BBA Hall of Fame: Shortstop Wing

Herein You Find the Inducted
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BBA Hall of Fame: Shortstop Wing

Post by njherdfan » Wed Aug 22, 2018 1:49 pm

"Shortstop"
A Wing of the BBA Hall of Fame
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The Shortstop Position

Long regarded as a position for defensive specialists, the shortstop position has seen significant change over the past decades as better hitters have started to man the position. These Hall Of Fame inductees played the position combined offensive and defensive talent to earn their place in the Hall.
Jack Hanski
(Calgary Marauders, Las Vegas Hustlers, Birmingham Bandits)
1978 - 1990

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1,506 Hits, 363 HR, 1183 RBI, 76 SB, .247/.359/.514, 52.9 WAR
All Star in 1979, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987

Hanski was a phenomenon when he first entered the league, as a player who could field baseball's most difficult position while hitting for power. He was inducted to the Hall only one year after his career ended, which was a mark of how well respected he was by everyone in the game.
Donnie Rotten
(Omaha Barnstormers, New Orleans Crawdads, Long Beach Surfers, Birmingham Bandits, Seattle Storm)
1981-1999

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2,318 Hits, 475 HR, 1497 RBI, 374 SB, .275/.351/.503
All-Star: 1985,1986, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1998

Rotten was a first round pick in 1980, and after some early struggles, he established himself as one of the best shortstops in the game, and one of the best players in Barnstormers' history, by the time he turned 23. Rotten's career was cut short in 1999 before he could get to 500 home runs, and he was inducted into the Hall in 2003.
Rafael Rodriguez
(Hackensack Bulls, Des Moines Kernels, Carolina Kraken, Madison Wolves)
1992-2011

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3,520 Hits, 374 HR, 1570 RBI, 109 SB, .322/.417/.507
Owner's Choice Rookie Award: 1992; Slick Fielder Award: 1992, 1998, 2003, 2005 (1B), 2006 (1B); Sawyer Silk Award; 1996
All-Star: 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009

Rodriguez is generally regarded as one of the best to ever play the game, as his 127.7 WAR, good for 4th all time, attests. He would also be happy to tell you that he has the most WAR of all time for any shortstop; that's right, he beat out Bopper Kengos. After retiring in 2011, Rodriguez was immediately inducted into the Hall in 2012. While he never hit for that much power, his overall consistency made him one of the game's top players.

Waichirou Moronobu
(Washington Bobwhites, Phoenix Talons, Las Vegas Hustlers, Greenville Moonshiners, Des Moines Kernels, Carolina Kraken)
1995-2011

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2,678 Hits, 432 HR, 1446 RBI, 178 SB, .277/.360/.473
Yogi Zimmer Glove Award: 1995, 1998, 2000, 2001


Moronobu is generally regarded as one of the best fielders ever to man the shortstop position, and rightfully so, as his four Yogi Zimmer Awards show. However, only discussing his fielding fails to account for how well he consistently performed at the plate. With two exceptions, he posted a wRC+ at or above 100 for 17 straight seasons, and his induction into the Hall was well-deserved.
Bopper Kengos
(Madison Wolves)
1996-2018

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3,900 Hits, 720 HR, 2537 RBI, 120 SB, .308/.344/.533
Rookie of the Year Award: 1997 Sawyer Silk Award: 1999, 2003, 2004 Yogi Zimmer Glove Award: 1999, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2011
All-Star: 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2016

At some point, describing Kengos’s career accomplishments feels futile. A 16-time all-star, and the all-time leader in at-bats, hits, total bases, singles, home runs, and RBIs, Kengos is, quite simply, one of the 2 or 3 best players of all time. That was reflected when he was unanimously elected to the Hall in 2021.
Roman Empire
(Greenville Moonshiners, Montreal Blazers, Las Vegas Hustlers (2X), Calgary Pioneers, Seattle Storm)
1997-2014

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3,004 Hits, 323 HR, 1450 RBI, 152 SB, .319/.412/.478
Yogi Zimmer Glove Award: 2004, 2008 (at Third Base, despite not playing the position :shrug: )
All-Star: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007

Empire was long regarded as one of the league’s most patient hitters, as his .412 career OBP, good for 9th all time, attests. Empire had a number of impressive seasons, although his 2003 season might have been his most spectacular. In that season, despite playing only 120 games, Empire put up between 8.9 and 9.;1 WAR, and a wRC+ of 206. Empire was inducted into the Hall with 95.5 percent of the vote.
Doug Glover
(Greenville Moonshiners, Madison Wolves, Indy Grasshoppers, California Crusaders, Seattle Storm)
2012-2026

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2,194 Hits, 431 HR, 1338 RBI, 3 SB, .278/.330/.499
Sawyer Silk Award: 2018, 2019
Yogi Zimmer Glove Award: 2013, 2016, 2024 (3B), 2025 (3B) (at Third Base, despite not playing the position)
All-Star: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024

Glover is the career leader in WAR in Greenville/Jacksonville franchise history, and during his two-year peak, before injuries beset him, he was quite possible the league’s best player, as his back-to-back Sawyer Silk Awards can attest. During those two years, Glover posted 9.8 and 10.1 WAR, respectively, as he terrorized the rest of the league. Glover managed a late-career renaissance in 2024 as he posted an impressive 8 WAR and an .895 OPS. Glover was unanimously elected to the Hall in 2028.

Jonathan Archer
(Calgary Pioneers, Halifax Hawks, Omaha Barnstormers, Jacksonville Hurricanes, Huntsville Phantoms, Phoenix Talons, San Antonio Outlaws, Las Vegas Hustlers)
2015-2032

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2,712 Hits, 293 HR, 1182 RBI, 226 SB, .299/.324/.472
Golden Bat Award (SS): 2020, 2021, 2024
All-Star: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023, 2027, 2029

Archer took the MBWBA by storm, as he posted 7.2 WAR as a 23 year-old shortstop for Calgary in 2016. Little did anyone know, however, that that would be his career high in single-season in WAR. While Archer’s remaining performance was more “very good,” rather than “spectacular,” he was a model of consistency for the remainder of his career, and he was elected to the Hall in 2034.
Last edited by njherdfan on Wed Aug 22, 2018 4:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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