Bryan Hoch takes a look at Don Mattingly's Hall of Fame credentials at Yankees.com.
Aside from those great years in the mid-to-late-1980s, Mattingly is not a Hall of Famer.
He is somewhat of a mythical figure in the hearts of Yankee fans. He was a bright light in a dark era for the team. This may be easy for me to say, seeing as I never really saw him play. However, strictly looking at his career numbers, he should not be elected.
He hit 222 career home runs and has a .307 career batting average. Those are solid numbers, but he wasn't as dominant throughout the rest of his career as he was between 1984 and 1989.
However, another former Yankee looks like he will finally get elected.
Keith Law (via YanksBlog and River Ave. Blues) from ESPN has been counting ballots, and Goose Gossage has appeared on 52 of 58 ballots (90%).
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Mattingly's HOF candidacy examined
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4 comments:
You're an idiot to comment on someone having never seen him play. HOF means that this player was the dominant player of his ERA. In the 1980's to early 1990's name a better all around first baseman? He was a perennial Gold Glover and over a 4 year was THE dominant offensive player in baseball. The fact that his career numbers were cut short due to injury shouldn't hinder his HOF candadicy.
"The fact that his career numbers were cut short due to injury shouldn't hinder his HOF candadicy."
Yes it should. If someone had one great year and never played again due to injury, would you say he was a Hall of Famer? Mattingly was a great player for five or six years. That doesn't make him a Hall of Famer.
Firstly, he didn't have one great year, he had 4 Great Years and an additional 5 good years. Over a 10 year period, he was one of the top 1st baseman in baseball. Something like 9 gold gloves, AL MVP (should have been 2), Batting Title, Silve Slugger, etc. If there was a major individual award, he won it. That's not HOF caliber?
Thanks for the mention.
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