'Hall-of-Famer Sammy Sosa' makes room for...

I have no problem with this player in the HOF:

.284 BA/.377 OBP/.509 SLG, 493 HR

or this player

.266/.353/.515, 462 HR

and finally this guy

.291/.363/.510, 352 HR

So who are these three players?

Fred McGriff, Jose Canseco and Ellis Burks respectively.

Here is someone who some sportswriters are lobbying to get into the Hall this year…

.273/.344/.534

I left off the HR total because you would probably catch on pretty quickly if it was included.

So knowing that all 4 of these guys had long careers as productive sluggers which would you vote into HOF?

The fourth player is Sammy Sosa.  While I wouldn’t vote for him based on his overall contribution to his teams I don’t have a major problem with those who would check Sosa’s name, these voters are simply “big hall” guys.  Those who vote for Sammy should also vote for Fred McGriff who was clearly a better hitter than Sosa.

McGriff had nearly 400 more walks than Sosa while striking out 400 fewer times.  Crime Dog posted more hits and doubles than Sosa in nearly the exact same number of at-bats.

Sosa has an advantage in home runs, stolen bases and overall defensive value.

FanGraphs WAR appears pretty accurate on this tale of the tape:

Sosa – 64 WAR

McGriff – 61 WAR

Crime Dog peaked with 137 HOF votes in 2012.  If the voters are honest with themselves then Sosa won’t get to 138.

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