Is Roberto Alomar Worthy of the Baseball Hall of Fame?

It is getting close to that time of year again. Time to roll out Bert Blyleven, blow the dust off Andre Dawson and look at the cast of newcomers to the National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot.

The first year nominees are Roberto Alomar , Kevin Appier, Andy Ashby, Dave Burba, Ellis Burks, Andres Galarraga, Pat Hentgen, Mike Jackson, Eric Karros, Ray Lankford, Barry Larkin, Edgar Martinez, Fred McGriff, Mark McLemore, Shane Reynolds, David Segui, Robin Ventura, Fernando Vina, and Todd Zeile.

Obviously 10 or 12 of these guys don’t belong in the Hall of Fame much more than you do, however, a few of them will get a good look from the voters.

Roberto Alomar is one of those guys who are probably going to be on the fence.

Alomar had a very good if not great career. Personally, I was never a fan of his until now. In 1996 he was involved in one of the incidents you never want to see. Total and complete disrespect for another human being is something that cannot be tolerated. That is what Robbie did to umpire John Hirschbeck. That was an unforgivable incident.

Some fans cite the spitting incident as something that could keep Alomar out of the Hall. I don’t know about that, but that is what turned me sour on him. I still hold it against him but I think his numbers need to be looked at. I think I can compare him very well with Vada Pinson.

Should his 2,724 hits  be enough to get him enshrined?

If you are wondering, Cincinnati center-fielder Vada Pinson (may he rest in peace) is the all-time hits leader for those unlucky players who are not in the Hall of Fame (that are or have been qualified). Robbie’s hit total falls short of the mark set by Pinson of 2,757.

Robbie did have some power though, more than Pinson?

Not really. Pinson had 256 HR to Alomar’s 210.  Pinson had 1170 RBI, while Alomar had 1134.

How about OBP, Alomar got on base quite a bit?

He did indeed. His lifetime BA is .300 to .286 for Pinson. His OBP is .371 to .327 for Pinson.

How about defense?

Robbie won 10 Gold Gloves while Pinson managed only one.

The OPS+ is reasonably close, with Alomar leading 116 to 110.

So you can see they are close in numbers. I would have to give the slight edge to Alomar. Is it enough to warrant his plaque in the Hall of Fame. We will see.

What is your opinion?

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