Here's a player comparison I've been thinking of these past few days:
Player A - .272 BA/ .370 OBP/ .470 SLG/ .840 OPS/ 127 OPS+
Player B - .283 BA/ .359 OBP/ .496 SLG/ .854 OPS/ 122 OPS+
Pretty close right? How about compiled numbers?
Player A - 1470 R / 385 HR / 1384 RBI / 78 SB
Player B - 1346 R / 358 HR / 1327 RBI / 308 SB
Player A played 2606 games while Player B has played 2064 games and is still playing. Very good chance that Player B passes Player A if he stays healthy but playing healthy has always been a concern with Player B. It should be noted that Player A was an 8-time Gold Glove winner and is regarded as one of the best all-around defenders at his position in baseball history. Player B has 3 Gold Gloves.
Player A is Dwight Evans and he's not going into the Hall of Fame. Player B is Carlos Beltran and all those people thinking he's a Hall of Famer need to take a deep breath.
I understand your irritation that Evans got short changed by the BBWAA voters. There are several reasons Evans' career did not get recognition from the voters. Primarily the image of him from his early years got cemented in voters minds and they were too lazy to thoroughly review his career when he showed on the ballot. Regardless, the voters failure to appreciate Evans is not Beltran's fault. Personally, I think they both have cases that merit consideration. However, neither is a slam dunk. Also, I give almost no credence to number of Gold Gloves won because the voting for that award has always been screwy. Both were very good to great fielders.
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