Tim Raines, ‘Greatest Base Stealer Ever’? Not as crazy as it sounds.

Tim Raines, ‘Greatest Base Stealer Ever’? Not as crazy as it sounds.

As good as Tim Raines, 2017 Hall of Fame inductee,was as a baserunner, it is almost heresy to suggest that any player in Major League Baseball history was a better base stealer than Ricky Henderson. Henderson has by far the most stolen bases in history. Lou Brock at #2 would have had to steal almost 50% more in his career to match Rickey. The gap between Henderson at #1 and Brock at #2 is the same as between Brock and Jimmy Rollins at #46.

However the question of Ricky Henderson v. Tim Raines is actually closer than you’d think. And we think that an argument can be made that at the “height of their powers,” Raines might actually have been the better runner overall. (*gasp*) Read more

Yes, Ivan Rodriguez was really *that* good defensively

Yes, Ivan Rodriguez was really *that* good defensively

Hall of Fame week continues with a look at first-ballot Hall-of-Famer, Ivan Rodriguez. Rodriguez is often considered the greatest defensive catcher in the history of baseball, and he’s in the conversation for greatest catcher of all time. He definitely has a significant lead in the various ‘defensive runs’ metrics, but he also caught more games and more innings than any other catcher. We dug deeper and as the title suggests, it wasn’t just perception or longevity – he was truly great. There are a few other catchers for whom you can make the argument they were the greatest defensively, but it’s much harder to argue Ivan Rodriguez wasn’t. Read more

Jeff Bagwell: An all-time great batting eye

Jeff Bagwell: An all-time great batting eye

On Sunday, the Houston Astros’ Jeff Bagwell will enter the Hall of Fame. We’re particularly pleased with Bagwell’s election, since it seemed for a little while that he might unduly suffer from PED speculation (while in a certain sense it’s reasonable to suspect any player from the era, there is *zero* evidence specifically against Bagwell). Bagwell is a clear Hall of Famer, 6th all time in WAR among first basemen and possessed of one of the best batting eyes in Major League history. Read more