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

Andre is Extra Good...24th All-Time in Extra Base Hits

An important stat in a player's career is extra base hits. It's an important stat because it means the player is either knocking runs in or getting into scoring position to be knocked in. Andre not only excelled in this stat because of his unique blend of speed and power, but is 24th all-time in this category.*

The Hawk dominated this stat in the early 1980s, leading the NL in 1982 and 1983 and finishing second in 1980 and 1981. He also finished in the top 10 in 1979 (8th), 1987 (3rd), 1988 (4th) and 1990 (10th).*

His 1039 total extra base hits is better than several Hall of Fame players, including: Mike Schmidt (1015), Rogers Hornsby (1011), Mr. Cub Ernie Banks (1009), Honus Wagner (993), Robin Yount (960), Paul Molitor and Willie Stargell (953), Mickey Mantle (952), and Billy Williams (948). And that is just the Hall of Famers in the top 50 all-time that Andre's total number exceeds.*

Maybe even more impressive, almost 40% of Andre's hits in his career were for extra bases (37%). A better percentage than these notable Hall of Famers: Dave Winfield (35%), Eddie Murray (34%), Carl Yastrzemski (34%) and Ty Cobb (27%).*

Just one more reason Andre is due his recognition as one of the all-time greats by being enshrined into the Hall!

* - www.baseball-reference.com