The 2010 HOF Ballot – The Case for Roberto Alomar

Roberto Alomar appears on the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot for the first time this year. Given his career achievements, he has the credentials to be a first round pick for the Hall.

In seventeen big league seasons, Robbie had 2724 hits in 2379 games, a .300 batting average and an on-base-percentage of .371. He scored 1508 runs while knocking in 1134. But numbers like these do not always mean a lot to fans of the game. The real question when assessing a player’s career achievementsis how did he stack up against the other great second basemen and, more broadly, against the other great players of his time?

This is precisely what the CAWS Career Gauge attempts to do. It demonstrates whether a player has obvious Hall of Fame numbersby comparing his career with that of the other great players at his position as well as the greatest players of the period. And Roberto Alomar clearly has Hall of Fame numbers.

In the modern era (since 1920), only ninety-six (96) position playershave accumulated HOF numbers on the playing field during the regular season. Of these, only twelve were second basemen. Here are those players. The first number is career win shares, the second is core value (the win shares for the ten best seasons) and the third is the CAWS score. Bold print means they are in the Hall of Fame.

The Second Basemen with Obvious HOF Numbers

As you can see, Robbie Alomar had the fifth best career enjoyed by a second baseman in the modern era. That statement alone should establish his place in the Hall of Fame. It could be argued that the top ten players at each position probably deserve induction into the shrine at Cooperstown.

You may be surprised by Craig Biggio’s place among these players. I know I was. And note that three of these second basemen have played during the 21st century. A ”rule of thumb” regarding the CAWS Gauge is that any position player with a core value of 250 or greater deserves a very serious look for the Hall of Fame.

An obvious question that arises here is: Why are Bobby Grich and Lou Whitaker not in the Hall of Fame?

Here are a few second basemen who are in the Hall of Fame but whose careers rank below those of the players above.

Note that none of these players has a CV of 250 or better.

Finally, in judging whether Roberto Alomar is truly worthy of induction into the Hall, let’s take a look at where he ranks overall among the best position players of the modern era.

I mentioned above that according to the CAWS Gauge, there are only ninety-six (96) position players who have accumulated obvious HOF numbers since 1920. From that list, here are those players who are just above and just below Roberto Alomar.

You can see that among these 96 outstanding players, Robbie is #45. That’s right – he is among the top half of this list of the best position players from the last ninety years. So, we are not talking here about someone who has marginal numbers. We are talking about a true super star and obvious Hall of Fame player.

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