Carlos Delgado Retires; Is He A Hall of Famer?

Former Mets first baseman Carlos Delgado announced his retirement from baseball yesterday after a 17-year career that saw him become one of the most consistent power hitters in baseball.

From his major league debut as a catcher for the Toronto Blue Jays in 1993 to his final game as a Met in 2009, Delgado gave pitchers headaches by hurting them when he swung the bat (473 career HR) and when he didn't (1,109 career walks).

But is Carlos Delgado a Hall of Famer? Let's look at a few of his career numbers and decide for ourselves.

Delgado finished his career with 473 HR and 483 doubles, falling just short of the 500 mark in both categories. Only ten players in major league history have reached that number in both categories: Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Robinson, Rafael Palmeiro, Manny Ramirez, Ted Williams and Eddie Murray. Of those ten, six are in the Hall of Fame. The other four are either not yet eligible (Bonds, Griffey) or admitted steroid users (Palmeiro, Ramirez). As of now, Delgado has never been attached to steroids, so one has to believe his power numbers were all attained legitimately.

Only six men in major league history hit 30 or more home runs in ten consecutive seasons. Alex Rodriguez (1998-2010), Barry Bonds (1992-2004), Jimmie Foxx (1929-1940), Sammy Sosa (1995-2004) and Albert Pujols (2001-2010) have all accomplished this rare feat. The other player to do it was Carlos Delgado, who hit 30 or more blasts every season from 1997 to 2006.

For 13 consecutive seasons, Delgado drove in at least 87 runs, including nine years of 100+ RBI and seven campaigns where he drove in no fewer than 114 runs. In two seasons that he failed to drive in 100 runs, he missed significant time with an assortment of injuries. Delgado picked up 99 RBI in 2004, despite not playing in 34 games. Then in 2007, as a member of the Mets, Delgado finished the year with 87 RBI. Although 2007 was viewed as an off-year for the slugger, he also missed 23 games, which denied him the opportunity to approach triple digits in RBI.

While on the topic of runs batted in, Carlos Delgado finished his career with 1,512 RBI, making him one of 51 players to surpass the 1,500 plateau. Thirty-six of those players have already received their golden ticket to Cooperstown, while the majority of the others are either still active or not yet eligible for the Hall of Fame.

Despite his gaudy power numbers, Delgado never won an MVP Award, although that could be attributed to the fact that he never played for a playoff team until he played for the Mets in 2006. He also only made two All-Star teams and won three Silver Slugger Awards, both numbers that are very low for potential Hall of Famers.

So does Delgado get elected to Cooperstown when he becomes eligible in 2015?

Rafael Palmeiro, whose power numbers exceed Delgado's, received support from only 11% of the voters in the most recent Hall of Fame election. However, he was found to have used steroids during the latter part of his career, which kept his vote total low. Jeff Bagwell was never directly linked to steroids, but only received 41% of the vote in January, despite averaging over 100 RBI and 100 runs scored per season throughout his entire career (1,529 RBI and 1,517 runs scored in 15 seasons). Both Palmeiro and Bagwell were contemporaries of Delgado. That could work against him in 2015.

Another thing that could work against him is the controversy he generated when he chose not to stand for the singing of "God Bless America" due to his personal convictions against the United States' involvement in Iraq. Although Delgado is entitled to his opinions, his silent protest came at a time when Americans were peaking with patriotism, and his stance was viewed by some as being unpatriotic and anti-American, although he has vehemently denied this on multiple occasions.

Despite the potential roadblocks, it cannot be denied that Delgado was highly successful as a major league baseball player. His power numbers are among the best of his era, if not all-time. But until players like Jeff Bagwell, Sammy Sosa and Mike Piazza get into the Hall of Fame (the latter two will become eligible in 2013), it will be difficult for Delgado to get in.

For a power hitter to reach the Hall of Fame in this era, he'll have to bring more to the table, whether it be speed, Gold Glove-caliber defense, or regular trips to the postseason. Carlos Delgado stole 14 bases in his career, never won a Gold Glove Award and only reached the playoffs once (he was not on the postseason roster when the Blue Jays won the World Series in 1993). Maybe someday Delgado will make the Hall of Fame, but don't expect it to be in 2015.

Joey's Soapbox: Derek Jeter, Six Years Ago & If At Second You Don't Succeed

Greetings, fellow Mets fans! Winter will be officially over in a few days, which means two things.

First, I'll finally be able to finally put away my annoying poofball hat after a long, cold winter. But more importantly, it'll be time to hear the sweet sounds of Mets baseball at Citi Field, after what seemed like an interminable off-season.

Although my thoughts have turned to baseball bats, alternate caps and Shake Shack, there are still some things happening in the baseball world that I have to get off my hoodie.

I'm Joey Beartran and it's time for me to get on my soapbox.


Derek Jeter

Earlier this week, a recent poll conducted by the Siena College Research Institute named Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter the greatest New York athlete of all-time. Let me repeat that. In a town that seen Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Joe Namath and several outstanding thoroughbred race horses, Derek Jeter was the one who was named best New York athlete.

Who were the people voting in this poll, 14-year-old girls? I guess the same people who cast their votes in this poor excuse for a poll also voted for Kurt Rambis as the best Los Angeles athlete, Cliff Clavin as Boston's finest athletic star and Lazy Smurf as the top athlete of Smurf Village? Give me a break, people!




Six Years Ago

On this date in 2005, 'roids were all the rage in Washington, as Congress called for a special hearing featuring past and present baseball players to discuss the presence of steroids in baseball. It was during these hearings that Mark McGwire realized that he didn't want to dwell on the past, Sammy Sosa forgot how to speak English and Rafael Palmeiro gave the finger to Congress.

Six years later, all of these players are out of baseball and none of them has reached the Hall of Fame, as McGwire received less than 25% of the vote in each of his five eligible years for enshrinement, Palmeiro garnered the support of 11% of the voters in 2011 and Sammy Sosa has to wait until 2013 to see if he'll be able to pop the cork (no pun intended) on his Cooperstown Champagne.

So where are these players now?

Mark McGwire is now the hitting coach of the St. Louis Cardinals. That means a man who never hit 30 doubles in a single season and only finished with 265 more career hits than Ed Kranepool is now coaching Albert Pujols on how to hit. To have McGwire impart his hitting "wisdom" on Pujols is like having Kate Moss teach me how to eat chicken nachos. That's all I have to say about that.

After playing his last game as a member of the Texas Rangers in 2007, Sammy Sosa has done his best to stay out of the spotlight, disappearing from the public eye. The last time he was spotted in public, he was overheard humming Michael Jackson's "Black or White" as he was shopping for, as he called it, one of the most important works in American literature (see photo, right). His interpreter then corrected him by saying that a CD-ROM isn't technically a piece of literature.

When not complaining about his low Hall of Fame vote, Rafael Palmeiro has quietly become one of the country's premier hand models. The former Mets' eighth round draft pick's work can now be seen wherever hand sanitizers are sold.


If At Second You Don't Succeed

We've been getting conflicting reports from the Mets on who the starting second baseman will be in 2011. Terry Collins wants Luis Hernandez. Sandy Alderson wants an offensive-minded second baseman. That would probably eliminate Hernandez, who has eight extra-base hits in 265 major league at-bats, to go with a .286 OBP in the majors and a .302 OBP in the minors.

Brad Emaus and Daniel Murphy are still candidates for the position, but their defensive "skills" make former Marlins' second baseman Dan Uggla look like a Gold Glover at the position.

There is no truth to the rumor that Uggla traded in his old No. 6 uniform number with the Marlins for a No. E-4 jersey with the Braves.

Here's what I think. Wally Backman was promoted from Brooklyn to AA-Binghamton. Tim Teufel made the jump from Binghamton to AAA-Buffalo. I think they're just going to manage their respective minor league ballclubs until Labor Day weekend (the traditional end of the minor league season). Once their managerial duties are done, they will be promoted to the Mets, where they will compete for the second baseman's job. Terry Collins will be happy with the feisty Backman, while Sandy Alderson will take comfort that he has the bat of Tim Teufel. Is it a bad thing that I think a Backman/Teufel platoon would still be better than anything the Mets could throw out there right now?

I think I've worn out my welcome on the soapbox. It's time to get into mid-season form, which means I'll be sitting in front of the TV with a bunch of chicken nachos. Who knows what will happen before Opening Day? Will Carlos Beltran start the season on the disabled list? Will Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo be on the unemployment line? Will I get a tryout to play second base? Hey, if no else wants it, I'll take it (see photo below). Enjoy the last two weeks of Spring Training!

Gary Sheffield Retires; Is He A Hall of Famer?

Gary Sheffield formally announced his retirement from baseball yesterday, calling it quits after playing 22 seasons in the major leagues, the last of which came in 2009 as a member of the Mets. He leaves the game as one of the most prodigious sluggers in history and one of the most feared hitters of his era. But is he a Hall of Famer? The numbers seem to say yes.

Beginning in 1988 as a 19-year-old shortstop for the Milwaukee Brewers, making him a Robin Yount for a new generation, Sheffield went on to fill up the stat sheet for over two decades. Consider that in addition to his 509 home runs (No. 500 happened in a Mets uniform at Citi Field, as seen in the photo to the right), Sheffield hit 467 doubles and 27 triples, making him one of only 33 players in major league history to collect over 1,000 extra-base hits. The other 32 are either in the Hall of Fame, not yet eligible for the Hall of Fame, still active, or have been kept out of the Hall of Fame because of a lifetime ban (Pete Rose) or steroid involvement (Rafael Palmeiro).

Sheffield put up huge numbers across the board during his 22 years in the majors. Over his career, he had nine seasons with a .300+ batting average, eight seasons with 30+ HR, eight seasons with 100+ RBI (including four seasons with at least 120 RBI), seven seasons with 100+ runs scored and 16 seasons with double-digit steals. Although Sheffield never challenged for a stolen base title, he stole 253 bases in his career, including 22 steals as a 38-year-old in 2007. Every player with at least 1,600 runs scored and 1,600 RBI (Sheffield finished with 1,636 runs scored and 1,676 RBI) who is eligible for the Hall of Fame has been inducted, except for Rafael Palmeiro, but Palmeiro didn't have the stolen base potential that Sheffield had (Raffy stole 97 bases in 20 seasons).

There actually was one offensive category in which Sheffield failed to put up big numbers, but it was a category that will enhance his Hall of Fame candidacy. For all the power generated by his trademark waggle of the bat and ferocious swings, Sheffield never struck out more than 100 times in a season. In fact, when he struck out 83 times as a Yankee in 2004, that represented the most strikeouts Sheffield collected in a single season (later matched in 2007 as a member of the Detroit Tigers).

Sheffield's lack of strikeouts showed how good of an eye he had at the plate, but he was also very selective. Despite never striking out more than 83 times in a single season, he did find a way to draw more than 83 walks in a season nine times, including a career-high 142 in 1996, when he led the National League with a .465 on-base percentage. From 1995-2003, it seemed as if Sheffield was always on base, as he registered a .400+ OBP in each of those nine seasons, averaging .428 over the time period.

Although he never won an MVP Award, Sheffield did finish in the top ten six times. He also was a nine-time All-Star and won five Silver Slugger Awards.

Many Mets players lost their power stroke at Citi Field in 2009. Not Gary Sheffield. Until he got hurt in late August, Sheffield was the team leader in home runs despite having only 268 at-bats. (Photo by Andrew Savulich)

However, many players from the so-called Steroid Era are having a tough time getting the Hall of Fame to open its doors for them (Mark McGwire and the aforementioned Palmeiro, to name a few). Some players, like Jeff Bagwell, are guilty either by association or because they looked like stunt doubles for He-Man. Where that leaves Gary Sheffield, who admitted to taking "the cream" unknowingly, is something for the Hall of Fame voters to decide when his name appears on the ballot for the first time in 2015.

Gary Sheffield had a long and illustrious career in baseball. As a youngster, he was mostly known for being Dwight Gooden's nephew and for intentionally throwing balls away in an effort to get himself traded out of Milwaukee. As he matured, both physically and mentally, Sheffield became one of the best hitters in the game, reaching base by any means possible and not giving away at-bats via the strikeout. To me, that's the trademark of a Hall of Famer. Let's see if the actual voters think the same way in four years.

Mike Francesa And The Case of Roberto Alomar vs. Craig Biggio

Earlier this afternoon on WFAN, Mike Francesa was talking about the Hall of Fame vote when a caller asked him about his opinion on Craig Biggio's chances to get into Cooperstown now that Roberto Alomar was elected. To my surprise (and the caller as well), Francesa said that Biggio should not be elected into the Hall of Fame.

The caller vociferously disagreed with Francesa's statement that Alomar was superior to Biggio in every way, leading Mike to huff and puff and blow the caller's opinion down.

Between every other sentence ending with "Alomar hit 20-something points higher than Biggio" (despite the fact that Robbie's career batting average was .300 as opposed to Biggio's .281, a difference of 19 points on every planet not inhabited by Francesa), Francesa went on to toss random stats on why Alomar was far better than Biggio and why Biggio is not a Hall of Famer. He said:

• Alomar won 10 Gold Glove Awards to Biggio's four.
• Alomar made 12 All-Star teams to Biggio's seven.
• In Alomar's best season, he drove in 120 runs; Biggio's career-high was 88.
• Alomar hit .313 in 58 postseason games; Biggio hit .234 in 40 playoff games.

Okay, I'll give Francesa the benefit of the doubt on the last comparison. Alomar was a better postseason player than Biggio. As a result, his teams were better. Alomar won two World Series and played in the League Championship Series five times. Biggio, on the other hand, didn't even make it to the NLCS until his 17th season in the majors. Overall, he appeared in two League Championship Series and one World Series (losing to the White Sox in 2005).

But the caller was not trying to argue that Biggio was better than Alomar. Rather, he was merely attempting to say that Biggio should join Alomar in the Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible to do so in 2013.

All Francesa did was run down the list of categories that Alomar was better in. Not once did he look at the stats that Biggio was better than Alomar in. In addition, he made no consideration of certain variables that would bring down Biggio's numbers.

For example, when Francesa mentioned that Alomar drove in 120 runs in his best season (1999), he did not say that Robbie was Cleveland's #3 hitter that year (149 starts in the three-hole). The year Biggio drove in 88 runs (1998), he was the Astros' leadoff hitter in 155 games. Many hitters drive in 120 runs or more hitting third in the batting order. Not too many hitters can drive in as many as 88 runs batting leadoff. In addition, Biggio was hitting directly behind the pitcher for most of his career, while Alomar played the majority of his career in the American League, where everyday players bat in the ninth spot.

Craig Biggio played in 2,850 games over his major league career. He was the Astros' leadoff hitter 1,564 times and their #2 hitter 754 times. That's over 2,300 games batting in a spot in the order where you're not expected to be an RBI guy. Yet Biggio found a way to drive in 1,175 runs over his major league career, which Francesa failed to mention was MORE THAN the 1,134 runs Roberto Alomar drove in over his career. Oh yeah, both Alomar and Biggio started their careers in 1988 so they perfectly overlapped each other.



What else did Francesa overlook while he was pounding his chest over Alomar's superiority to Biggio? Let's consider these five items:

1) Biggio scored 1,844 runs in his career to Alomar's 1,508. Only 12 men in baseball history have scored more runs than Biggio. All of them are in the Hall of Fame except for Pete Rose, who is ineligible for Hall of Fame consideration. By contrast, Johnny Damon has scored more runs (1,564) than Roberto Alomar and I don't think the Hall is going to be calling Damon five years after he retires.

2) Craig Biggio hit 668 doubles in his career, while Alomar hit 504. It is true that Alomar is one of only 51 men to ever surpass the 500 double plateau, but Biggio's total is fifth on the all-time list, surpassed only by Tris Speaker, Pete Rose, Stan Musial and Ty Cobb. If they sound like Hall of Famers, that's because they are (except for the man who liked the horsetrack a little too much).

3) Biggio hit 291 HR as opposed to Alomar's 210. Whereas Alomar only had three seasons of 20+ HR, Biggio produced eight such seasons. In fact, Biggio had as many 20+ HR seasons after his 38th birthday (three) as Alomar had in his entire career.

4) For as great a hitter as Alomar was, he only won four Silver Slugger Awards over his career. Biggio did him one better by winning five. Maybe Biggio's extra Silver Slugger Award had something to do with the fact that he picked up over 1,000 extra-base hits over his career (1,014 to be exact) compared to Alomar's 794.

5) Alomar's career fizzled out after he was 33. Once he turned 33, he only hit .262, with 58 doubles, 20 HR, 116 RBI, 167 runs scored and 28 stolen bases. After Biggio turned 33, he hit .266, but had 279 doubles, 139 HR, 469 RBI, 724 runs scored and 68 stolen bases. Biggio actually started driving the ball more as an elder statesman than as a spry youngster.


Now let's stop comparing the two and just focus on Biggio. Tell me these numbers aren't Hall of Fame-worthy...

.281 batting average, 1,844 runs scored, 414 stolen bases, 668 doubles, 55 triples, 291 HR, 1,175 RBI (mostly as a leadoff hitter, which by the way, was the position in the order Rickey Henderson batted out of. Henderson had 1,115 RBI despite the fact that he played five more seasons than Craig Biggio.)

I feel like I'm forgetting something. Something's missing up there that would shut Mike Francesa up regarding his anti-Craig Biggio shpiel. Ah, yes. Now I remember. Come closer to your screen so that you can't miss it.

CRAIG BIGGIO HAD 3,060 HITS!!

The last time I checked, if you had 3,000 hits, you were going to the Hall of Fame, assuming that you weren't on the permanently banned list (you're such a dummy, Pete Rose) or tested positive for steroids. (Don't point your finger at me, Rafael Palmeiro. You know I'm talking to you.)


Alomar didn't make it to 3,000 hits, calling it a career after picking up 2,724 safeties. Even if Mike Francesa ignored all of the other statistics, surely the 3,000+ hits for a non-gambling, non-PED using Biggio would have been enough to make him change his mind on his Hall of Fame candidacy.

But alas, we're talking about Mike Francesa here. Whatever he says is gospel. Who are we to disagree with him? He's the one with the radio show. We're just little ol' sports fans.

Be thankful he's not in charge of the Hall of Fame Committee. If he was, Craig Biggio would have to pay his way to Cooperstown to see all the players he should be enshrined with.

No Gold Glove For Wright; Guess He Didn't Hit Well Enough

The National League Gold Glove winners were announced on Wednesday but no Mets received the Midas Touch. There was no bling presented to Carlos Beltran or David Wright this year. Beltran's was expected since he missed half of the season. But what about Wright? Didn't he hit well enough?

Before you think I've forgotten that the Gold Glove is for defensive excellence and is not supposed to have anything to do with a player's hitting prowess, let me explain what I mean about Wright not hitting well enough to win the Gold Glove.

A few years ago, Derek Jeter was voted the worst shortstop in the American League. Although I don't think he's the worst, I also don't think he's the best. However, he won the Gold Glove this year despite what all the "experts" say about his defensive ability. Let's look at the stat sheet to see what Jeter did offensively this year.

He hit .334, which was his highest average since 2006 (he won the Gold Glove in 2006). He hit 18 HR, which was his greatest home run output since 2005 (he won the Gold Glove in 2005). He scored 107 runs, which was also his highest total since the Gold Glove season of 2005. He stole 30 bases, which was more than he had stolen in his two previous seasons combined. He did not win the Gold Glove in 2007 and 2008.

As 70s comedic icon Arte Johnson would say, that bit of news is "very interesting". In the two years that he did not win the Gold Glove, Jeter never surpassed 15 HR or 15 SB. He also did not hit for as high a batting average or score as many runs. But what do you know? He upped his batting average to .334, had an 18/30 split in the HR and SB department and voila! His glove automatically becomes golden!

This isn't as bad as 1999, when Rafael Palmeiro played primarily as a DH (only playing 28 games at first base) and was still awarded with the American League Gold Glove at first base. However, he did hit .324 with 47 HR and 148 RBI for the Texas Rangers that year, all of which were career highs and all of which were done while he was not doing steroids...period.

So that brings us to David Wright. This year, Ryan Zimmerman replaced Wright as the National League Gold Glove winner at third base. Wright had been bestowed the prestigious award each of the last two seasons. In both seasons, he was in the 30 HR, 100 RBI club.

Zimmerman has always been very good defensively, perhaps even better than Wright, but he averaged 19 HR and 71 RBI during the two seasons Wright won the Gold Glove.

In 2009, Zimmerman established career highs with a .292 average and 33 HR. He also added 106 RBI. On the other hand, Wright had the worst power season of his career, finishing with only 10 HR and 72 RBI. Of course, Zimmerman won the Gold Glove this season.

For the Mets to compete in 2010, they will need a bounceback season from David Wright, especially in the power department. Not only will a power surge help the Mets score more runs, but it might be enough to wrest the Gold Glove away from Ryan Zimmerman. After all, pitching wins championships but sluggers win Gold Gloves, right?