Baseball's Hall of Fame or Hall of Shame (47 page)

Guerrero will turn 33 shortly before the start of the 2009 campaign and appears to still have many outstanding seasons ahead of him. For most of his career, he has been one of the five best all-around players in the game. The only criticisms one might have of him are that he sometimes plays erratically in the field (he has committed 123 errors in his 12 seasons), and that he doesn’t always hustle. In addition, he has spent increasingly more time at the DH spot the last two years. But Guerrero’s tremendous talent and offensive production are more than enough to compensate for those shortcomings. Unless his earlier back problems resurface, Guerrero appears destined for Cooperstown.

Magglio Ordonez

One of baseball’s most consistently productive offensive players for much of the past decade has been Magglio Ordonez. He has excellent power at the plate, hits for a high batting average, and is an outstanding run-producer.

Ordonez first joined the Chicago White Sox towards the end of the 1997 season. He took over as the club’s starting rightfielder the following year, and, by 1999, established himself as the team’s primary power threat, along with Frank Thomas. In the five seasons between 1999 and 2003, Ordonez averaged 32 home runs, 118 runs batted in, and 102 runs scored, while batting over .300 each year. His two best years in Chicago were 2000 and 2002. In the first of those campaigns, Ordonez hit 32 home runs, drove in 126 runs, scored 102 others, and batted .315. In 2002, he hit a career-high 38 homers, knocked in 135 runs, scored another 116, and batted .320.

However, after another extremely productive year in 2003, Ordonez needed surgery to repair a badly damaged knee that severely limited his playing time in 2004. After appearing in only 52 games for the White Sox that year, Ordonez signed on with the Detroit Tigers as a free agent at the conclusion of the campaign. Still recuperating from his earlier operation, Ordonez played in only 82 games for the Tigers in 2005. Thus, it appeared that any Hall of Fame aspirations Ordonez might have had earlier in his career had been shattered. But he returned to the Detroit lineup on a full-time basis the following year, hitting 24 home runs, driving in 104 runs, and batting .298. He followed that up with the greatest season of his career in 2007, hitting 28 home runs and establishing new career-highs with 139 runs batted in, 117 runs scored, 216 hits, and a league-leading 54 doubles and .363 batting average. Ordonez finished runner-up to Alex Rodriguez in the league MVP voting at the end of the year. The rightfielder had another solid year in 2008, hitting 21 homers, driving in 103 runs, and batting .317.

In all, Ordonez has topped 30 homers four times, 100 runs batted in seven times, 100 runs scored four times, and 40 doubles four times. He has also hit over .300 in nine of his eleven big league seasons, twice topping the .320-mark. Ordonez has been named to six All-Star teams, has placed in the top ten in the league MVP voting twice, and has led his league in a major statistical category twice, finishing as high as second on four other occasions. Heading into 2009, these are his career statistics:

Those are hardly Hall of Fame numbers, and, considering that Ordonez will be 35 at the start of the season, he may not be able to compile the totals necessary to convince the members of the BBWAA to vote for him when he eventually becomes eligible for induction. Still, he continues to be an extremely productive hitter and may yet have another four or five outstanding years left in him. If he does, he has an outside chance of being elected when his playing days are over.

Ichiro Suzuki

The Seattle Mariners Ichiro Suzuki was hardly a typical major league rookie when he first joined the team in 2001. After all, the rightfielder previously starred in the Japanese professional leagues for several years. Indeed, as one of the greatest Japanese players ever, Ichiro is an icon in his native land. Thus, it should have come as a surprise to no one that, in his first big league season, Ichiro captured American League Rookie of the Year honors. The thing that did astound the American public, though, was the extent of Ichiro’s talent. Not only was he an outstanding hitter, but he also possessed great running speed, a powerful throwing arm, and superb defensive skills in the outfield. Ichiro’s overall ability enabled him to win the American League’s Most Valuable Player Award in his first year in the league. As a rookie, he hit 8 home runs, knocked in 69 runs, scored 127 others, and led the league with a .350 batting average, 242 hits, and 56 stolen bases. He also won a Gold Glove Award for his excellent outfield play.

In each of the next seven seasons, Ichiro has continued to perform at an extremely high level, always finishing among the league leaders in batting average, hits, and stolen bases.

He had his greatest season in 2004, leading the league with a .372 batting average and 262 hits. Those 262 hits broke an 84 year-old record previously set by George Sisler (257) in 1920. Ichiro had another exceptional year in 2007, batting .351, scoring 111 runs, and leading the league with 238 hits. In his eight major league seasons, Ichiro has batted over .300, scored more than 100 runs, stolen more than 30 bases, and accumulated more than 200 hits each year. He has won two batting titles, has led the league in hits five times, has topped the circuit in stolen bases once, and has won a Gold Glove every year. He has also been selected to the All-Star Team each year, and has finished in the top ten in the league MVP voting three times. After his first eight seasons, these are the numbers he has compiled:

Ichiro’s .331 career batting average is the second-highest among active players, and he has more hits after his first eight seasons than any player in baseball history. However, since he will be 35 at the start of the 2009 campaign, there is a possibility he will never reach 3,000 safeties for his career. Nevertheless, Ichiro’s status as one of the era’s greatest hitters and finest all-around players practically guarantees him a place in Cooperstown when his career is over. Prior to 2007, the only stumbling block appeared to be whether or not Suzuki wished to continue playing baseball in the United States once his contract with Seattle expired at the end of the season. But, after he signed an extension with the Mariners early in the year, it became clear that Ichiro will eventually meet the ten-year minimum requirement to be eligible for induction to the Hall of Fame.

Johan Santana

Major league baseball’s best pitcher since the turn of the century has been lefthander Johan Santana. In his five years as a full-time starter, Santana has been named
The Sporting News
Pitcher of the Year twice, has won two Cy Young Awards, and has placed in the top five in the voting three other times.

Santana first arrived in the big leagues with the Minnesota Twins in 2000, pitching mostly out of the bullpen his first three years with the team. He earned a regular spot in Minnesota’s starting rotation midway through the 2003 campaign, compiling a record of 12-3 in his 18 starts, and striking out 169 batters in 158 innings of work. The following year, Santana developed into the American League’s best pitcher, finishing 20-6, with a league-leading 2.61 earned run average and 265 strikeouts. At season’s end, he was awarded his first Cy Young trophy and also placed sixth in the league MVP balloting. Santana had another outstanding season in 2005, going 16-7 with a 2.87 ERA, and leading the league with 238 strikeouts. He followed that up with a brilliant 2006 campaign in which he captured the pitcher’s triple crown by leading all American League hurlers in wins (19), earned run average (2.77), and strikeouts (245). Santana won his second Cy Young that year and also placed seventh in the MVP voting. His performance fell off a bit in 2007 (he finished only 15-13), but he still managed to place among the league leaders in earned run average (3.33) and strikeouts (235). At the end of the season, Santana was dealt to the New York Mets, for whom he pitched brilliantly in 2008.

Santana finished the year with a record of 16-7, and would have easily won 20 games had New York’s shaky bullpen not betrayed him on numerous occasions, squandering leads he left to its members during the final two innings. In addition to his outstanding won-lost record, Santana led all N.L. hurlers with a 2.53 ERA and 234 innings pitched, and also finished second in the circuit with 206 strikeouts.

In his five full seasons as a starter, Santana has led the league in wins once, earned run average three times, strikeouts three times, and innings pitched twice. In addition to his two Cy Young Awards, Santana has won a Gold Glove and has been named to three All-Star teams. Heading into 2009, he has a career record of 109-51, with an ERA of 3.11 and 1,587 strikeouts in 1,543 innings pitched. Having allowed opposing hitters only 1,274 base hits, he has an excellent hits-to-innings pitched ratio. He also has an outstanding strikeouts-to-walks ratio of almost four-to-one.

Santana will turn 30 shortly before the 2009 season begins. He, therefore, should still have many fine years ahead of him. Although he must accomplish a great deal more before his name can be linked to the Hall of Fame, Santana appears to be well on his way to doing just that.

Tim Hudson

Upon his arrival in the big leagues with the Oakland Athletics in 1999, righthander Tim Hudson was an instant success, compiling a record of 11-2 with a 3.23 ERA as a rookie. Although Hudson’s ERA was a mediocre 4.14 in his sophomore campaign, he finished 20-6, making him the American League’s winningest pitcher, and enabling him to finish second in the Cy Young balloting. Hudson was also extremely effective in each of the next three seasons. In 2001, he finished 18-9, with a 3.37 earned run average. In 2002, he was 15-9, with an ERA of 2.98. In 2003, he finished 16-7, with a 2.70 ERA. In both 2004 and 2005, Hudson’s total number of starts was reduced somewhat due to a slight soreness he experienced in his pitching arm. Yet, he still managed to finish a combined 26-15, with an ERA just over 3.50 both years. Pitching more regularly in 2006, Hudson won 13 games for the Braves, who acquired him in a trade with Oakland the previous year. He had his best year in Atlanta in 2007, finishing 16-10, with a 3.33 ERA.

Through 2008, Hudson has compiled an outstanding won-lost record of 146-77, with a very respectable 3.48 ERA. He has led his league in wins once, and in shutouts twice. He has been selected to the All-Star Team twice, and has finished in the top ten in the Cy Young balloting three times, placing in the top five on two occasions. Hudson is a fine pitcher, and he will be only 33 years old at the start of the 2009 season. If he is able to put together another five or six solid seasons and raise his win total to something approaching 250, Hudson has a chance to be elected to Cooperstown when his career is over.

Roy Halladay

One of baseball’s best pitchers from 2002 to 2008 has been righthander Roy Halladay of the Toronto Blue Jays. For much of that time, he has rivaled Johan Santana as the American League’s best pitcher, consistently placing among the circuit’s leaders in wins, earned run average, innings pitched, and complete games.

Halladay first joined the Blue Jays at the end of the 1998 campaign, finally becoming a regular member of the team’s starting rotation in 2002. In his first full year as a starter, Halladay compiled a record of 19-7, with an outstanding 2.93 ERA and a league-leading 239 innings pitched. He was even better in 2003, leading all American League pitchers with a record of 22-7, 266 innings pitched, and nine complete games, and also finishing among the leaders with 204 strikeouts and a 3.25 earned run average. For his outstanding performance, Halladay was presented with the Cy Young Award at season’s end, and was also named
The
Sporting News
Pitcher of the Year.

Injuries limited Halladay to a total of only 40 starts the next two seasons, when he combined for just 20 victories. Yet, he remained an extremely effective pitcher, particularly in 2005, when he compiled a record of 12-4 and an exceptional 2.41 ERA, before being placed on the disabled list at midseason. Healthy again in 2006, Halladay won 16 games in each of the next two seasons, before having his finest all-around year in 2008. Halladay finished 20-11, with a 2.78 earned run average, 206 strikeouts, and a league-leading nine complete games and 246 innings pitched. During his career, Halladay has compiled an outstanding 131-66 record, while pitching to a very respectable 3.52 ERA.