Historically Underrated Players

[StanMarsh51]

Why not?

3 guys I'm thinking of from the past 30 years:

Alan Trammel (should be a HOFer in my opinion)
Lou Whitaker (ditto)
John Olerud (not a HOFer, but not far from being one...I'd also argue his career was at least on par with Keith Hernandez and Mattingly
Tim Raines (should've been in the HOF years ago although it could happen soon)
Carlos Beltran (yes, that Carlos Beltran)

Who else am I missing...

 

[ImSmartherThanYou]

In recent years...

Jeff Bagwell. Seems people don't realize how rare a combination of skills he had.
Kenny Lofton. Not a HOFer, but not that far off either, and certainly worthy of staying on the ballot for more than one year.
Mike Mussina. Anytime you see the HOF discussion threads, his name is casually dismissed while people put Glavine in the HOF, when Mussina was clearly better than Glavine.

 

[1905 Giants]

I would say Olerud and Hoyt Wilhelm.

 

[RandomParticles]

Understanding that I am biased, I'd like to put Dale Murphy and Andruw Jones on the list.

From a completely separate bias, I think that Kevin Brown was a bit underrated.

 

[TDs3nOut]

The whole idea of "underrated/overrated" is problematic, since different people rate different players differently. That said, I think that Pudge Rodriguez is underrated by many, probably due to having spent his best years playing for Rangers teams that never got much national attention.

 

[RandomParticles]

The whole idea of "underrated/overrated" is problematic, since different people rate different players differently. That said, I think that Pudge Rodriguez is underrated by many, probably due to having spent his best years playing for Rangers teams that never got much national attention.

Funny, I've always figured he'd be a HoF shoo-in....

<------ Oh, yeah...and add Huddy to the list.

 

[EnterSandman]

In addition to those mentioned, Vern Stephens comes to mind.

 

[navamind]

Bobby Grich

Agreed with a lot of these, especially Beltran. Amazing player.

 

[BigDDude]

In addition to those mentioned, Vern Stephens comes to mind.

If Vern Stephens comes to your mind, then your mind is old.

Like mine.

 

[BigDDude]

Bobby Grich

Good call Nava. If he comes to mind, it is due to his stellar defense. However, and though it was a strike shortened season, most will not know or can not remember that he lead the league in homers once.

 

[navamind]

Grich also had a career .371 OBP, .424 SLG% and 125 OPS+. Those are always good numbers from a 2nd baseman, especially one that played in the 70's and 80's.

 

[Brahmsian]

Trammel I can go along with, the other players you list are iffier.

If former Red Sox pitcher Luis Tiant isn't in the HOF he should be! Opposition hitters
NEVER knew what he was going to throw next, only that it would probably be a called strike
if they took it.

His teammates, Rick Burleson and Dwight Evans are similar. Evans was only the best RF the Bosox have had
since I moved to Boston back in 1973!

 

[Brahmsian]

Speaking of great glove men, Dal Maxvill and Mark Belanger.

Don't believe either of them are in the HOF, but they were both HUGE assets to
their teams despite being the weakest bats in their respective lineups.

 

[BigDDude]

Speaking of great glove men, Dal Maxvill and Mark Belanger.

Don't believe either of them are in the HOF, but they were both HUGE assets to
their teams despite being the weakest bats in their respective lineups.

Good greater point with these 2, as the time of the "glove only" guy seems to have ended, and, those who were mainly glove men tended to be overshadowed by their better hitting counterparts.

 

[gunnarthor]

Brad Radke. From 95-06, he was 10th in baseball in pitching fWAR behind 5 HOFers and 4 other guys - Moose, Brown, Smoltz, Pettitte who might be HOFers. And ahead of Glavine, Wells, Moyer etc. He actually had more seasons in the top 10 for pitching WAR than Johan Santana. He had more 6 WAR seasons than Josh Beckett. He had as many 5 WAR seasons as Beckett and Lackey did, combined. He pitched in 12 seasons, in half of those he was a 4.5 WAR or higher pitcher.

Radke and Pettitte came up the same year and were essentially equal in WAR and IP until Radke retired. (bWAR has Radke ahead but I don't know how to sort it so I used fangraphs).

 

[BigDDude]

Brad Radke. From 95-06, he was 10th in baseball in pitching fWAR behind 5 HOFers and 4 other guys - Moose, Brown, Smoltz, Pettitte who might be HOFers. And ahead of Glavine, Wells, Moyer etc. He actually had more seasons in the top 10 for pitching WAR than Johan Santana. He had more 6 WAR seasons than Josh Beckett. He had as many 5 WAR seasons as Beckett and Lackey did, combined. He pitched in 12 seasons, in half of those he was a 4.5 WAR or higher pitcher.

Radke and Pettitte came up the same year and were essentially equal in WAR and IP until Radke retired. (bWAR has Radke ahead but I don't know how to sort it so I used fangraphs).

He was a good pitcher, but I would dare to disagree. IMO, his .518 win % is kind of weak, as was his 4.22 e.r.a. And, he gave up a ton of homers.

However, the guys who use these new fangled metrics probably have something where they can compensate for his pitching in the homer dome, so......?

 

[navamind]

A career 4.22 ERA in the steroid era is quite good. And Radke was a bit more of a workhorse than Pettitte was. Radke was in the top 10 in IP six times. Pettitte was only twice. Radke also allowed fewer baserunners.

 

[BigDDude]

A career 4.22 ERA in the steroid era is quite good. And Radke was a bit more of a workhorse than Pettitte was. Radke was in the top 10 in IP six times. Pettitte was only twice. Radke also allowed fewer baserunners.

Likely as one is not considered a base runner on a home run.......

 

[navamind]

home runs count in WHIP. And he still had a lower WHIP. Radke didn't walk very many batters.

And Radke also played a good portion of his career on a mediocre Twins team. Hasn't every team Pettitte's pitched for finished .500 or higher?

 

[EnterSandman]

If Vern Stephens comes to your mind, then your mind is old.

Like mine.

When thinking about baseball, maybe. I've done a lot of these types of threads on other forums and Vern Stephens isn't even mentioned in those, which leads me to believe that he's doubly underrated. I know it's an odd choice but that's my reasoning.