Last summer, Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice were inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Henderson is one of the greatest players of all time, and an easy choice for voters.
Rice was a more difficult choice, making it after more than a decade on the ballot. But plenty of worthy candidates remain on the outside looking in.
In Bill James’ book about the Hall of Fame, he suggests that fans often try to make cases for players they grew up watching, and liked.
We should focus more on the best players we can put in, rather than simply making a case for a player because we can.
Sure, we can make a case for Keith Hernandez. But there are plenty of players much better than Keith Hernandez not in the Hall of Fame.
So that’s what I did here. I decided to take a look and determine the best player, at each position, that is eligible (sorry Pete, Joe, and Eddie) but not in the Hall of Fame.