Hall of Fame Candidate Tread: Mike Love

[RonCo]

Here's the place to talk about the career of: Mike Love

Left Field

Active Career: 2014-2032 (19 seasons)
2,404 hits, 131 HR, 958 RBI, .287/.373/.426, WAR: 71.3
6-Time All-Star
1-Time Pucket Golden Bat Award
5-Time Zimmer Diamond Glove

Hall of Fame Metrics: (average HoF)
JAWS: 56.7 (50)
Black Ink: 11 (22)
Gray Ink: 69 (105)
HOF Standards: 37 (53)
HOF Monitor: 64 (123)
[hr]
Love played with nine teams in his career, with a peak WAR of 7.0. He was a solid hitter throughout the greater part of his career, though rarely among the elite few--essentially a guaranteed 5 WAR player through age 31, and capable of turning that number for several years afterward. His glove was outstanding.

Productive through age 38, retired at 40. A good career played out for a very long time. Makes it in by JAWS, falls short elsewhere.

[recte44]

Love got a surprising amount of support in his first year on the ballot, then faded. Another close but not in player for me.

[Ted]

I've been voting for Love, but I wonder if it's largely because he's so much better than the other corner OF on the ballot. He doesn't quite stack up to the other corner OF in the hall of fame well. On the other hand, he played the back half of his career in a low offensive era and maintained his hitting and OBP ability amazingly well during that time. I'll have to take a closer look.

[RonCo]

By JAWS he does fairly well, so that suggests he should be pretty good relative to those in the hall right now. Of course, that assumes it's coded that way.

I admit Love didn't thrill me when I got here, but he was at the end of his career at that point. 70+ WAR on his career is pretty danged good, though. And he had a nice bump as an older guy. Fell off at the end and probably should have retired earlier. Looking at him closer has raised my view of him. Would love someone to talk more specifics and even link to anything interesting about him.

[scottsdale_joe]

No, doesn't quite live up.

[bpbrooksy]

A good career, but not a Hall of Fame one.

[RonCo]

Bumping these threads because there will be voting again earlier than you think!

[bcslouck]

Corner OF that was a good hitter, but needed to be better in my opinion given the lack of power. No for me.

[RonCo]

One thing folks haven't talked about is that Love was an elite defensive player--which in LF is often overlooked, but is still quite valuable. I'm wondering if some of the chine goes off him because he was so well-traveled. He probably won't, for example, really qualify for anyone's team HoF--so he has limited champions within the ranks. That .373 career OBP is quite an interesting number, but it's nowhere near top of the charts. Ultimately, the question for me comes down to whether I want to include an elite glove in there. Maybe. Still debating, but thinking no.

Is it true that in his spare time he was a member of a Beach Boy Tribute band?

[usnspecialist]

The hardest No decision to make for me. Would not be surprised to change my mind on future ballots.

[RonCo]

Love received 35% of the vote last year.

[RonCo]

45% of the ballot last year. He has 4 seasons to go.

[Ted]

71 WAR is a lot. .373 OBP is very good. I get the people that don't see a Hall of famer despite some good counting stats. I think he's the guy I'm just going to keep voting for.

[felipe]

I think I vote for him

I just remember him as an elite guy for a long time

Good bat great glove consistent

I mean

Harold freakin baines

[niles08]

Good player, but not a HOF player.

[usnspecialist]

Here is the stat breakdown of Mike Love compared to all left fielders (both individually and against the total mean). Players are sorted by total JAWS score, and any bolded names are on the HOF ballot this year. The mean listed does NOT include anyone on the ballot, just guys who have actually been elected to the HOF.

[Ted]

People need to start giving Mike more love. He's better than half the LF in the Hall already. You might argue that his counting numbers are high only because of longevity, but go look at his JAWS. His seven year peak is better than half the guys in. IF you don't vote for this guy, you're basically saying I only put home run hitters in the hall of fame.

[7teen]

Love is a very close call that I couldn't gripe either way. Diving into the HOF head first right now shows me that Love is a take him or leave him guy. In other words, he's a bottom tier HOF if he makes it.

Probably worse guys that are in. Maybe a few guys better that aren't. Depends on who you want to compare him to.

[RonCo]

Mike love received 23% of the ballot last year. He has two seasons left.