Andre Vs. the Hall of Fame Pitchers

A good way to evaluate whether a hitter is Hall of Fame worthy is to see how he did against the very best. Any Major League hitter could hit against a pitcher such as Anthony Young (record holder for most consecutive losses with 17), but what about against a crafty left-hander like Steve Carlton or against a Nolan Ryan fastball?

Andre faced eleven current Hall of Fame pitchers during his career: Carlton, Ryan, Tom Seaver, Phil Niekro, Bruce Sutter, Dennis Eckersley, Don Sutton, Fergie Jenkins, Rich Gossage, Gaylord Perry, and Rollie Fingers. How did he fare?

In 473 at-bats, Andre had 126 hits, 15 home runs, 70 RBIs, 9 triples, 29 doubles, and a .266 average. Keep in mind that his .266 average is against the very best of his time. Pretty impressive, but the stat that I like the best is that 42% of his hits against the HOFs were for extra bases. Andre got it done when stepping up against the elite.*

His numbers are better or equal to other HOF hitters of his time who faced several of the same HOF pitchers.

Jim Rice (429 AB) - .247 avg., 24 HRs, 70 RBIs, 106 Hits
Dave Winfield (493 AB) - .284 avg., 19 HRs, 65 RBIs, 140 Hits
Reggie Jackson (514 AB) - .235 avg., 23 HRs, 62 RBIs, 121 Hits
Mike Schmidt (475 AB) - .234 avg., 28 HRs, 72 RBIs, 111 Hits
Eddie Murray (258 AB) - . 291 avg., 10 HRs, 40 RBIs, 75 Hits

By the way, did you know that only two players hit more home runs off of Ryan, the most feared pitcher of all-time, than Andre? The Hawk hit four homeruns off the Express in his career, Schmidt hit five and Will Clark had six.*

Hopefully in 2010, Andre will once again face those eleven HOF pitchers, not on the playing field, but as a fellow Hall of Famer!

*www.baseball-reference.com

Move Over Jim, You're Going to Have Company!

Congratulations to Jim Rice for being inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame at this weekend’s ceremonies! Also congratulations to Andre Dawson and his fans for his induction next year!

Am I congratulating Andre and his fans too soon? Am I being too optimistic? No, after all I am a long-life Cubs fan (this is the year). Jim Rice's induction pretty much seals Andre Dawson a place in the Hall of Fame next year.

While I believe Rice undoubtedly deserves his HOF plaque, all of the same arguments of Andre Dawson nay-sayers have also plagued Rice over his career. Being a free swinger, low on-base percentage (OBP), and lack of base on balls (BB) have been the arguments against The Hawk for the hall.

While Rice's career OBP (.352 to .323) and BB (670 to 589) are higher, I don't think it is enough of a disparency to make that a valid argument anymore.

However, there are two areas that clearly indicate Rice created more outs for his team in his career than Andre - Strikeouts and Double Plays Grounded Into.*

Let's compare the two players.

Free Swingers (Struck out over 100 times a season):
Andre Dawson - 3 times (1978, 1979, & 1987)
Jim Rice - 6 times (1975-1978, 1983 & 1984)

*Andre played a total of 21 seasons, Rice 16.

Double Plays Grounded Into in Career:
Andre Dawson - 217
Jim Rice - 315 (6th place all-time)

*Andre finished in the top 10 in the league in this category only three times (1989, 1993, & 1994). By 1993 and 1994 his knees were shot from years of diving for the ball in the outfield. Rice, however, finished in the top 10 eleven times of his 16-year career; he was actually 1st four years in a row (1982-1985).

I've always rooted for Rice and respected what he did in his career, I'm only pointing out his weaknesses to show that if Hall of Fame voters are going to accept him despite these flaws, they have to accept Andre!

*www.baseball-reference.com