The HOF voters are irrational. They are asked to choose from a list who deserves to be in the Hall. How can someone ignore a player then choose him a year later with the exact same stats. Either you’re a HOF or not. Enough with this first ballot crap that voters use as their powertrip.
Vladimir Guerrero is a shoo-in if you ask me. I don’t think Tim Raines makes it but don’t get me wrong, he was a very good player and was mayhem on the bases with decent power too. I’m a big fan and he’ll definitely at least get his fair share of supporters.
The problem with Vladimir is that he didn’t reach the sexy milestones (500 homeruns, 3000 hits) playing in a power position (RF).
He broke down early (mid 30s) because he played on the worst astroturf in baseball (in Montreal) for the first 8 years of his career. It was unforgiving to the knees. The same happened to Dawson, Walker and Alou.
I didn’t watch Vlad play enough to have an informed opinion either way, but from what I did see that dude could hit any pitch at any time. I’m pretty sure I even saw him hit a pitch that had bounced in the dirt first.
Yeah, Vlad was pretty much the best bad-ball hitter ever. Over a 16-year career, hit had a .318 average, .379 OBP, .553 slugging, 449 HR’s, and 2,590 hits. He had 12 seasons in a row batting over .300 and never hit worse than .290 except his first year when he had 27 at bats. This guy was the model of consistency and a fan favorite. I just wonder how much more he could have done if he had spent the first eight years of his career anywhere other than Montreal.
For me there is no question he should be a Hall of Famer. Maybe he won’t get in first ballot but he will get in.
Vlad was a down to earth guy too. He used to take the subway to the games when he played in Montreal. I saw him a few times on the subway before games. No one ever approached him because he didn’t speak a word of english (at least that’s what he wanted everyone to believe…especially the media).
The guy was huge…I’d be surprised if he wasn’t on roids in 2002-03.