Players that would have been HOFers if they could have stayed healthy

[scoutyjones2]

Chris Carpenter

 

[obxyankeefan]

Hal Trosky.......I don't know about injuries for him, but WWII did not help him.

Lyman Bostock

 

[StanMarsh51]

Chris Carpenter

The bigger issue with Carpenter is that he didn't become any good until he was almost 30. He was a mediocre at best pitcher for the first 40% of his career (innings wise).

 

[Pure Steel]

Hal Trosky.......I don't know about injuries for him, but WWII did not help him.

Lyman Bostock

Bostock for sure....Carew and him in the same lineup....What could have been.....

 

[navamind]

Cliff Lee

 

[navamind]

Kevin Appier. He was really good until he had surgery on a torn labrum. His stats from 90-97 (his first eight full seasons):

3.22 ERA, 103-74 (on the awful Royals), 1643.2 IP, 140 ERA+, 3.0 BB/9, 7.4 K/9, 0.6 HR/9, 1.22 WHIP, 46.5 bWAR, 40.2 fWAR (3rd behind Maddux and Clemens)

Unfortunately, he was overshadowed as he pitched on the Royals and only made one ASG and only received CYA votes once (finished 3rd in 1993). He managed a few decent seasons afterwards and got a ring with the 2002 Angels, but he never returned to his early/mid 90's form.

 

[navamind]

J.D. Drew. but as a Phillies fan I'm obligated to say he brought the injuries on himself

Very good hitter and a damn good fielder. One of my favorite Sox players. I'll never forget some of his biggest moments with the Sox (HR off K-Rod in 2008, walkoff in game 5 of the 2008 ALCS, his grand slam, also carried the Sox offense in June 2008 after Ortiz got hurt).

And let's throw Brandon Webb in here. It didn't take him long at all to dominate the NL (2.84 ERA over 180.2 innings as a rookie) and won a CYA a few years later in 2006 along with two other top 2 finishes. He had a 3.24 ERA and 33.5 WAR in his first six seasons and looked to be on a HOF path... and only pitched in one MLB game afterwards. He retired in 2013 after several comeback attempts after suffering right shoulder bursitis.

 

[Cedrique]

Very good hitter and a damn good fielder. One of my favorite Sox players. I'll never forget some of his biggest moments with the Sox (HR off K-Rod in 2008, walkoff in game 5 of the 2008 ALCS, his grand slam, also carried the Sox offense in June 2008 after Ortiz got hurt).

And let's throw Brandon Webb in here. It didn't take him long at all to dominate the NL (2.84 ERA over 180.2 innings as a rookie) and won a CYA a few years later in 2006 along with two other top 2 finishes. He had a 3.24 ERA and 33.5 WAR in his first six seasons and looked to be on a HOF path... and only pitched in one MLB game afterwards. He retired in 2013 after several comeback attempts after suffering right shoulder bursitis.

Good call. Webb was solid. Arizona is kind of a hitters park and he didn't have ridiculous strikeout numbers like some of the guys today and he still dominated for a few years.

 

[Omar 382]

I haven’t read this whole thing, but J.R. Richard comes to mind, even if he had a long way to go even before his injury.

Chase Utley obviously (though I think he should still get in).

Travis Hafner maybe (he was a really underrated hitter).

 

[Omar 382]

If you're talking about the pitcher who you could hear the sound of his arm snapping throughout the ball park, that was Dave Dravecky.

Read a book from him about 10 years ago. He’s become a Christian motivational speaker. It was a good read, and he’s surprisingly very knowledgeable about baseball and its history.

 

[Pure Steel]

I haven’t read this whole thing, but J.R. Richard comes to mind, even if he had a long way to go even before his injury.

Chase Utley obviously (though I think he should still get in).

Travis Hafner maybe (he was a really underrated hitter).

I mentioned J.R. a page back, so tragic when it happened....He was having a Cy Young year when he had his stroke....Guy was flat out dominant.....

 

[DirtDirtDirt]

I mentioned J.R. a page back, so tragic when it happened....He was having a Cy Young year when he had his stroke....Guy was flat out dominant.....

Ended up living under a highway, such a sad ending for JR

 

[Cedrique]

I mentioned J.R. a page back, so tragic when it happened....He was having a Cy Young year when he had his stroke....Guy was flat out dominant.....

Yeah that is a good one. Those Astros teams were loaded with starting pitching

 

[Cedrique]

I haven’t read this whole thing, but J.R. Richard comes to mind, even if he had a long way to go even before his injury.

Chase Utley obviously (though I think he should still get in).

Travis Hafner maybe (he was a really underrated hitter).

Yeah, Hafner did put up some good numbers. For some reason he didn't start his major league career until he was 25. Texas was loaded with hitters I guess. As a matter of fact, they always seem to be loaded with hitters but usually short on pitching. Maybe it is the way they draft.

 

[Rex Racer]

Easiest ever question for me

Donnie Baseball

Mattingly

Excluding his rookie year when he only played 7 games Mattingly played 1,778 out of a possible 2,106 games. That's an average of 136+- games a year which is pretty damn good considering most guys will get 20+- days off a year if the manager is smart.

He a darn good player and was one of the few Yankees I liked back then, but I wouldn't put him the HOF.

 

[StanMarsh51]

Very good hitter and a damn good fielder. One of my favorite Sox players. I'll never forget some of his biggest moments with the Sox (HR off K-Rod in 2008, walkoff in game 5 of the 2008 ALCS, his grand slam, also carried the Sox offense in June 2008 after Ortiz got hurt).

And let's throw Brandon Webb in here. It didn't take him long at all to dominate the NL (2.84 ERA over 180.2 innings as a rookie) and won a CYA a few years later in 2006 along with two other top 2 finishes. He had a 3.24 ERA and 33.5 WAR in his first six seasons and looked to be on a HOF path... and only pitched in one MLB game afterwards. He retired in 2013 after several comeback attempts after suffering right shoulder bursitis.

Webb's a good one...only 1x in his 5 full seasons did he have a WAR under 5, and looking back at his rookie season, he put up a 165 ERA+ and 6.2 WAR. (might be one of the best rookie seasons by a pitcher ever).

 

[Rex Racer]

I didn't say players that would have made the HOF if they could stay away from the dinner table.

Mo Vaughn was a Met about the time I started learning names of players that weren't on the Braves. My only real memory of him was getting hit by a pitch that would have been called a strike had his gut not been hanging over the inside corner.

Nobody made it rain down at the Foxy Lady in Providence like Mo Vaughn.

 

[DirtDirtDirt]

Excluding his rookie year when he only played 7 games Mattingly played 1,778 out of a possible 2,106 games. That's an average of 136+- games a year which is pretty damn good considering most guys will get 20+- days off a year if the manager is smart.

He a darn good player and was one of the few Yankees I liked back then, but I wouldn't put him the HOF.

Oh, as is, I dont think he was a HOFer, but he would have been a shoe in if his back didnt force him to call it quits at 34 years old

 

[Pure Steel]

Nobody made it rain down at the Foxy Lady in Providence like Mo Vaughn.

I used to go to Seton Hall games back in the day....Mo hit some tape measure bombs...also saw Craig Biggio and Martese Robinson who was a beast, but somehow never made it.....

 

[Rex Racer]

I'll see your Munson and raise you a Conigliaro.

Conigliaro certainly started out like he was going to dominate for years. Damn shame what happened to him .