John Olerud: Hall of Famer?

It's not wrong. A great first baseman doesn't save as many runs over an average first baseman as a great center fielder saves compared to an average center fielder.

 

The point was to head off people who would pooh-pooh his Gold Gloves because he played first base.

 

absolutely not. the year he hit 380 or 370 he was great. other than that he was good, not top 5 at his position.

 

So, Pos/James want voters now to multiply the number of walks a player accumlates times .6, add that figure to a player's total hits, divide by number of at-bats and compare that statistic? I'll just look at OBP, thanks.

 

That's completely unnecessary.

I thought it was an interesting premise that could provoke some thought. Would you prefer I don't do that anymore? Why does that mean I think I'm smarter than anybody else? That's completely unfair, and I'm frankly a little tired of hearing it. I like to look at old things in new ways. So what.

 

The point is that OBP can be misleading because it overvalues walks.

 

so then say less valuable. and there definitely are more valuable and less valuable defensive positions.

 

I don't think he gets in, but his being on the ballot is a nice opportunity to reflect on what a great career he had. A purpose Bret Boone, Jim Deshaies and Lenny Harris don't serve.

 

Yes. He deserves to be in the HoF. He was a generation ahead of his time. Not for his hitting or fielding accomplishments, mind you, but for outstanding achievement in raising awareness for concussion safety and promotion of helmet-wearing.

 

He had another season where he was over .350. I'll give him two great years.

 

To me, at its root, this is just a way to challenge us to look at batting average and OBP in conjunction, instead of as two separate benchmarks.

 

No matter how much work or skill it takes to be a good defensive first baseman, it's a lot less valuable than being a good defensive SS.