Larry Walker joins Jeter in the Hall of Fame

Jeter was an obvious selection. Although he was not as great as some seem to think, he is certainly a Hall of Famer. 3400+ hits, a .310 average and a complete handful of rings speak for themselves. He missed being a unanimous selection by a single vote.

The selection of Larry Walker was more contentious.

Many people believe he is the best Canadian baseball player ever, but I went back and forth on his HoF merits for some years until I finally concluded that he was a Hall of Famer. To place my logic in a nutshell, Walker was exactly as good as Duke Snider, and Duke Snider is a solid Hall of Famer, therefore Larry Walker is a solid Hall of Famer. Normally I don’t accept the logic of “X should be in because Y is” because when people make that argument X is usually being compared to a Y who shouldn’t be in there. If we based the HoF on that logic, about half of the players who ever played should be in because they were better than Tommy McCarthy, who was a totally average player (lifetime wins above average: 0.2). But the “X vs Y” logic is valid in this case, because The Duke is a bona fide, solid Hall of Famer.

To take Denver out of the equation, Walker’s numbers outside of Coors are just about identical to Snider’s outside of Ebbets Field. When I place them side-by-side, you won’t be able to tell which is which because they are virtually identical:

Player A Player B
Batting Average .282 .286
On Base Percentage .375 .372
Slugging Average ,501 .505
OPS .876 .877
HR/550AB 26 28
RBI/550AB 91 96

Moreover, I think you can fairly argue that Walker was a better overall player than the Duke outside the batter’s box, even though Duke played a more difficult position. Walker was a better baserunner, stole more bases, had a better arm, and actually had comparable range factors on those occasions when he was called upon to play center field.

Of the three New York center fielders in the famous baseball song, Larry Walker was not as good a player as Willie and Mickey, but he was as good or better than the Duke, who is not only in the Hall of Fame, but definitely belongs there.

As does Walker.

The longer version of this article can be found in Uncle Scoopy’s Ballpark

7 thoughts on “Larry Walker joins Jeter in the Hall of Fame

  1. so why Jeter “not as great…?” I read your longer analysis of Walker but didn’t see any more about Jeter. Stats-wise he was amazingly consistent right up to age 38

    1. All well known. See Lollar’s post above.

      Great player, just not as great as people think. His percentage of HoF votes is a perfect indication of how overrated he was/is. He got a higher percentage than Mays, Williams, Musial, Cobb or Ruth. And he’s not in their league. In fact, if you divide Willie Mays exactly in half, each half is a stronger player than Jeter.

      Mantle and Koufax got about 88%, and Jeter is not even near their level.

      Mathews and Foxx got in the high 70s, and Jeter is not in their league either.

      Jeter is actually on the same level as Larry Walker, who barely snuck in on his last chance.

      1. Not only that, multiple advanced stats show that Jeter was never more than an average shortstop, and most of the time well-below average. This was compounded by the fact that solely on the basis of his ego (and seniority as a Yankee) he forced Alex Rodriguez, a far superior shortstop, to move to third base.

        One analysis states that “Jeter cost his team more runs in the field than any other player in history” given his combination of mediocrity+ longevity. (http://baseballegg.com/2018/02/15/was-jeter-better-than-nomar-and-arod/)

        I actually didn’t have anything against Jeter (at least until he became an owner and went full asshole). He certainly had a knack for the Big Moment. But if he played for the Padres instead of the Yankees, he wouldn’t be anywhere near a first-ballot HoFer.

        1. Yup. All of that is true, but I just didn’t want to dwell on the guy’s weaknesses at a time when we should be celebrating his greatness. He was a great player. It’s just that he was Walker-Snider-Thome great, not Musial-Mays-Williams great.

    1. good points that I had not considered. I guess I look at playing for the Yankees as a blessing and a curse. Maybe I gave him too much credit for surviving 20 years of Big Apple.

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