Losing the Hall of Fame's Plot

With the announcement that Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia, and Billy Wagner were all elected to the Hall of Fame this week, I think it’s a good to time to consider something that just seems a bit off about all the voting.

Joe Posnanski has touched on this, and I tend to agree with him. While the various advancements in stats and analysis over the last many years have been, in my view, generally good for baseball, we seem to have lost sight of a few things, and Hall of Fame voting reflects that. For instance, Luis Arráez is viewed in entirely opposite ways by many. Some view him as a hitting machine, the modern Rod Carew, able to slap a single through any hole the defense gives him, and they find that delightful. Others view him as a one-dimensional player who provides little value to his team outside of that one dimension, which isn’t enough to make him the sort of superstar some believe him to be, and they find that frustrating.

Personally, I see both sides of that. I tend to lean toward those that recognize the limits in his game, but that’s my brain talking. My heart sort of admires his Carew-ness. Maybe that’s nostalgia on my part because I saw Carew play when I was a kid, but I think it’s more admiration of the fact that Arráez is a throwback, a bit of a unicorn in modern baseball who has decided to ignore launch angles and drawing walks and just wants to slap singles and doubles seemingly at will.

I have to say, the heart part of that argument is much more fun. There’s little joy to be had in dissecting a player’s weaknesses and dwelling upon them, but there’s immense joy to be had in reveling in their strengths. Yeah, Arráez doesn’t homer much, and he’s an indifferent defender, and subpar runner, and all of that. Absolutely true, and absolutely a downer to think about. But the thing he does do well - make a lot of contact and hitting for a high batting average - is remarkably fun to watch and discuss.

It’s that split in focus between the strengths and weaknesses of players that seems to be playing out in Hall of Fame voting, and not in entirely good ways.