Top-5 Blue Jays that deserved a longer Hall of Fame look

It is almost that time of year again when we will hear who gets enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.  This year appears to be another A-list of players as we get more of the 90’s stars heading to the ballot.

We have first year ballot players like Ken Griffey Jr., Jim Edmonds, Trevor Hoffman, and Billy Wagner.  Even former Blue Jay Troy Glaus is making his debut on the ballot.  There are also plenty of holdovers from previous ballots such as Tim Raines, Mike Piazza, Curt Schilling, Lee Smith, Edgar Martinez, Mike Mussina, Gary Sheffield, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.  With talent like this you can see why the Baseball Hall of Fame is so exclusive.

Over the years there have been plenty of Blue Jays alumni that perhaps should have gotten a better look at possible enshrinement.  These players did not exceed the 75% of the BBWAA votes to make it into the Halls of Cooperstown.  They also failed to get the 5% of votes that would keep them on the ballot the following year in some cases.  This article aims to look at at players that could have, and possibly should have, joined their fellow Blue Jays in the Hall of fame.  Lets start the count down.

Current Blue Jays in the Hall of Fame
Roberto Alomar (Class of 2011)
Pat Gillick (Class of 2011)
Rickey Henderson (Class of 2009)
Paul Molitor (Class of 2004)
Dave Winfield (Class of 2001)
Phil Niekro (Class of 1997)

Next: First of all: Lets flirt with .400

# 5 John Olerud
Best Ballot Year 0.7 %
Years on Ballot – 1

During the glory days it was a welcome site to see the smooth-swinging hit machine that was John Olerud in the line up every day. The left first baseman was drafted out of Washington state by the Blue Jays in 1989 and actually made his debut that season. After making it into 6 games in 1989 he would play in 111 during his rookie campaign. He would finish with a .265 batting average and collect 15 doubles, 14 homers, and 48 RBI. This was good enough for him to land 4th in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1990. Ted Williams himself went on record saying if Olerud had some speed he could be as good as he was and hit .400 in a season.

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Olerud would go on to have a solid career with the Jays as he remained an extremely consistent bat in the center of a dominant lineup. He would peak at just the right time as he would lead the American league in batting average in 1993. Olerud would be 1 of 3 Jays in the batting title race in 1993, but he bested them all with a .363 clip.

He also managed to hit an A.L.-leading 54 doubles while collecting 24 long bombs and 107 RBI’s.  This performance landed him 3rd in the AL MVP voting just behind future Hall of Famers Paul Molitor and Frank Thomas.  or you sabermetric fans, Olerud had the best WAR among the top 10 MVP candidates for the season. He had a 7.7 WAR where Thomas had a 6.2 and Molitor had a 5.7.

Olerud’s career resume includes a .295 batting average, 500 doubles, 255 home runs, 1230 RBIs, .471 SLG, and a .866 OPS. His career WAR over 17 seasons was 58.  He was also a 2 time All-Star, won 3 Gold Gloves and a batting title.

Comparable players that got more consideration for the Hall of Fame were Don Mattingly and Keith Hernandez. Mattingly is on his 15th ballot this year and Hernandez was on the ballot for 9 years before falling off.  Their career numbers are all nearly identical.  Olerud may have been over looked because he was not as flashy (or never happened to make appearances on Sienfeld), but is just as good of a ballplayer as some other players that got more then a glance.

Next: Coming in at number 4, Mr. Contact

# 4 Tony Fernandez
Best Ballot Year 0.7 %
Years on Ballot – 1

One of the Blue Jays franchise favorites was signed as an amateur free agent in 1979. After making his debut in 1983 and becoming a regular in 1984 he would become the face that most Jays fans associate with the position of shortstop. His smooth swing and slick defense became a staple for the Jays for years. In the coming seasons he would be a spark plug to the offense and provide Gold Glove heroics in the field.

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Fernandez was eventually shipped to the Padres in “The Trade” that brought Joe Carter and Roberto Alomar to Toronto. Tony continued to play great baseball in his post-Blue Jays career but also managed to make 3 more appearances in a Jays uniform before he retired in 2001 with the Jays. He currently owns Blue Jays records in games played and hits while he stands 3rd in batting average. After a 17-year career, Fernandez posted a WAR of 45 and a .288 batting average with 2276 hits.

Fernandez’s career resume includes the .288 lifetime batting average, 5 All-Star games, and 4 Gold Gloves.

Comparable Players that got more consideration for the Hall of Fame would be Alan Trammell.  Similar career numbers but you are trading offense for defense. Trammell provided more pop than Fernandez but also managed to win some Gold Gloves.  He was the direct competition most years for Fernandez in the field but Fernandez had the dazzle level defensively.

Next: Number 3: The No-Hit Wiz!

#3 Dave Stieb
Best Ballot Year 1.4 %
Years on Ballot – 1

Dave Stieb is the pitcher many Blue Jays fans see as one of our best arms of all time. He was the workhorse that the team needed in the early runs at the playoffs. From 1980 to 1990 he pitched over 200 innings in 8 of those 10 years.

Stieb was the face of Toronto’s pitching staff during the early rise of the Jays, and was named the opening day starter 4 times during his tenure.  He is also known for being the only Toronto Blue Jays pitcher to ever throw a No-Hitter.  He accomplished the feat on September 6, 1990, where he held the Cleveland Indians to a zero in the hit column.  What some people often forget is that he had come close to no-hitters and perfect games several times before.

Stieb had 3 no hitters broken up in the 9th inning over his career which also included 1 perfect game.  The near-perfect game was in front of a record crowd at the time in the newly-opened SkyDome. Stieb started the 9th inning out with 2 strikeouts and was only one Yankee batter away from history. Roberto Kelly would rob the perfect game from Stieb on a good pitch that he lined into left field.

He would go onto lead the Jays in Wins, ERA, Games Started, Innings Pitched, and strike outs. He rode a great fastball that was complimented by a devastating slider and a curve ball that would all of a sudden drop from the heavens on hitters. Stieb was also considered very highly among the other pitchers of his generation as earned 7 All Star game appearances. In 1982 through 1983 he ranked top 5 among players each year in WAR and was the top in WAR among pitchers those years. He also lead the league in ERA in 1985.

Stieb’s career resume includes a 176 – 137 record with a 3.44 ERA over 2895.1 innings while collecting 1669 strike outs.

Comparable Players that got more consideration for the Hall of Fame would be Jack Morris. Jack Morris is the only pitcher that collected more wins during the 1980’s then Stieb.  Morris has a career WAR of 43.8 were Stieb had a 57.  The one thing that seems to be a big differentiation between the two is the postseason experience. This writer will not mention that the one reason the Jays did not get into the playoffs more in the 1980’s was Jack Morris’s Tigers. Sorry! Anyways, Morris made four postseason appearances and was the MVP in 1991 for the Twins.

We also enjoyed Morris’ services in 1992 in which he won 21 games for the Jays. Now, for Stieb, he made it to the playoffs with the Jays twice and it was a mixed batch of performances. Morris has been on the ballot for 14 years and is on his last ballot in which he will hope to finally break out of the 60% range that he has been in the past 3 years.

Next: Coming in at number 2, it's Crime Dog Time

#1 Carlos Delgado
Best Ballot Year 3.8 %
Years on Ballot – 1

Carlos Delgado holds a special place in many younger Blue Jays fan’s hearts. He was the face of the team along with Roy Halladay through the late 90’s and early millennium. Delgado made his debut as a September call up in the 1993 season and then bounced up and down for a short while. Once he found a home in the field at first base, he became a regular player in 1996.

In that first full season he proceeded to reward the Jays with a .270 batting average and 25 homers while driving in 95 RBI. Delgado would become an offensive juggernaut that could not be stopped from that point on. Over the next 14 seasons he would drive in at least 90 RBIs in all but 2 of those years.  He also hit at least 30 home runs each of those seasons with at least 90 RBIs while batting near .280.

Delgado is the current record holder in many of Toronto’s offensive stat categories.  He currently tops the board in Runs, Doubles, Home Runs, RBIs, Walks, Slugging Percentage, and On-Base Percentage.  For the stats that he is currently not leading he is within the top 10 in most categories that do not include stealing bases. Delgado is also the only player to hit four home runs in a game while with the Blue Jays.  He accomplished the feat on a night that started off with him hitting his 300th career home run and he would end that night with 303. Delgado finally got a taste of post season baseball when he played with the Mets in 2006 and showed off in typical Del-Got-it! fashion. Through the 10 games he would bat .351 with 3 doubles, 4 home runs and 11 RBI.

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Delgado was one of the most feared hitters of his generation and was deserving of the MVP award in 2003 that was stolen by Alex Rodriguez. Among the hardware that did make it to his shelves were 3 Silver Sluggers, a batting title, the 2000 Hank Aaron Award, 2000 Major League Player of the Year, and the 2006 Roberto Clemente award. He was also a 2-time All Star, and finished in the top 10 of MVP voting 4 times over his career.

Delgado’s career resume includes a .280 batting average with 483 doubles, 473 home runs, 1241 Runs, 1512 RBIs, .546 SLG, and an impressive .929 OPS

Comparable players that got more consideration for the Hall of Fame would be Hall of Famer Willie Stargell. Willie had a magnificent career and it would be hard to find someone that does not say he is Hall worthy. Interestingly enough, though, his career numbers are nearly identical to Delgado’s.  The even more fun part is that Delgado produced the same #’s in 300 less games.  Stargell’s career numbers are a .282 batting average, 423 doubles, 475 home runs, 1194 Runs, 1540 RBIs, .529 SLG, .889 OPS.  Those numbers are pretty close.

The big difference between the two is the amount of hardware that Stargell took home which included an MVP award. The era Delgado played in also has a lot of talent at first base to compare him to, which hurt his chances. But regardless, Delgado was deserving of a better look, just like many on this countdown.