Longshoremen wrote:
I'm with you on Dawson, but even this Cards' fan thinks Sandberg belongs in the HoF. Five seasons of 6+ WAR as a 2B, plus 9 Gold Gloves is a fine resume IMHO. Granted, he's nowhere close to the inner circle, but he's in.
My argument against using the Gold Glove as a measure is that as we have seen over the years, it's sort of a beauty contest. The writers fall in love with one guy at a position and will keep awarding him the award year after year, deserving or not. I would prefer that we not have baseball writers voting for the HOF or any of the awards, because their own personal biases (which player kissed their backside and which didn't) come into play.
As for Sandberg, he had a nice decade where he was the dominant player at his position, but he was washed up at age 34. I still believe if he and Lou Whitaker switched teams, Whitaker would have gotten in as a Cub and Sandberg wouldn't have gotten in as a Tiger. That's how biased I believe the voting is with Chicago. Whitaker lasted until he was 38, was still playing well as he aged, and was a model of consistency, posting a 3.5 or better WAR for 15 out of 16 seasons in which he played more than 100 games. He was a Rookie of the Year, part of the longest running double play combination in major league history, and he won something a Cub can only dream about, a ring. Whitaker was the best second basemen of his era in the AL. His career obp is 19 points higher than Sandberg. His OPS+ is 2 points higher. You put the numbers side by side and it's hard to make a clear argument for Sandberg over Whitaker. I still believe that if Sandberg is in, Whitaker should be in.
But this is the Chicago bias, which is really much clearer when you put Dawson next to Dwight Evans. Who had more seasons of 29 or more home runs? Evans 4 to Dawson's 3. Who had more seasons of 97 or more rbi? Evans 6 to Dawson's 4. Dawson had one great season, but was otherwise just a very good player, not a legend. Evans career WAR is 2.5 better than Dawson's. His career obp is 47 points higher than the fraud who spent a few years in Wrigley. Dewey was the consummate professional, a model of consistency, for two decades in Boston. Unfortunately being a guy who does your job well for two decades is nothing compared to having a few good seasons on a lousy Cubs squad, at least where the writers are concerned.
