On the ball | Elevating Vizquel to the HOF, an injustice

Elevating Omar Vizquel to the Cooperstown Hall of Fame would be an injustice, as would not elevating Ernie Banks.
Omar was not the best of his position in his day, 1989-2013.

Statistics are like the dental floss that women wear on the beach…: they teach a lot, but they hide the essential.

Now, if you want the numbers, here you are …: Omar Vizquel, reached 272, had an annual average of three home runs (exactly 3,333) and 40 RBI (exactly 39,625). As for the Golden Gloves, I remind you that he wore one of the “Rawlings” brand.

And speaking of short range shortleaguers …:

Concepcion, never inducted into the Hall of Fame, averaged six home runs and drove 50 races a year.

Phill Rizzuto, who was AL MVP and Player of the Year in 1950, came to Cooperstown but was elevated by the Veterans Committee, averaging three home runs and 43 RBI per year.

Pee Wee Reese, also elevated by the Veterans Committee, eight, 55.

The alcoves in the Cooperstown mansion are for the best of their era in every location. And power shorttops were rare before Vizquel and Alex Rodriguez, whose careers began in 1994, who shot an annual average of 37, served 15 times 30 or more in a season, and three times more than 50.

In this era, like Vizquel, there have been other power shorts at bat, such as Nomar Garcíaparra, Miguel Tejada, Cal Ripken, Francisco Lindor, Gleyber Torres.

Now five teams are fighting a trade with the Indians for Lindor, Mets, Yankees, Cardinals, Phillies and Blue Jays. Not because of his glove, but because he scored 32 or more home runs in three seasons.

Before A-Rod and Vizquel there were shortstop in the majors like Willie Miranda, who by then played nine years, hit 221, with less than one homer per season, six in total, seven RBI on average; and Joe Valdivielso, five seasons with an annual average of less than two home runs and 17 RBI, a batting average of 219.

Ernie Banks was a rare thing, with five seasons out of 40 home runs; and rare in the position were Vern Stephens and Rico Petroceli.
Had Omar hit better and been a leader, he would have appeared in more than two World Series and won a few, but he had 174, four wins in 23 at-bats, in 1995 and 1997, 30. -7, 233 .

Running is the way games are won; and are scored, above all, by dint of non-recordable blows. Out of a hundred runs, 83 return home on hits.