aaronweiner wrote: ↑Wed Sep 02, 2020 4:11 am
Longevity has to play into this. A .330 average for a year or two isn’t historically noteworthy. To do it for 2 decades is a unique skill. Simply put, by having Rhodes you guaranteed yourself he’d get a hit one out of every three times at bat. There’s a reason he was a starter that long.
And counting stats matter.
The idea that 3000 hits is an automatic lock for the hall of fame is based on the fact that in the MLB, no one got to 3000 hits without being one of the very very best in the league.
Rhodes has literally proven that isn't the case in the BBA. He is impossible to find a real life comparison for, because our league environment is so weird. 3500 hits and only 250 or so homers and only 500 total xbh out of a first baseman is pathetic. That's why his WAR sucks. He is a video game player in the truest sense of the term.
You say counting stats matter. Okay. WAR is a counting stat. His stinks so bad compared to hall of famers that to consider him is a silly. His homer total for first base/dH is so bad that to put him in the hall is ridiculous.
You can't just pick one counting stat and ignore the other ones. You shouldn't get so hung up on one aspect of a player, that you ignore the glaring flaws in the rest of his game.
When you look at his rate based stats, the only one he has is that batting average, and it's all singles. His iso power for his career is .100. His career OPS is .809. Freaking barely over .800. That's just plain bad for a a 1B/DH. Tell me, if you had a 1B or DH with an .809 OPS, would you be satisfied with that? Or would you be looking for a replacement? So, let me get this right, we're saying this guy is a Hall of famer because he's a no glove 1B/DH who if you looked at any stat besides his batting average, you'd immediately look for an upgrade?
To get back to the point I made first. He was NEVER, at ANY point in his career a player you'd say "Oh man, if so and so was in free agency, he'd get PAID." He was among the elite hitters in the league ONE time. ONE. SINGLE. TIME. His second season in the league.
All Rhodes did, was hit lots and lots and lots of singles at a very high rate. In a modern baseball league in real life, Rhodes only gets 2/3rds to 3/4ths of the PA's he accrued, simply because no one in their right mind would run a sub .800 OPS bat out there at 1B or DH over and over, and that's what he was for half his career.
All this being said, I really don't care if he gets into the Hall. He's so weird at least you can see the reason he's in. He can hang out next to Jim Wilson in the Hall of "I don't deserve to be here but I broke a traditional milestone." (Full disclosure: Jim Wilson was on the ballot when I got here and I pushed for him to be in based on his 500 HR. I was wrong. I didn't understand at that time how a video game can allow for really odd statistical compilation because of ratings oddities, league environment stuff, and managerial decisions).
If you want to put him in the Hall to celebrate the weirdness that can happen in a video game, I suppose that's a decent reason. He is unique. And we all know who he is. But he's not an all time great player. So you have to be comfortable knowingly putting not all time great players into the Hall. I'm not. But if you are, that's cool too. It's down to the question of what the Hall is for. I think it should be a place for the best of the best. The truly great players. There are other ways to look at it.