Hall Watch 2006 Update- The Second Basemen

Monday, November 06 2006 @ 07:26 AM EST

Two years ago, I looked at Jeff Kent, Roberto Alomar and Craig Biggio in two pieces- Part 1 and Part 2. Since then, Alomar has retired while Kent and Biggio have wrestled Old Man Time to a draw. Let's see whether I said anything really dumb, and where they stand now.

Jeff Kent

Two years ago, I said of Kent:

"Overall, I would rate Kent as a B+ defensive second baseman. Alomar would be a C+ defensive second baseman, and Biggio a C defensive second baseman.

So, should Jeff Kent be in Hall of Fame? Will he? His performance has been quite comparable with Doyle and Grich to date, and he may have 2 or 3 seasons left. That means, for me, he should clearly be in now, even if his career ended tomorrow. As for his chances, that is more difficult. It is likely that Roberto Alomar will be seen as the greatest second baseman of the 90s thanks to his Gold Gloves, and the 3000 hits he’s likely to have when he finishes. If the past is an indicator, that means Alomar gets the baseball writer’s vote, and Kent’s election will depend on the Veterans’ Committee. I’d guess that Biggio will get more support from the BBWAA than Kent, and later the Veterans’ Committee, and that Kent will be out. Now, if he were to find his way onto a champion, and contribute mightily over the next couple of years, the calculus might be different."

Kent had great age 37 and age 38 seasons in 2005-06, essentially hitting at his superb career norms, while playing 271 games. He is still an adequate second baseman, and has now played 1785 games at the position. He now has hit 345 homers. There has never been a second baseman with anything like this total. The most comparable hitters to him, according to BBRef.com, are (drum roll please for last week's contestants):

Player	AB	HR	W	K	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLUG	OPS+
Kent	7564	345	719	1409	93	56	.289	.356	.504	126
Burks	7199	351	790	1332	179	84	.292	.364	.511	126
Parker	8246	307	609	1337	147	103	.293	.343	.479	124
Berra	7546	348	704	411	30	26	.285	.348	.483	125

Congratulations, Sheldon, on naming Berra as a comparable to Kent. Berra is a pretty comparable hitter, bearing in mind the differences between the American League of the 50s, and the current National League. Berra also played a key defensive position well, and in fact had more defensive value than Kent.

At this point, Kent has had as good a career as Bobby Grich with the bat, and is modestly behind him with the glove. I now think that his chances are a little above 50% (it obviously would have helped if he had led the Dodgers to the World Series this year). With Grich, there was no one number that might persuade the voters that he was qualified. With Kent, the homer total as a second baseman might be the ticket.

Roberto Alomar

Two years ago, I made the obvious prediction that Roberto Alomar would end up with 3,000 hits and Craig Biggio would end up with 2,700-2,800. Wrong-o. I said:

"Should Roberto be in the Hall of Fame? Will he? In my view, though he has not been as good offensively or defensively as Kent, Alomar should be a Hall of Famer, due to the quality and length of his offensive prime. He has been one of the top 20 second baseman of the 20th century, and that should be good enough. I figure that two second baseman per decade is a reasonable average. Alomar will definitely go to the Hall- his hit total, his Gold Gloves and his playoff performance in my view, pretty much guarantee that; I just cannot see a second baseman who has won 11 Gold Gloves and has 3,000 hits not being there."

I still think that Alomar should be inducted, and that he will, notwithstanding his failure to reach the 3,000 hit plateau. He was a great hitter for a second baseman, with a great defensive reputation. I don't think that he was better than Lou Whitaker, but that is a very high standard.

Craig Biggio

In 2004, Biggio was an outfielder for the Astros, while Jeff Kent played second base. I said at the time:

"Should Craig Biggio be in the Hall of Fame? Will he? Biggio has played longer than Lou Whitaker with about the same level of offensive performance, and as long as Frankie Frisch with better performance. He was for several years the best leadoff hitter in the game and a fine second baseman. Overall, though, his defence was not up to their level, in my view, and I make him a marginal Hall of Famer.. On the other hand, I expect that he will eventually make it. He should finish up with 2700-2800 hits, four Gold Gloves, and a name (as one of the Killer Bs)."

Kent left Houston after 2004, and Biggio returned to second base. He gave them a very good year in 2005, and a below par one in 2006 at age 40. His six most comparable players according to BBRef are now in order: Joe Morgan, Paul Molitor, Cal Ripken, Brooks Robinson, George Brett and Rickey Henderson. It is hard to imagine a single player having such a disparate group of comparables, with the only real common element being longevity. I am pretty sure that he will make it, and I am now convinced that he deserves it handily.

Maybe, all will end up right with the world in a decade or three. Morgan, Carew, Grich, Sandberg, Whitaker, Kent, Alomar and Biggio will all be in the Hall of Fame as the second basemen of the period 1965-2005. Eight second basemen for four decades is exactly right, and those should be the men.

Next up: Miguel Tejada and an update on the shortstops I looked at in 2004 . If you can name one of Julio Franco's two most comparable hitters according to BBRef.com, without peeking, you will receive something much more enduring than a convocation of cuttlefish- your name in bold on the world wide web.

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