Jeter was an obvious selection. Although he was not as great as some seem to think, he is certainly a Hall of Famer. 3400+ hits, a .310 average and a complete handful of rings speak for themselves. He missed being a unanimous selection by a single vote.

The selection of Larry Walker was more contentious.

Many people believe he is the best Canadian baseball player ever, but I went back and forth on his HoF merits for some years until I finally concluded that he was a Hall of Famer. To place my logic in a nutshell, Walker was exactly as good as Duke Snider, and Duke Snider is a solid Hall of Famer, therefore Larry Walker is a solid Hall of Famer. Normally I don’t accept the logic of “X should be in because Y is” because when people make that argument X is usually being compared to a Y who shouldn’t be in there. If we based the HoF on that logic, about half of the players who ever played should be in because they were better than Tommy McCarthy, who was a totally average player (lifetime wins above average: 0.2). But the “X vs Y” logic is valid in this case, because The Duke is a bona fide, solid Hall of Famer.

To take Denver out of the equation, Walker’s numbers outside of Coors are just about identical to Snider’s outside of Ebbets Field. When I place them side-by-side, you won’t be able to tell which is which because they are virtually identical:

Moreover, I think you can fairly argue that Walker was a better overall player than the Duke outside the batter’s box, even though Duke played a more difficult position. Walker was a better baserunner, stole more bases, had a better arm, and actually had comparable range factors on those occasions when he was called upon to play center field.

Of the three New York center fielders in the famous baseball song, Larry Walker was not as good a player as Willie and Mickey, but he was as good or better than the Duke, who is not only in the Hall of Fame, but definitely belongs there.

As does Walker.

The longer version of this article can be found in Uncle Scoopy’s Ballpark

Jeter was an obvious selection. Although he was not as great as some seem to think, he is certainly a Hall of Famer. 3400+ hits, a .310 average and a complete handful of rings speak for themselves. He missed being a unanimous selection by a single vote.

The selection of Larry Walker was more contentious.

Many people believe he is the best Canadian baseball player ever, but I went back and forth on his HoF merits for some years until I finally concluded that he was a Hall of Famer. To place my logic in a nutshell, Walker was exactly as good as Duke Snider, and Duke Snider is a solid Hall of Famer, therefore Larry Walker is a solid Hall of Famer. Normally I don’t accept the logic of “X should be in because Y is” because when people make that argument X is usually being compared to a Y who shouldn’t be in there. If we based the HoF on that logic, about half of the players who ever played should be in because they were better than Tommy McCarthy, who was a totally average player (lifetime wins above average: 0.2). But the “X vs Y” logic is valid in this case, because The Duke is a bona fide, solid Hall of Famer.

To take Denver out of the equation, Walker’s numbers outside of Coors are just about identical to Snider’s outside of Ebbets Field. When I place them side-by-side, you won’t be able to tell which is which because they are virtually identical:

Moreover, I think you can fairly argue that Walker was a better overall player than the Duke outside the batter’s box, even though Duke played a more difficult position. Walker was a better baserunner, stole more bases, had a better arm, and actually had comparable range factors on those occasions when he was called upon to play center field.

Of the three New York center fielders in the famous baseball song, Larry Walker was not as good a player as Willie and Mickey, but he was as good or better than the Duke, who is not only in the Hall of Fame, but definitely belongs there.

As does Walker.

The longer version of this article can be found in Uncle Scoopy’s Ballpark