What, you think I'm trying to come up with the most random topics I can think of? You don't think it's relevant that Pedro Feliz & Vic Power are tied for #999 all time in OPS? What can I say. This is how I get down.

I intend this to be some kind of series on the worst hitting Hall of Famer at each position. But I am going to continue my policy from the past of pretty much ignoring players who played their entire career in the dead ball era. It's just too hard to compare them to the players that played ball post 1920.

With that being said, my selection for the worst hitting 3rd baseman among Hall of Famers is none other than Brooks Robinson. Certainly his numbers are dampened somewhat by playing in a pretty pitcher dominated era, but regardless of your era it's hard to put a positive spin on a career OBP of .325 or a career SLG of .401 or a batting average of .267 for that matter.

But his career OPS is actually above 100 (104 to be exact) so I will not say he was a below average hitter, just far below average for a hall of famer. Obviously he was selected to the hall mostly on the strength of his glove (16 Gold Glove awards) and his long solid career.

Robinson won the MVP award in 1964. He hit .317 with 28 home runs that year. Both numbers were career highs. That was actually the only time in his career he finished in the top 10 in OPS. He was 6th at .889.

Actually. I'm wrong. It really should be Travis Jackson. At 102, his career OPS+ is even lower than Robinson's. In fact it's the lowest of all of the 3rd basemen in the Hall of Fame (including dead ball era players.)

Who is Travis Jackson? I consider myself reasonably well versed in baseball history but his name doesn't even ring a bell for me. He has to be one of the least known Hall of Famers.

He played from 1922 to 1936. His entire career was with the New York Giants which probably explains why he's in the Hall of Fame (New York bias anyone?) There were no Gold Glove awards back then but I assume he must have been considered a very good fielder to make up for his rather average hitting. It's hard to understand how he finished in the top 10 in MVP voting 4 times otherwise. (Except for maybe New York bias...)

Labels: Brooks Robinson, Hall Of Fame