptional – and in McGriff’s case, not worthy of the Hall of Fame.

Dick Allen’s CAWS score is 314 – ranking his career numbers as #36 among all position players of the century. Fred McGriff, with a CAWS score of 262, is not close to the top 100.

According to the CAWS Career Gauge, Dick Allen has HOF numbers while Fred McGriff does not.

If anyone would like to receive a free e-copy of the 100-page monograph: A HOF HANDBOOK: Who Belongs and Who Does Not, click on the right side on
Hoban’s HALL OF FAME HANDBOOK .