Larry Walker, hall of famer?

[ljshorty89]

First off, take out the Gold Gloves, because if that got you in the HoF, Rey Ordonez would have a case. If you take that out, you clearly see that Walker's numbers just are not the same. If you look at offensive numbers (not to mention DiMaggio's streak) like Brett's 1000 extra hits, you'll see that they are just not the same player.

[Dry1313]

First off, take out the Gold Gloves, because if that got you in the HoF, Rey Ordonez would have a case. If you take that out, you clearly see that Walker's numbers just are not the same. If you look at offensive numbers (not to mention DiMaggio's streak) like Brett's 1000 extra hits, you'll see that they are just not the same player.

We all talked about Walker's injuries...if it weren't for injuries and if he played 3 more years he'd have 3000 hits too.

The fact he's so close to Joe Dimaggio is scary...

[HollywoodLeo]

We all talked about Walker's injuries...if it weren't for injuries and if he played 3 more years he'd have 3000 hits too.

The fact he's so close to Joe Dimaggio is scary...

But he did get injured and he didn't play three more years.

I'd rather not make a habit of enshrining people on what could have been.

[NYgiantsfan5689]

Except Ken Caminiti admitted to taking steroids. And he hit .272 with like 200 home runs...Ken Caminiti sucked dick Leo, stop with your bullshit


His numbers are comparable to Dimaggio's.

He played 252 more games and had 200 more SBs, 22 more home runs, an OPS .12 points lower, a batting average 12 points lower, and what Larry Walker did in the OF only 19 other players have done...win 7 Gold Gloves.

Let's look at George Brett...he played in 719 more games...and while he had the 1000 or so more hits, he had less Gold Gloves, a lower average, and they led the league in batting average the same amount of times, 3.


If you say Walker's not in because of his numbers, well comparable players are in the Hall...and Walker was a dominant player for over a decade...

Saying he doesn't deserve to be in because of Coors is bullshit...so do Ted Williams and Babe Ruth not deserve to be in because they both had park aids also (Monster and Short Porch)...

So you only want longevity over dominance...let's take all the ****ing Don Sutton's and enshrine them but **** the Larry Walkers...

This is ridiculous

Walker being compared to DiMaggio is ridiculous. DiMaggio was an iron man, and Brett only had 1,000 more hits, that not TOO many...o wait, yes it is. And think about this: if George Brett had a lower average, and yet 1,000 more hits than Larry Walker, think about how many more AB's Brett got. It's the AB's that count and what you do with them, not the games you've played in. Those are awful comparisons Dry, I'm sorry.

And I agree with LJ, Gold Gloves don't get you into the Hall. They are nice and definitely difficult to get, especially 7, but unless you have the more important numbers, you can't use those.

[ljshorty89]

Jim Rice's average is 15 points lower than Walker, he has 1 fewer HR, 292 more hits, 140 more RBI. Jim Rice is not in. Larry Walker will not get in.

[Dry1313]

Walker being compared to DiMaggio is ridiculous. DiMaggio was an iron man,

This is the worst argument I have ever seen...

Your argument is that DiMaggio was an Iron Man? He played 13 years...DiMaggio had a little less than 100 ABs less and compare the numbers:
Joe D: .325 AVG, 361 HR, 30 SB, .979 OPS, 2214 H, 1537 RBI, .978 FP, 153 OFAST, 6821 AB
Walker: .313 AVG, 383 HR, 230 SB, .965 OPS, 2160 H, 1311 RBI, .987 FP, 155 OFAST, 6907 AB

and Brett only had 1,000 more hits, that not TOO many...o wait, yes it is. And think about this: if George Brett had a lower average, and yet 1,000 more hits than Larry Walker, think about how many more AB's Brett got. It's the AB's that count and what you do with them, not the games you've played in. Those are awful comparisons Dry, I'm sorry.

You made my argument.

Brett 10,349 AB
Walker 6,907 AB

Give walker 3,442 AB and he gets 3,000 hits easy...not to mention 400+ HR, 300 SB...like I said if we award solely on longevity, Walker doesn't get in but his numbers are Hall of Fame worthy if you view them in their proper focus

[Bon Bon]

The thing is Dry, Walker didn't get those AB's because he is so often injured so he didn't get the hits or hr's or RBI's. Speculation of stats does not get someone into the HOF.

[HollywoodLeo]

Give walker 3,442 AB and he gets 3,000 hits easy...not to mention 400+ HR, 300 SB...like I said if we award solely on longevity, Walker doesn't get in but his numbers are Hall of Fame worthy if you view them in their proper focus

But Walker didn't get 3,442 ABs.

Nobody's saying longevity is all you need (nobody's in here calling Julio Franco a hall of famer).

All they're saying, or at least all I'm saying is we shouldn't enshrine people based on what they could have done, because he didn't do that.

Your argument when comparing his actual numbers to DiMaggio holds some merit, but your argument in regards to how he "could have had 3,000 hits" is irrelevant because he didn't get 3,000 hits.

[NYgiantsfan5689]

But Walker didn't get 3,442 ABs.

Nobody's saying longevity is all you need (nobody's in here calling Julio Franco a hall of famer).

All they're saying, or at least all I'm saying is we shouldn't enshrine people based on what they could have done, because he didn't do that.

Your argument when comparing his actual numbers to DiMaggio holds some merit, but your argument in regards to how he "could have had 3,000 hits" is irrelevant because he didn't get 3,000 hits.

what he said. Dry, you keep talking about what Walker could have been. But he wasn't. So he won't be in the Hall. You have to have the numbers, not the potential for numbers.

[Dry1313]

The thing is Dry, Walker didn't get those AB's because he is so often injured so he didn't get the hits or hr's or RBI's. Speculation of stats does not get someone into the HOF.

But Walker didn't get 3,442 ABs.

Nobody's saying longevity is all you need (nobody's in here calling Julio Franco a hall of famer).

All they're saying, or at least all I'm saying is we shouldn't enshrine people based on what they could have done, because he didn't do that.

Your argument when comparing his actual numbers to DiMaggio holds some merit, but your argument in regards to how he "could have had 3,000 hits" is irrelevant because he didn't get 3,000 hits.

what he said. Dry, you keep talking about what Walker could have been. But he wasn't. So he won't be in the Hall. You have to have the numbers, not the potential for numbers.

Look at his numbers, and look at Joe DiMaggio's...Joe D is a no brainer...Walker should be a look twice but in.

Seriously guys?

[NYgiantsfan5689]

pretty sure Larry Walker didn't hit in 56 straight games

[Bon Bon]

Comparing Joe D. with Walker you must also look at the era that each of them played. Joe D. didn't have those players that came later on that put up huge numbers that the sports writers ultimately compare players with Walkers stats to now. At the time Joe D. was playing and when he was up for enshrinement he was one of the top stat players in the game, as for Walker he was a great player, but far from a top player for his era.

[Slyder]

This is the worst argument I have ever seen...

Your argument is that DiMaggio was an Iron Man? He played 13 years...DiMaggio had a little less than 100 ABs less and compare the numbers:
Joe D: .325 AVG, 361 HR, 30 SB, .979 OPS, 2214 H, 1537 RBI, .978 FP, 153 OFAST, 6821 AB
Walker: .313 AVG, 383 HR, 230 SB, .965 OPS, 2160 H, 1311 RBI, .987 FP, 155 OFAST, 6907 AB

Care to compare the playing conditions of the two? If thats youre best argument Walker is going to fail to reach the hall. Dimaggio played in Yankee Stadium at a time where he knew he couldnt hit a home run to half the field (back when monument park was in play). For the talk about "What Walker could have done" Imagine what Joe D could have done if Yankee Stadium was as it is today or played in Coors.

Left Center in Yankee Stadium anywhere from 430 to 457 ft
Right Center in Yankee Stadium 407 ft.

He never hit a single HR to that part of the park.

Statistician Bill Jenkins wrote in "The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs" that "In his day, DiMaggio recorded 148 homers at Yankee Stadium. If he had hit the same exact pattern of batted balls with a typical modern stadium as his home, he would have belted about 225 homers during his home field career."

Away from Yankee Stadium Joe D averaged a home run 1 every 16.2 at-bats (which would be good for 30th all-time). To compare the two is laughable. Walker was a good player but he could never stay healthy long enough.

Would I say he's DOA regardless of the rest of the class? No, but Its not real likely he'll get in as more of his peers start to come up for candidacy.

[Dry1313]

pretty sure Larry Walker didn't hit in 56 straight games

Pretty sure Mark Whitten and Mike Cameron hit 4 HR in a game...no one else has done that, let's make them Hall of Famers too.

Comparing Joe D. with Walker you must also look at the era that each of them played. Joe D. didn't have those players that came later on that put up huge numbers that the sports writers ultimately compare players with Walkers stats to now. At the time Joe D. was playing and when he was up for enshrinement he was one of the top stat players in the game, as for Walker he was a great player, but far from a top player for his era.

Why? I don't understand these caveats. Stats have changed NOTHING. People play where they play...they shouldn't be offered sympathy or be knocked down because of it.

I don't see people arguing for Jeff Francis to be a Cy Young candidate because if you adjust his ERA at Coors he'd be one of baseball's top pitchers. Whether or not Walker played in Coors or DiMaggio played in a cavernous Yankee Stadium means NOTHING. I am looking at the stats, and they are very comparable. Just because people have a pie in the sky attitude toward DiMaggio and because Larry Walker was quietly a star doesn't mean one belongs in the Hall of Fame so much more than the other.

Are you really sitting there and telling me, looking at that comparison, that you STILL think Larry Walker doesn't have a legitimate shot at the Hall? Who else has a short career and is in the Hall that I can compare him to? Show me, and you'll be surprised that Walker is right on par with these guys.

This is ridiculous. Show some objectivity.

Care to compare the playing conditions of the two? If thats youre best argument Walker is going to fail to reach the hall. Dimaggio played in Yankee Stadium at a time where he knew he couldnt hit a home run to half the field (back when monument park was in play). For the talk about "What Walker could have done" Imagine what Joe D could have done if Yankee Stadium was as it is today or played in Coors.

Left Center in Yankee Stadium anywhere from 430 to 457 ft
Right Center in Yankee Stadium 407 ft.

He never hit a single HR to that part of the park.

Statistician Bill Jenkins wrote in "The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs" that "In his day, DiMaggio recorded 148 homers at Yankee Stadium. If he had hit the same exact pattern of batted balls with a typical modern stadium as his home, he would have belted about 225 homers during his home field career."

Away from Yankee Stadium Joe D averaged a home run 1 every 16.2 at-bats (which would be good for 30th all-time). To compare the two is laughable. Walker was a good player but he could never stay healthy long enough.

These are all hypotheticals. If I can't say that hypothetically Larry Walker would easily have gotten 3000 hits, you can't hypothetically say DiMaggio would have hit 400 home runs. If we throw out hypotheticals, their numbers are ridiculously close. Close enough that this poll shouldn't be 11-1...it just shows the ignorance...I bet none of you cared to look at what the standard for the Hall of Fame is, you all just made your guess based off of gut feeling. Well, that's stupid, because there is a standard and Walker certainly fulfills it.

[NYgiantsfan5689]

Pretty sure Mark Whitten and Mike Cameron hit 4 HR in a game...no one else has done that, let's make them Hall of Famers too.

I cannot believe you just compared the 56-game hitting streak to hitting 4 homers in a game....that's just a tad ridiculous