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Wednesday, December 05, 2018

Mauer & McCann: HOF?

Joe Mauer hung up his spikes after the 2018 season, and the kind folks in Minnesota are trumpeting his candidacy for the baseball hall of fame. With Brian McCann having signed on for one more tour of duty with the Braves, it seemed like a good time to compare the two to some of the hall of fame catchers. 
 
A Sports Illustrated article says only five catchers put up more value through the age of 30. Mauer’s was 42.7, McCann’s 26.1. Mauer won a MVP, was a six time All Star, five time Silver Slugger, three time Gold Glover, with a career .323 batting average. McCann had seven All-Star appearances and six Silver Sluggers, but no Gold Gloves.
 
years.games.PA.runs..hits…2B.3B.HR.RBI
05-13 1143 4938 670 1381 274 19 099 617
06-14 1186 4688 501 1135 235 03 194 713
 
avg.OBP.SLG.OPS.TB..SB.CS.BB...K..IBB
323  406  466  872 1990 42 16 605 550 103
272  343  469  811 1958 22 07 428 681 057

In addition to the legendary Yogi and Bench, I added Carlton Fisk, Gary Carter, Yadier Molina, and Ivan Rodriquez. And since the media likes to put New York Yankees into the HOF, for fun I added Jorge Posada. Unfortunately, his numbers are decent. But with a good year Brian McCann could pass Posada in several categories, in two fewer seasons.
 
YR..GP.....PA…..R……H….2B.3B.HR..RBI...BB...SO
17 2158 08674 1091 2048 381 24 389 1376 891 1278 JB
24 2499 09853 1276 2356 421 47 376 1330 849 1386 CF
19 2120 08359 1175 2150 321 49 358 1430 704 0414 YB
21 2543 10270 1354 2844 572 51 311 1332 513 1474 IR
17 1829 07150 0900 1664 379 10 275 1065 936 1453 JP
14 1670 06534 0714 1521 285 05 270 0973 609 1001 BM
15 1870 07203 0656 1850 355 07 146 0859 484 0724 YM
15 1858 07960 1018 2123 428 30 143 0923 939 1034 JM
 
What stands out is Berra’s paltry 414 strikeouts in 19 seasons.
 
avg.SLG.obp.ops..TB.GG
273 374 474 848 2888 00 Posada
285 348 482 830 3643 00 Berra
306 388 439 827 3040 03 Mauer
267 342 476 817 3644 10 Bench
296 331 464 798 4451 13 Rodriquez
269 341 457 797 3999 01 Fisk
263 338 454 791 2626 00 McCann
282 334 406 740 2657 09 Molina

Should McCann’s longer, steady career be regarded favorably by the usually picky HOF voters? What about Mauer’s much shorter reign of excellence?

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