HOF Candidates in 2012 Topps

Piggybacking on yesterday's post, the 2012 Topps set was also represented by several of this year's Hall of Fame candidates.  I purposely held off commenting on a couple players yesterday because they fall into a unique category in these discussions, infielders but not first basemen.  When you discuss the Hall worthiness of second basemen, shortstops, and third basemen, an interesting thing happens.  Suddenly, the discussion isn't about being one of the all-time great baseball players.  It's now about being one of the best at their position.  Now we're in the territory of increased WAR talk and factoring current representation already in the Hall for their position.  I understand the rationale.  A player who hits 45 HR with 120 RBI as a second baseman is more important to the team than an outfielder who does.  Why?  Because second basemen who can do that are harder to find than outfielders who can.  But consider this.  There's an underlying assumption in that way of thinking which I've never heard brought up before.  Without realizing it, that thought implies that baseball players are fielders who also have to hit.  Is that true?  Or is it the other way around?  Instead, are baseball players hitters who also have to field?  I honestly don't have an answer to this.  Until I do, I'm not inclined to admit lesser hitters into the Hall based on the position they play.

Luckily, Chipper Jones makes this a moot point.  His career numbers are fantastic across the board.  An easy Yes vote from me.

And then there's Scott Rolen.  At first glance, he's an obvious No, right?  I mean, did you ever watch him play and think, there's one of the best to ever play the game?  I don't think very many have.  It's when you bring positional bias and WAR (a flawed statistic) into play that he even enters the conversation.  Hopefully, I can address WAR in a future post.  Rolen had nice career numbers, but not Hall worthy. 

Andrew Jones is in the discussion based on his defense and power.  He batting average was really low, and he didn't even get 2,000 career hits.  There's got to be a basement level for some of the important counting stats, and 2,000 hits is one for me.  His defense was stellar, though.  But considering you have a chance to impact the game's score every time you bat, but rarely when you're in the field, I weigh hitting a lot more.  Jones is a No vote for me.
Here's another card of Johan Santana.  He had the goods, that's for sure.  He just didn't have much longevity.

Manny Ramirez never played a game for the Oakland A's, but here he is in an A's uniform nonetheless.

Jim Thome played 30 games for Philadelphia in his final season.  He also played a few for Baltimore, but the Phillies get his card.