Edmonds: HOF?

He was hell in the outfield, I know that. The fans in Cincy still hate him for some of the over-the-wall rob jobs he did there.

One of my friends, a devoted Reds fan, used to buy tickets in RCF stands hoping to get close enough to throw something at him.

 

Edmonds could be at the ceremony, just in the crowd.

 

Negative, Ghostrider. The pattern is full.

 

No even Hall of the Very Good, Ragu ... decent player, nothing more.

 

How about the hall of the OK?

I hear it's in Dover, DE.

 

I think I drove past that on my way to Dewey Beach with Scott Van Pelt.

 

No, it belongs in the Dust Bowl. Signs advertising it could break up the roadside crosses motif well.

And: no way is he a Hall of famer.

 

No. If he gets in Garry Maddox is next; (and I'm not talking Afro HOF either), because if Edmonds is the guy who makes the catch but does it stumbling and nearly falling over, Maddox is the dude who is so smooth you think he's moonwalking out there as he chases down another gapper with what appears to be little effort. Maddox makes Edmonds look like Greg Luzinski.

 

Since Edmonds is generally associated with the Cardinals - I'm just saying but an argument could be made that Edmonds was a more valuable overall player than Ozzie Smith. Sure Ozzie has Edmonds beat on defense but by the same token - Edmonds was far and away the better offensive player. If I was a GM and I had a choice between a 20-year old Ozzie Smith and a 20-year old Jim Edmonds - I'm not so sure that I don't go with Edmonds.

This goes to show how inexact a science the HoF voting is. Was Ozzie Smith that much better than Alan Trammel? I don't think Ozzie was better than Omar Vizquel. Now that will be an interesting choice for the voters who checked Ozzie's box.

 

There's no way he gets in the Hall, but it's not that ridiculous a question. Offensively, he just didn't have close to enough. But he's got eight Gold Gloves, placed in the top-five for MVP twice -- though that's really a stretch for a credential -- five All-Star selections and has 363 home runs. He's not a laugher, but he's certainly not a Hall-of-Famer.

Had Edmonds stayed healthy, it might be a tougher call. I'd say he's about 800-1,000 hits away from being a good argument, and he gets in with 2,700 hits because of his defensive hardware. At least that's my opinion.

 

I'm not buying Edmonds over Smith in the field. They're two totally different positions, and even still, I'd rather have Ozzie.