Batting average doesn’t matter, but Edgar’s was .312. His career hitting line is much, much more than “well above average.”

Anyway, in Edgar’s case, it’s not even that he wasn’t good enough to do it — he was a fine 3B, and probably would’ve made an excellent 1B. They moved him to DH to help keep him healthy and because they had Tino Martinez. Most of the HOF I listed above would’ve DHed if the DH were available, and not just to keep themselves healthy. And Edgar likely contributed more by not wearing a glove than Stargell did by wearing one.

Best 8 seasons, in order by WAR:
Thomas 7.6, 7.4, 7.2, 6.7, 6.6, 6.3, 5.5, 5.3 (52.6)
Belle 7.4, 6.6, 6.0, 4,9, 4.7, 2.7, 2.2, 1.6 (36.1)

Thomas was an elite hitter for about as long as anyone ever is, and there’s just no point in comparing him to Belle in any way, shape or form. Thomas was literally twice (at least) the player Belle was.

Between 1980 and 2010, Bagwell was the fifth best 1B by OPS at 948, and fourth best by wOBA with 406. He ranks 34th in OPS+ for his career (this is all players, not just 1B). We’re talking about a guy who’s been one of the best hitting 1B at a position that’s loaded with outstanding hitters. He added some value with his base running that isn’t often found at first, and he provided some quality D.

I understand the bit about him not having the magic # of 500 HR’s, or that you’re cautious about players from the steroid era. I respect that. He didn’t have the HR’s, but he made up for that by posting terrific power numbers (244 ISO power). For the record, he had the 8th highest ISO between 1980-2010 for 1B. So it’s not like he was some slap hitter who just posted godly on base totals. But that’s the other thing – he posted outstanding on base numbers to go along with the power. He had the fourth highest OBP among 1B during 1980-2010.

I don’t find RBI a particularly useful tool to evaluate hitters. Despite the fact that 1500 may seem low, he again ranks 5th over that time period among 1B. If you think he was unclutch and that’s why he had the low RBI total, then I’ll point out he had his highest OPS in high leverage spots (983) and a 998 OPS with RISP. So he was an elite hitter who did his best work when there were guys on.

I’m not gonna lie – Bagwell’s counting numbers suck. But he was an elite hitter, and he was one of the best 1B of his era – or any era for that matter. Regardless of how his HR/RBI totals stack up against his peers, he deserves to get in because he was one of the most well rounded 1B – a guy who hit for a good average, hit for tremendous power, did an outstanding job of getting on base, ran the bases well, and played good D.

If he’s not a Hall of Fame player, than I think we need to re-evaluate what exactly the Hall of Fame stands for.

All in all, a really great column and a model for a lot of the old-world voters out there.

In time, 450 homers and 1500 RBIs may look pretty tame for first baseman/corner OF types. Not sure I want everybody in the Hall who does that.

I’d certainly consider Bagwell down the road but for now, I’ll take the opportunity to consider it further.

But the thing is that even the WAR creators all say that they aren’t so precise. Tango (I think) had a post a couple weeks ago lamenting the usage on Fangraphs of decimals in WAR. there is an expected level of error. If the level of error is say 2% (easily wiithn any error range) and Thomas’s true return to hiss team was 2% less and Bagwell was 2% more, then Bagwell would be higher ranked than Thomas.

Yet, I think very few people would actually claim Bagwell was a better player. Most people today (including me) never thought of Bagwell as a HoF while he was playing. However, if you look at his stats, his impact with the Astros, his impact on the community then he’s a no doubter. Thomas was always a no doubter for me.

The SB don’t really make THAT much of a difference; Thomas cost his team a few runs, and Bagwell more or less broke even. But Bagwell was of course a much better baserunner overall, first-to-third and scoring from second and such, which makes a pretty sizeable difference.

Jonny 5, meet Willie Stargell, Willie McCovey, Harmon Killebrew, Henry Heilmann, Billy Williams, Hack Wilson, Chuck Klein, Ralph Kiner, Ernie Lombardi, and Sam Crawford.

Many would be unemployed if there was no DH.

Arguably true that “many” would. And this affects Edgar how?

The best players in history at their position should be considered for the Hall, Period. (Raffy reference intended).

However, I wouldn’t be so quick to assume that “Pete is not engaged in that ‘let’s see if he was found to be a PED user’ game I wondered about yesterday.” I don’t know how to read this response he sent to me other than as evidence that that’s exactly the game he’s playing:

@Bill_TPA Id consider him again. But for now, I'd like to see what develops. But I respect your opinion.—
Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) December 21, 2010

If that’s not what he meant, I owe him an apology, but that’s what it sounds like to me.