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With the Hall of Fame balloting in progress, the articles about who should and should not be a Hall of Famer are everywhere. The man that is getting the most attention? It might just be Jim Edmonds, the player whose Hall of Fame case seems to be the most compelling. While his limited playing time may keep him from being a first ballot Hall of Famer, his numbers show he is deserving of the honor. Unfortunately, due to stupid rules and a crowded ballot, Edmonds may fall to the back of the pack or even off the ballot entirely. Per Andrew Simon:
Edmonds clearly doesn't have an open-and-shut case for Cooperstown, like fellow center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. Just as clearly, Edmonds' case deserves more than one year of consideration. While he didn't reach any major career milestones or lead the league in major statistical categories, he did put together an excellent and atypical career...
Over an 11-year stretch starting in 1995, he hit .293/.388/.544 (141 OPS+), averaging 30 homers and 87 RBIs. Despite playing a modest 134 games per season, Edmonds' 56.0 WAR also ranked fifth in the Majors, behind only Bonds, Rodriguez, Jeff Bagwell and Chipper Jones, and right in front of Manny Ramirez. So that's more than a decade as one of the very best players in baseball.
The Baseball Hall of Fame is supposed to be about remembering and honoring the very best players to play the game, yet Jim Edmonds may not get enough votes to even stay on the ballot for more than one year. If that is not proof that the Hall of Fame voting rules are dumb and archaic, then I do not know what is.
Baseball Hall of Fame case for Jim Edmonds | MLB.com
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