Edmonds was best known for catches like this one against the Royals on June 10, 1997.
The official announcement of Jim Edmonds’ retirement on Friday went largely unnoticed, which was kind of fitting because that’s mostly how the All Star centerfielder’s 17-year career was treated. Edmonds has always been a player best known for either making highlight reel catches or coming down with a nagging injury (he only had four seasons with 150 or more games played), sometimes doing both on the same play. A closer look, however, reveals what Edmonds really was: a legitimate candidate for the Hall of Fame.
When most people think about Hall of Fame centerfielders, names like Ty Cobb, Willie Mays, Tris Speaker, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle come to mind. For that reason, it’s easy to understand why the immediate reaction to Edmonds’ candidacy would be dismissive. Once you get past that immortal quintet, however, Edmonds follows very closely behind, at least according to Sean Smith’s version of WAR.
Hall of Fame Centerfielders (and Upcoming Candidates), Ranked by WAR
| Player | G | PA | WAR | HR | RBI | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS+ |
| Ty Cobb | 3034 | 13068 | 159.4 | 117 | 1938 | 0.366 | 0.433 | 0.512 | 168 |
| Willie Mays | 2992 | 12493 | 154.7 | 660 | 1903 | 0.302 | 0.384 | 0.557 | 155 |
| Tris Speaker | 2789 | 11988 | 133 | 117 | 1529 | 0.345 | 0.428 | 0.500 | 157 |
| Mickey Mantle | 2401 | 9909 | 120.2 | 536 | 1509 | 0.298 | 0.421 | 0.557 | 172 |
| Joe DiMaggio | 1736 | 7671 | 83.6 | 361 | 1537 | 0.325 | 0.398 | 0.579 | 155 |
| Ken Griffey Jr. | 2671 | 11304 | 78.5 | 630 | 1836 | 0.284 | 0.370 | 0.538 | 135 |
| Jim Edmonds | 2011 | 7980 | 68.3 | 393 | 1199 | 0.284 | 0.376 | 0.527 | 132 |
| Duke Snider | 2143 | 8237 | 67.5 | 407 | 1333 | 0.295 | 0.380 | 0.540 | 140 |
| Richie Ashburn | 2189 | 9736 | 58 | 29 | 586 | 0.308 | 0.396 | 0.382 | 111 |
| Max Carey | 2476 | 10770 | 50.6 | 70 | 800 | 0.285 | 0.361 | 0.386 | 107 |
| Larry Doby | 1533 | 6302 | 47.4 | 253 | 970 | 0.283 | 0.386 | 0.490 | 136 |
| Bernie Williams | 2076 | 9053 | 47.3 | 287 | 1257 | 0.297 | 0.381 | 0.477 | 125 |
| Edd Roush | 1967 | 8156 | 46.5 | 68 | 981 | 0.323 | 0.369 | 0.446 | 127 |
| Earl Averill | 1669 | 7215 | 45 | 238 | 1164 | 0.318 | 0.395 | 0.534 | 133 |
| Kirby Puckett | 1783 | 7831 | 44.8 | 207 | 1085 | 0.318 | 0.360 | 0.477 | 124 |
| Earle Combs | 1455 | 6507 | 44.7 | 58 | 632 | 0.325 | 0.397 | 0.462 | 125 |
| Hack Wilson | 1348 | 5556 | 39.1 | 244 | 1063 | 0.307 | 0.395 | 0.545 | 144 |
| Lloyd Waner | 1993 | 8326 | 24.3 | 27 | 598 | 0.316 | 0.353 | 0.393 | 99 |
Note: Includes Hall of Famers who played at least 50% of total games in centerfield.
Source: Baseball-reference.com
Despite being sabermetrically inclined, I still have my suspicions regarding both predominant versions of WAR. However, when any metric states a player ranks among the best at his position, it is wise to take notice. Using more traditional statistics, Edmonds would still rank among the top-10 Hall of Fame centerfielders in terms of OPS+, runs and RBIs, not to mention fourth in homeruns. By just about any measure, Edmonds was one of the best centerfielders to every play the game. But, is that enough to warrant election to the Hall of Fame?
A good test case for Edmonds will come next January, when former Yankees’ centerfielder Bernie Williams first appears on the ballot. Like his contemporary Edmonds, Williams doesn’t rank among the elite centerfielders, but he more than holds his own against the rest of the position’s Hall of Famers. Among the current class of Cooperstown centerfielders, Williams would rank in the top-10 for offensive WAR, runs, RBIs and homeruns. Also, although both versions of WAR give Williams demerits for defense, he is the proud owner of four Gold Glove awards, which, rightly or wrongly, still hold sway with the Cooperstown electorate.
Edmonds and Griffey will both join the Hall of Fame ballot in 2016.
One area that could boost Williams’ candidacy is his .850 OPS over 545 post season plate appearances, not to mention his four World Series rings. However, Edmonds also has an impressive post season resume. In 263 times to the plate, Edmond posted an OPS of .874 in October, and although he doesn’t have a handful of jewelry, he was part of the Cardinals’ 2006 championship.
Bernie Williams’ vote totals over the next five years will likely serve as a good bellwether for Edmonds (although Williams’ case is probably a little stronger), but the underrated centerfielder is still likely to find himself in a familiar position when he first become eligible for Cooperstown. In 2016, not only will Edmonds join the ballot, but he’ll do so alongside Ken Griffey Jr., who is all but assured of a first ballot election. As a result, Edmonds may not only have to vie against Williams, assuming he hasn’t been elected already, but he’ll also have an uphill battle simply emerging from the shadow of Griffey.
Maybe Jim Edmonds is destined to never fully receive the appreciation his wonderful career deserves, but that doesn’t change what he accomplished on the field. As the popular song about the fabled centerfield trio one stated, “If Cooperstown is calling, it’d be no fluke” because Edmonds wouldn’t be out of place among Willie, Mickey and the Duke.
Hall of Fame Centerfielders (and Upcoming Candidates), Ranked by HoF Standards Test
| Hall of Fame | Post Season | ||||||
| Player | ASG | GG | Monitor | Standards | PA | OPS | WS |
| Willie Mays | 24 | 12 | 374 | 76 | 99 | 0.660 | 1 |
| Ty Cobb | NA | NA | 445 | 75 | 71 | 0.668 | 0 |
| Tris Speaker | NA | NA | 248 | 73 | 83 | 0.856 | 3 |
| Mickey Mantle | 20 | 1 | 290 | 65 | 273 | 0.908 | 7 |
| Ken Griffey Jr. | 13 | 10 | 235 | 61 | 79 | 0.947 | 0 |
| Joe DiMaggio | 13 | NA | 250 | 58 | 220 | 0.760 | 9 |
| Earl Averill | 6 | NA | 128 | 50 | 3 | 0.000 | 0 |
| Bernie Williams | 5 | 4 | 133 | 48 | 545 | 0.850 | 4 |
| Duke Snider | 8 | 0 | 146 | 47 | 149 | 0.945 | 2 |
| Richie Ashburn | 6 | 0 | 110 | 41 | 17 | 0.412 | 0 |
| Kirby Puckett | 10 | 6 | 160 | 39 | 109 | 0.897 | 2 |
| Hack Wilson | 0 | NA | 100 | 39 | 53 | 0.768 | 0 |
| Jim Edmonds | 4 | 8 | 88 | 39 | 263 | 0.874 | 1 |
| Earle Combs | 0 | NA | 94 | 37 | 72 | 0.894 | 3 |
| Max Carey | NA | NA | 76 | 36 | 31 | 1.177 | 1 |
| Edd Roush | NA | NA | 72 | 36 | 34 | 0.690 | 1 |
| Lloyd Waner | 1 | NA | 86 | 31 | 18 | 1.071 | 0 |
| Larry Doby | 7 | 0 | 76 | 29 | 42 | 0.652 | 1 |
Note: First Gold Gloves were awarded in 1957. The first All Star Game was played in 1933. Hall of Fame Monitor measures worthiness (average Hall of Famer’s score is approximately 50), while the Standards test measures likelihood of election (likely Hall of Famer’s score is approximately 100).
Source: Baseball-reference.com
While Edmonds was a very good player, as evidenced by his impressive WAR, he only made 3 three All-Star teams, never led the league in any offensive category, never came close to an MVP award, never reached an important career milestone, was not a great run-producer as evidenced by accumulating less than 1200 career RBI, and was only a great hitter when hitting behind other great hitters like Pujols and Rolen. He only had one or two good-hitting seasons when not surrounded by a superstar. His WAR is high because of his fielding, but defensive WAR is pretty questionable in terms of accuracy, as is WAR in general. He’s borderline Hall-worthy, but since he has little else going for him in terms of standing out compared to his peers, he unfortunately falls just below the border and should not be numbered among the greatest players in history.
Considering what we know about All Star and MVP selections, I am not prepared to hold that against Edmonds. I also don’t agree that 393 ad 1199 aren’t impressive milestones. Further, your argument about him only being great because of Pujols and Rolen is kind of weak. You could probably make the same argument about countless others (e.g., could Gehrig have hit without Ruth and later DiMaggio in the same lineup)?
I agree with your reservations about WAR, so let’s put that aside for a moment. I think we all agree that Edmonds was a great defensive player at one of the most important positions on the diamond. I think we can also agree that he had very good offensive stats. When you combine the two (i.e., a great defensive centerfielder who was at least a very good hitter), I think you get a Hall of Famer.
Your arguments are nonsensical. By this logic one should dock Lou Gehrig for batting behind Babe Ruth or anyone who finished second to Barry Bonds in home runs from 2000-2004. He was also in the top five in MVP voting on two occasions. When your rank his offensive statistics with against those in the hall of fame he is mediocre at best. However, his defensive play as shown by his 8 gold gloves puts him in the top five among HOF center fielders (which should carry his bat over the line).
Out of 17 center fielders in the hall of fame he would also rank 4th all-time in Home Runs, 7th in SLG%, and 10th in RBI’s among the group. Those aren’t terrible offensive numbers for someone that’s defense is expected to carry their chances of making it.
Centerfield is an important position in the outfield, but it is far less demanding than every infield position but first base. Yes, he was a very good fielder, but only a pretty good hitter. He never led the league in any offensive category, and even his “gray ink” stats, meaning top 10 stats, are also very weak. When a player is on the borderline of Hall-worthiness like Edmonds is according to his WAR, he needs to have achieved something else of significance to be worthy of Hall election and therefore be called one of the greatest ever. He needs to have won some kind of award (other than a bunch of Gold Gloves which is the most questionable award in Baseball), or he needs to have reach important milestones like 500 HR’s or 3000 hits (Edmonds didn’t even reach 2000) or 500 doubles or something. Edmonds has acheived none of these things and has nothing else going for him but a fairly strong WAR. It’s ridiculous to rely on WAR alone to enshrine Baseball players. It’s the Hall of “Fame,” not the Hall of “Good.” What are they going to put on his plaque? “He had a very good WAR?” Makes no sense.
We’ll have to disagree on whether CF takes a back seat to 2B and 3B. Most spectrum analysis place all three positions very closely together.
I also don’t buy into the notion that a player had to win a major award or finish first in a major category. You’re free to disagree, but I happen to think that one of the better offensive centerfielders (who also happened to be an excellent defenders) in the history of baseball merits inclusion. The fact that he didn’t win an award or reach some artificial milestone isn’t very convincing.
Yeah, Edmond played during a fully integrated period, but he also didn’t play during the steriod era. Personally, I think Edmonds draws suspicion since his skills increased greatly in 2000 (judging from his sudden jump in yearly WAR), the period when steriod use was at it’s peak in Baseball, and his skills suddenly diminished in 2006, when steriods began to get weeded out. I hear talk all the time about steriod suspicion for most players during that era, so I don’t believe Edmonds should automatically get a free pass from this. Regardless, he’s a borderline Hall of Famer, and the only thing that gives him a somewhat strong case for enshrinement is his WAR stats, which is a questionable stat anyway. Everything else he achieved is not at Hall of Fame level. As far as not finishing first in a major category, that fact is not as significant as the fact that he seldom finished in the top ten in the major categories. His “gray ink” stats are fairly weak.
Sorry, I meant he “did” play during the steriod era.
Actually, a better way of saying it is, it’s the Hall of “Fame,” not the Hall of “Talent.”
A couple last points about why Edmonds is only a “pretty” good hitter and not a “very” good hitter. First of all, he struck out way too often. He is 20th all-time in strikeouts and that’s the only offensive statistic where he even places in the top 50 all-time. Even his OPS+ (Adjusted OPS) is not great. He places 152nd all time. Yes, there are great sluggers, even Hall of Famers, that struck as often as Edmonds, like Reggie Jackson, but Edmonds wasn’t particularly adept at walking either. His walk to strikeout ratio is almost 1/2. Reggie at least walked more often, and although he has a lower HR ratio as Edmonds, the era he played in saw a lot less home runs too. Plus Reggie was a post-season hero. Comparing Reggie and Edmonds is legitimate because Reggie won awards, reached important milestones, led the league in sevearl offensive categories, and did some other special things to set himself apart from his peers, but Edmonds didn’t. The sad truth is that while Edmonds is one of the best centerfielders ever (at least in terms of talent), he was simply not durable enough, and did not play in enough games, to reach the level of “Fame” that he needed to.
You don’t think an OPS+ over 130 is great, especially for a gold glove centerfielder? Really?
I also don’t get the hangup about strikeouts. Furthemore, Edmonds was very good at drawing walks, so I am not sure I follow this argument at all.
As for Kaline, another big difference in his career was the size of the league and relative level of integration. For example, a player like Ken Griffey Jr. likely wouldn’t have been playing in the AL in the 1950s, making it easier for Kaline to make so many All Star Games.
“Very” good at drawing walks? That’s pretty questionable. He was decent, not very good, judging from his rather low OBP of .376. Players who were “very” good at drawing walks during Edmonds era would be Gary Sheffield, Lance Berkman, and Todd Helton. They all have OBP’s at or above .400. I would say that a player who has an OBP at least 100 points above his batting average could be classfied as “very” good at drawing walks. 120 points or more above would be “great.” Edmonds’ OBP was .92 above his batting average, which is good, but not great. Anyway, if Edmonds ever does get elected to the Hall of Fame, which I don’t think he will, then I wouldn’t be nearly as upset about it as some other players that have been elected recently, like Jim Rice and Andre Dawson.
Also, yes, a 130 OPS+ is pretty darn good, but it’s not exactly Hall of Fame level, especially when the player’s lack of durabillity year in and year out is hurting his team. Edmonds was not durable like so many great Hall of Famers. His penchant for getting hurt was damaging to the teams he played on. That lack of durability also kept him from having mor black and gray ink stats, which I think are important for Hall of Fame consideration, although you may disagree. The point is, stats like WAR and OPS+ should not be the only determining factor for Hall election. Edmonds had a good career and was a very good player. That’s about it.
Oops, nevermind, Reggie wasn’t quite as good at walking as Edmonds, but, anyway, you see my point. Fame is about standing out from your peers. Reggie did several things to stand out and achieve “fame” status. Edmonds simply didn’t. Another good comparison to make is with Al Kaline. I would say that, respective of their eras, Jim Edmonds and Al Kaline were very similar in talent level, although Edmonds played a more premium position and Kaline was a slightly better hitter. They both averaged missing about 20-30 games per season so they both had season-to-season durability issues. The difference between them, however, is that Kaline played 5-6 more full seasons than Edmonds, and was able to reach some important career milestones, like 3000 hits. Kaline was also recognized as being great by the fans (the Hall of Fame is for the fans afterall) as evidenced by his 18 All-Star apearances. So, in other words, he did things to stand out from his peers. He reached “fame” level, and is therefore a Hall-of-Famer. If Edmonds lasted longer, or was more durable from year to year, he would have stood out like he needed to to be Hall-worthy. It’s a shame he didn’t because I really enjoyed watching him play. But, on the other hand, I also enjoyed watching Bo Jackson play….
[…] eligibility by failing to meet the minimum threshold. Included among them was Jim Edmonds, whose Hall of Fame credentials were overlooked by all but 11 voters. Instead of joining Cooperstown, the former gold glove center […]