He was injury prone and he primarily played out his career for two organizations that baseball media ignore or disregard (Montreal and Colorado) or else he would surely have ended up as a no-doubter HoF candidate rather than as an extreme long-shot.

He was a pure hitter who had patience and power. He was an amazing fielder with the best right field arm since…well, maybe since Clemente. He was a talented and intelligent base-runner.

Much like Carlos Beltran the ease with which he excelled in every aspect of the game made him easy to overlook but those who watched him play on a regular basis quickly became aware of his abilities and those who do statistical analysis of his career will come to the same conclusion – he was a phenomenal baseball player.

Anyways, from the HOF Mission Statement: “Honoring, by enshrinement, those individuals who had exceptional careers, and recognizing others for their significant achievements.”

You have no idea what you’re talking about. Don’t just say stuff to hear yourself speak. A real man can admit when he is wrong.

Also, with Catcher receiving almost no defensive value whatsoever for fielding, does this mean the good fielders behind the plate are undervalued by these rankings, or is that made up somewhere else?

Seriously, stop taking the name so literally. We all have our own definition but yours couldn’t be more wrong. Here, let’s do a little experiment…

Willie Wells
George Davis
Eppa Rixey
Ray Brown
Andy Cooper
Biz Mackey
Bobby Wallace
Ray Dandridge
Jake Beckley
Pete Hill
Tommy McCarthy
Tim Keefe
Hilton Smith
Ben Taylor

Which ones are the Hall of Famers and which ones are the guys I just made up? If you can’t tell the difference then you automatically lose.

If you want to play that card, Roger Maris = in, Edgar Martinez = out.