Hall Of Fame Candidates: Season 19

In an effort to help everyone evaluate the Hall of Fame candidates for Season 19, here are their career numbers simplified for easy comparisons (along with my analysis). I've included all pitchers with 1,000 innings and all hitters with 6,500 plate appearances.

PITCHER              IP      ERA
Gary Long          3000     3.50
Benny Molina       2700     4.00
Max Leary          2600     3.50
Jayson Ellis       2100     4.00
Miguel Torres      1800     4.00
Billy Stovall      1600     3.50
Tim Stark          1250     3.25
J.D. Jackson       1050     3.25

My take: Gary Long should be a no-brainer pick as one of the truly elite pitchers in Gleeman World history, but Max Leary is under-appreciated. Leary has the same ERA as Long in about 13 percent fewer innings and is clearly ahead of the other starter candidates. Tim Stark and J.D. Jackson are among the top relievers in Gleeman World history, but I'm not very keen on voting for relievers when they have only half as many innings as various starter candidates.

HITTER               PA      OPS     POS
Bernard Rhodes    10300     .925     1B/LF
Darrin Murphy      8400     .850     2B/1B
Bud Jones          8300     .850     LF/RF
Luis Cervantes     7700     .875     1B/DH
Ralph Jackson      7700     .875     DH/1B
Thumper Neagle     7600     .900     DH/C
Nate McMillan      7400     .850     DH/1B
Brooks Zaun        7300     .825     RF/3B
Bono Hughes        7300     .775     3B/RF
R.J. Granados      7000     .875     2B/LF
Darwin Stocker     7000     .850     RF/LF
Ted Simpson        6900     .900     1B/DH
Dennis James       6900     .850     SS/3B
Jose Morales       6700     .825     LF/RF
Nigel Whang        6700     .800     CF/LF
Tony Cortes        6600     .825     SS/3B

My take: As one of three Gleeman World players with 3,000 hits Bernard Rhodes is a no-brainer even more so than Long on the pitching side. After that it gets a bit muddled, as the ballot is filled with first basemen, designated hitters, and corner outfielders with OPS in the .850-.900 range. I tend to think middle infielders and center fielders are too often overlooked, so I'd highlight Darrin Murphy as being very underrated with the second-most plate appearances of any candidate and a bat that compares to most 1B/LF/RF candidates while playing mostly second base (albeit not particularly well).

Dennis James' bat also compares to most 1B/LF/RF candidates, yet he played third base and shortstop. Having only 6,900 plate appearances hurts his case, but his .850 OPS was significantly more valuable than all those .850-.900 OPS from 1B/LF/RF. Jose Morales has gotten substantial support in the past despite only 6,700 plate appearances and he's a solid enough candidate, but I'm not sure why anyone would rank him above Nigel Whang. Morales had an .800 OPS and 600 steals in 6,700 PA as mostly a left fielder, while Whang had an .800 OPS and 500 steals in 6,700 PA as mostly a center fielder. Their offensive contributions are nearly identical and once you factor in defense and positional adjustments Whang should clearly be ahead.

My ballot: Bernard Rhodes, Gary Long, Max Leary, Darrin Murphy.