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Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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Player Won-Lost Records and the Hall of Fame

This report looks at what Player won-lost records look like for players who are in the Hall of Fame. It also looks at the players who sabermetric consensus views as the most glaring omissions from the Hall of Fame. At Baseball Think Factory, they have created an alternative to the Hall of Fame, called the Hall of Merit. The idea behind the Hall of Merit was to enshrine the same number of players as are enshrined in the Hall of Fame, but to attempt to do so more systematically, eliminating the mistakes (of both omission and commission) in the Hall of Fame.

The inductees of the Hall of Merit are listed in the Hall of Merit's Plaque Room.

The table below presents career Player won-lost records for players who have been elected to either the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the Hall of Merit, or both, for players who made their major-league debut in 1928 or later (the first season for which I have calculated Player won-lost records for all games). The players are sorted here by pWins over replacement level (pWORL).

Hall of Fame and/or Hall of Merit Players
(Debut in 1928 or later)

Player	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Barry Bonds	2,985	466.8	310.6	136.5	174.4	462.8	314.6	127.1	164.9
*Willie Mays*	*2,992*	*465.3*	*329.8*	*116.5*	*156.6*	*455.3*	*339.9*	*96.5*	*136.7*
*Hank Aaron*	*3,298*	*496.7*	*369.1*	*98.5*	*142.5*	*491.8*	*374.0*	*89.1*	*133.0*
*Mickey Mantle*	*2,400*	*354.1*	*227.5*	*112.2*	*141.9*	*346.8*	*234.8*	*97.4*	*127.1*
*Ted Williams*	*2,291*	*373.0*	*250.0*	*104.3*	*136.6*	*371.1*	*252.0*	*101.6*	*133.9*
Roger Clemens	709	316.9	228.6	94.6	131.3	314.8	230.7	90.6	127.2
*Stan Musial*	*3,025*	*424.1*	*311.3*	*88.2*	*126.2*	*417.4*	*318.0*	*74.7*	*112.7*
*Joe L. Morgan*	*2,648*	*371.9*	*293.9*	*84.9*	*117.6*	*369.2*	*296.6*	*79.0*	*111.7*
*Greg Maddux*	*759*	*327.2*	*271.7*	*77.9*	*115.0*	*329.0*	*269.9*	*84.8*	*121.9*
*Warren Spahn*	*783*	*351.1*	*294.8*	*74.3*	*113.8*	*343.4*	*302.5*	*61.7*	*101.2*
*Joe DiMaggio*	*1,736*	*287.1*	*193.1*	*84.5*	*109.4*	*275.2*	*205.0*	*61.3*	*86.2*
*Frank Robinson*	*2,807*	*398.0*	*302.5*	*70.9*	*106.8*	*396.5*	*304.0*	*68.1*	*104.0*
*Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson*	*619*	*279.8*	*221.0*	*69.8*	*102.9*	*276.4*	*224.4*	*64.1*	*97.2*
*Rickey Henderson*	*3,080*	*428.4*	*350.3*	*62.5*	*100.5*	*428.2*	*350.5*	*62.7*	*100.8*
*Mike Schmidt*	*2,403*	*338.5*	*257.6*	*71.0*	*99.7*	*341.1*	*255.1*	*77.0*	*105.7*
*Eddie Mathews*	*2,389*	*320.7*	*240.9*	*70.5*	*99.1*	*317.6*	*244.0*	*63.9*	*92.5*
*Chipper Jones*	*2,498*	*336.2*	*257.6*	*69.6*	*98.6*	*329.2*	*264.6*	*55.5*	*84.5*
*Tom Seaver*	*677*	*306.9*	*258.2*	*65.1*	*98.6*	*300.3*	*264.8*	*53.7*	*87.1*
*Pee Wee Reese*	*2,166*	*299.9*	*239.2*	*68.0*	*96.0*	*285.5*	*253.6*	*40.1*	*68.1*
*Derek Jeter*	*2,747*	*367.7*	*323.1*	*61.2*	*94.8*	*355.6*	*335.2*	*37.8*	*71.4*
*Al Kaline*	*2,833*	*380.5*	*299.2*	*58.6*	*93.2*	*377.8*	*302.0*	*53.0*	*87.6*
*Reggie Jackson*	*2,820*	*370.0*	*295.8*	*58.4*	*92.6*	*364.8*	*301.0*	*48.3*	*82.5*
Manny Ramirez	2,301	320.0	247.6	60.2	88.9	315.5	252.2	51.6	80.3
*Jim Palmer*	*573*	*241.5*	*186.1*	*61.9*	*88.7*	*229.8*	*197.9*	*39.1*	*65.9*
*Yogi Berra*	*2,119*	*246.3*	*182.5*	*66.1*	*88.4*	*233.0*	*195.8*	*39.6*	*62.0*
*Bob Gibson*	*597*	*262.4*	*218.4*	*58.7*	*87.4*	*259.6*	*221.2*	*54.8*	*83.6*
*Steve Carlton*	*745*	*335.6*	*305.9*	*49.2*	*86.9*	*328.8*	*312.6*	*38.4*	*76.1*
*Carl Yastrzemski*	*3,308*	*430.9*	*360.2*	*45.5*	*85.7*	*428.2*	*362.9*	*40.9*	*81.0*
*Pedro J. Martinez*	*476*	*192.4*	*137.8*	*62.6*	*84.7*	*191.6*	*138.6*	*61.5*	*83.7*
*Cal Ripken*	*3,001*	*382.3*	*351.6*	*49.2*	*84.5*	*382.6*	*351.4*	*49.8*	*85.1*
*Duke Snider*	*2,138*	*270.3*	*198.7*	*59.8*	*84.2*	*264.3*	*204.7*	*48.2*	*72.7*
*Juan Marichal*	*475*	*230.8*	*188.0*	*56.7*	*81.7*	*221.9*	*196.8*	*40.8*	*65.8*
*Nolan Ryan*	*807*	*354.6*	*329.6*	*38.1*	*81.0*	*354.5*	*329.7*	*39.9*	*82.8*
*Mike Mussina*	*537*	*223.1*	*174.0*	*52.7*	*80.1*	*222.1*	*175.0*	*50.8*	*78.2*
*Willie McCovey*	*2,584*	*296.7*	*220.6*	*53.2*	*79.1*	*293.0*	*224.3*	*46.5*	*72.4*
*Mariano Rivera*	*1,115*	*125.9*	*61.1*	*61.4*	*79.0*	*116.8*	*70.2*	*43.8*	*61.4*
*Jim Thome*	*2,540*	*273.9*	*209.5*	*52.2*	*78.7*	*274.8*	*208.6*	*53.7*	*80.2*
*Tom Glavine*	*709*	*277.8*	*249.8*	*45.8*	*78.6*	*272.6*	*254.9*	*37.8*	*70.6*
Lou Whitaker	2,387	303.8	262.6	51.2	78.5	299.5	266.8	43.3	70.6
*John Smoltz*	*735*	*238.8*	*201.8*	*49.6*	*78.3*	*237.3*	*203.2*	*49.0*	*77.6*
*Whitey Ford*	*500*	*209.4*	*164.7*	*54.9*	*78.0*	*197.0*	*177.1*	*32.6*	*55.7*
*Arky Vaughan*	*1,817*	*269.3*	*221.6*	*52.4*	*77.9*	*269.7*	*221.2*	*53.6*	*79.1*
*Barry Larkin*	*2,180*	*291.5*	*249.5*	*51.6*	*77.9*	*287.0*	*253.9*	*42.8*	*69.1*
*Fergie Jenkins*	*665*	*285.0*	*252.3*	*44.4*	*77.4*	*280.8*	*256.5*	*36.9*	*69.9*
*Bob Feller*	*570*	*254.8*	*219.0*	*47.4*	*77.3*	*246.8*	*227.0*	*34.7*	*64.6*
*Frank E. Thomas*	*2,322*	*254.1*	*190.3*	*50.8*	*76.9*	*254.6*	*189.7*	*52.4*	*78.5*
*Gaylord Perry*	*787*	*315.6*	*290.2*	*38.2*	*76.1*	*320.1*	*285.7*	*50.8*	*88.7*
*Harmon Killebrew*	*2,435*	*301.1*	*235.0*	*48.5*	*75.7*	*300.9*	*235.2*	*48.2*	*75.4*
*Don Sutton*	*785*	*318.6*	*297.3*	*38.4*	*75.6*	*314.3*	*301.5*	*32.4*	*69.5*
*Dave Winfield*	*2,971*	*397.3*	*339.8*	*38.7*	*75.5*	*394.0*	*343.0*	*32.8*	*69.6*
Dwight Evans	2,602	330.1	271.9	45.6	75.3	325.3	276.7	36.3	66.1
*George Brett*	*2,706*	*327.7*	*275.9*	*44.4*	*74.9*	*325.2*	*278.4*	*40.0*	*70.5*
*Early Wynn*	*796*	*307.1*	*285.2*	*38.5*	*74.5*	*303.9*	*288.4*	*33.2*	*69.2*
*Robin Roberts*	*688*	*294.3*	*271.1*	*39.9*	*74.4*	*290.9*	*274.4*	*34.9*	*69.5*
*Jeff Bagwell*	*2,150*	*276.5*	*202.4*	*50.8*	*74.3*	*275.1*	*203.8*	*47.4*	*70.9*
*Bobby Doerr*	*1,865*	*263.0*	*217.5*	*49.0*	*73.8*	*254.8*	*225.6*	*33.1*	*57.9*
*Johnny Bench*	*2,158*	*247.2*	*196.8*	*51.5*	*73.3*	*245.1*	*198.9*	*47.5*	*69.4*
Gary Sheffield	2,575	343.2	288.0	41.0	72.7	342.8	288.4	40.5	72.2
J. Kevin Brown	490	204.2	164.5	48.2	72.3	206.1	162.7	52.7	76.8
*Willie Stargell*	*2,356*	*295.7*	*230.0*	*45.7*	*71.8*	*295.7*	*230.1*	*46.6*	*72.8*
*Carl Hubbell*	*535*	*221.2*	*185.3*	*46.2*	*71.2*	*214.4*	*192.2*	*36.1*	*61.1*
*Eddie Murray*	*3,026*	*346.7*	*285.5*	*38.6*	*70.7*	*339.1*	*293.1*	*23.8*	*55.9*
*Paul Molitor*	*2,683*	*316.7*	*273.4*	*38.3*	*70.6*	*313.4*	*276.8*	*31.9*	*64.3*
*Bert Blyleven*	*699*	*289.2*	*261.4*	*35.6*	*70.6*	*291.8*	*258.9*	*41.3*	*76.3*
*Roberto Clemente*	*2,433*	*357.0*	*295.1*	*37.8*	*70.5*	*350.9*	*301.2*	*25.8*	*58.5*
*Ken Griffey Jr.*	*2,671*	*342.1*	*297.2*	*38.3*	*69.8*	*345.7*	*293.6*	*45.0*	*76.6*
*Dennis Eckersley*	*1,073*	*215.6*	*175.2*	*41.9*	*69.8*	*208.4*	*182.4*	*28.3*	*56.2*
Jim Edmonds	2,009	258.9	207.3	46.4	69.3	255.6	210.6	39.7	62.5
*Johnny Mize*	*1,883*	*221.8*	*157.1*	*49.4*	*69.3*	*222.6*	*156.2*	*51.3*	*71.1*
Curt Schilling	571	205.8	172.8	44.5	69.2	204.5	174.1	42.9	67.6
*Jackie Robinson*	*1,382*	*195.9*	*141.4*	*51.5*	*69.0*	*189.3*	*148.0*	*38.4*	*56.0*
*Enos Slaughter*	*2,379*	*307.4*	*252.1*	*38.4*	*67.8*	*299.1*	*260.4*	*21.7*	*51.1*
*Craig Biggio*	*2,850*	*357.7*	*325.7*	*34.0*	*67.3*	*356.3*	*327.1*	*30.9*	*64.2*
*Alan Trammell*	*2,292*	*281.6*	*257.9*	*41.2*	*67.2*	*280.5*	*258.9*	*39.4*	*65.4*
Mark McGwire	1,874	221.2	158.3	48.7	67.2	221.0	158.6	48.3	66.7
*Bill Dickey*	*1,787*	*186.6*	*142.2*	*49.8*	*67.0*	*179.3*	*149.5*	*35.5*	*52.8*
*Ozzie Smith*	*2,573*	*333.3*	*312.5*	*35.6*	*66.5*	*328.9*	*316.9*	*27.3*	*58.2*
*Robin Yount*	*2,856*	*366.7*	*345.7*	*31.9*	*66.5*	*368.2*	*344.3*	*34.9*	*69.5*
*Carlton Fisk*	*2,498*	*251.9*	*219.3*	*43.0*	*66.2*	*250.8*	*220.4*	*40.9*	*64.1*
Andruw Jones	2,195	281.1	232.8	40.4	65.7	274.9	238.9	28.2	53.5
*Roberto Alomar*	*2,377*	*312.3*	*283.2*	*36.4*	*65.4*	*310.6*	*284.8*	*33.3*	*62.4*
*Joe Gordon*	*1,566*	*216.4*	*173.7*	*45.1*	*65.3*	*210.9*	*179.1*	*34.2*	*54.4*
*Brooks Robinson*	*2,895*	*352.3*	*310.6*	*32.0*	*64.9*	*343.8*	*319.1*	*14.6*	*47.5*
*Phil Niekro*	*866*	*329.1*	*322.8*	*25.2*	*64.8*	*322.9*	*329.0*	*14.9*	*54.4*
Bobby Grich	2,006	252.2	218.9	41.9	64.7	253.8	217.2	45.0	67.8
*Mike Piazza*	*1,911*	*213.7*	*173.6*	*45.2*	*64.6*	*214.3*	*173.0*	*46.8*	*66.3*
*Hank Greenberg*	*1,394*	*198.5*	*136.4*	*47.3*	*64.6*	*195.0*	*139.8*	*40.9*	*58.2*
Pete Rose Sr.	3,562	439.3	394.7	23.6	64.5	431.2	402.8	6.6	47.4
*Lou Boudreau*	*1,646*	*229.2*	*192.5*	*42.5*	*64.2*	*227.1*	*194.7*	*38.4*	*60.2*
*Roy Halladay*	*416*	*170.9*	*133.2*	*43.4*	*64.0*	*168.8*	*135.3*	*39.7*	*60.2*
Jeff Kent	2,297	301.3	266.1	36.3	63.9	299.2	268.2	32.4	60.1
Billy Pierce	615	217.6	190.6	38.6	63.9	211.4	196.7	28.6	53.9
Dick Allen	1,748	237.7	181.4	43.1	63.8	236.0	183.0	40.5	61.2
*Billy Herman*	*1,922*	*271.0*	*236.8*	*37.2*	*63.5*	*264.0*	*243.8*	*23.5*	*49.9*
Scott Rolen	2,037	266.5	221.6	39.4	63.1	263.9	224.2	34.0	57.8
*Bob Lemon*	*613*	*197.0*	*165.7*	*40.3*	*62.9*	*188.9*	*173.7*	*25.0*	*47.5*
*Larry Walker*	*1,984*	*269.3*	*214.7*	*39.0*	*62.8*	*269.2*	*214.9*	*38.8*	*62.6*
Minnie Minoso	1,835	265.9	211.6	38.1	62.7	258.3	219.2	22.4	46.9
Luis Tiant Jr.	573	224.7	195.6	36.0	62.6	218.4	201.9	25.0	51.6
*Larry Doby*	*1,530*	*215.6*	*163.5*	*42.8*	*62.5*	*210.2*	*168.9*	*32.5*	*52.2*
*Billy Williams*	*2,485*	*332.4*	*278.2*	*31.2*	*62.1*	*332.4*	*278.2*	*31.3*	*62.2*
Graig Nettles	2,692	309.5	270.9	33.4	61.8	303.1	277.3	20.8	49.2
*Vladimir Guerrero Sr.*	*2,147*	*293.8*	*245.0*	*33.4*	*61.4*	*291.9*	*246.9*	*30.1*	*58.1*
*Jim Bunning*	*600*	*237.7*	*218.2*	*33.1*	*60.9*	*231.9*	*224.1*	*23.8*	*51.7*
Charlie Keller	1,169	173.2	119.3	45.6	60.9	168.6	123.9	36.2	51.6
*Wade Boggs*	*2,439*	*291.6*	*255.8*	*34.3*	*60.8*	*292.5*	*254.9*	*36.0*	*62.5*
*Edgar Martinez*	*2,055*	*211.7*	*169.2*	*36.7*	*60.0*	*213.0*	*167.9*	*39.3*	*62.7*
Darrell Evans	2,683	303.5	259.5	31.6	59.5	302.7	260.2	29.9	57.8
Tony Perez	2,773	307.1	256.0	31.1	59.1	303.4	259.8	23.5	51.6
Willie Randolph	2,202	272.9	247.9	33.9	58.9	269.3	251.5	27.3	52.3
*Hal Newhouser*	*492*	*197.6*	*171.8*	*35.2*	*58.4*	*195.7*	*173.6*	*33.6*	*56.8*
David Cone	451	183.5	154.0	35.9	58.0	177.6	159.9	24.8	46.8
*Luke Appling*	*2,422*	*323.8*	*306.5*	*25.1*	*57.8*	*327.1*	*303.1*	*32.1*	*64.8*
Reggie Smith	1,986	264.7	217.2	33.1	56.9	264.6	217.3	32.9	56.7
*Ryne Sandberg*	*2,164*	*285.5*	*256.7*	*30.6*	*56.4*	*289.4*	*252.8*	*38.1*	*63.9*
Jimmy Wynn	1,920	269.5	223.9	31.9	56.3	271.4	222.0	35.8	60.2
*Tim Raines Sr.*	*2,500*	*315.4*	*273.3*	*27.3*	*56.1*	*316.5*	*272.2*	*29.4*	*58.2*
*Sandy Koufax*	*397*	*156.7*	*126.6*	*38.1*	*56.0*	*146.3*	*137.0*	*20.2*	*38.0*
*Rod Carew*	*2,468*	*293.7*	*262.1*	*28.4*	*55.8*	*295.4*	*260.4*	*31.7*	*59.1*
*Earl Averill Sr.*	*1,669*	*237.9*	*196.7*	*33.2*	*55.8*	*233.7*	*200.9*	*24.9*	*47.5*
*Andre Dawson*	*2,627*	*350.4*	*309.7*	*22.8*	*55.1*	*350.7*	*309.4*	*23.6*	*56.0*
Will Clark	1,976	232.7	179.2	35.0	55.0	230.4	181.4	30.3	50.2
Bret Saberhagen	403	153.6	120.9	36.6	54.7	154.3	120.2	38.3	56.4
Jim Rice	2,089	284.8	246.9	27.3	54.4	278.6	253.1	16.1	43.2
Dizzy Dean	325	132.2	99.1	39.3	53.4	126.1	105.2	28.4	42.5
*Gary Carter*	*2,293*	*242.7*	*215.2*	*31.2*	*53.3*	*245.8*	*212.1*	*38.0*	*60.0*
*Ron Santo*	*2,243*	*293.3*	*259.0*	*25.6*	*53.2*	*297.6*	*254.7*	*35.3*	*62.8*
*Don Drysdale*	*547*	*219.0*	*205.4*	*26.5*	*52.0*	*217.4*	*207.0*	*24.5*	*50.1*
*Joe Medwick*	*1,983*	*286.5*	*246.1*	*24.3*	*52.0*	*282.5*	*250.2*	*20.3*	*48.0*
*Ernie Banks*	*2,525*	*310.5*	*279.6*	*21.2*	*51.0*	*317.5*	*272.6*	*35.6*	*65.4*
*Nellie Fox*	*2,367*	*291.6*	*278.7*	*21.2*	*50.5*	*282.5*	*287.8*	*4.7*	*33.9*
Rick Reuschel	579	218.2	206.7	25.3	50.4	217.2	207.7	25.1	50.2
Luis Aparicio	2,601	329.9	328.1	17.5	50.3	326.4	331.6	11.7	44.6
Trevor Hoffman	1,034	100.2	62.7	35.0	50.3	91.2	71.6	18.2	33.6
*Joe Torre*	*2,209*	*244.6*	*209.9*	*27.6*	*50.2*	*245.7*	*208.8*	*30.1*	*52.7*
Kenny Lofton	2,103	269.6	240.4	25.2	50.2	263.8	246.2	14.0	38.9
Johan Santana	360	128.0	97.3	34.9	50.2	125.6	99.8	30.7	46.0
Rafael Palmeiro	2,829	309.1	267.4	20.4	49.9	311.7	264.8	25.9	55.4
Lefty Gomez	368	163.5	141.6	29.3	48.3	155.1	150.1	15.4	34.4
Ken Boyer	2,034	257.8	226.4	23.5	47.9	258.8	225.4	25.7	50.1
*Roy Campanella*	*1,215*	*127.5*	*93.9*	*36.1*	*47.7*	*121.8*	*99.6*	*25.0*	*36.6*
Catfish Hunter	515	208.9	194.0	22.8	47.5	205.2	197.7	16.0	40.7
Phil Rizzuto	1,661	203.1	181.1	27.3	47.3	194.4	189.8	11.2	31.2
Stan Hack	1,938	237.9	210.8	22.9	46.2	239.5	209.3	25.9	49.1
Lee Smith	1,021	110.2	78.8	28.6	45.5	101.0	88.1	11.4	28.2
*Rich Gossage*	*1,003*	*130.4*	*102.2*	*25.5*	*45.3*	*125.1*	*107.4*	*16.7*	*36.5*
Jack Morris	568	222.8	209.0	16.7	45.2	218.6	213.2	8.1	36.6
Keith Hernandez	2,088	229.1	185.6	24.8	44.7	225.3	189.4	16.8	36.8
Orlando Cepeda	2,124	250.3	208.0	20.9	44.3	250.0	208.3	21.5	44.9
*Hoyt Wilhelm*	*1,070*	*137.6*	*116.6*	*22.4*	*43.9*	*133.2*	*121.0*	*16.0*	*37.5*
Dave Stieb	454	170.5	149.9	22.8	43.9	171.5	148.9	24.9	45.9
*Ted Simmons*	*2,456*	*248.5*	*231.7*	*18.4*	*42.7*	*249.2*	*231.0*	*20.5*	*44.8*
*Tony Gwynn Sr.*	*2,440*	*319.4*	*286.1*	*12.4*	*41.5*	*320.6*	*285.0*	*14.6*	*43.8*
Harold Baines	2,822	279.6	258.8	10.1	41.0	279.5	258.9	10.0	40.8
*Rollie Fingers*	*945*	*120.3*	*97.7*	*21.5*	*40.0*	*117.4*	*100.6*	*16.5*	*35.0*
Red Schoendienst	2,215	260.9	251.8	13.3	40.0	256.9	255.8	5.8	32.5
Kirby Puckett	1,783	238.2	216.9	16.0	38.0	236.7	218.4	13.2	35.2
Todd Helton	2,247	247.1	208.7	15.6	37.8	253.0	202.8	27.9	50.0
*Ivan Rodriguez*	*2,543*	*233.5*	*233.6*	*14.6*	*37.6*	*237.0*	*230.1*	*21.6*	*44.5*
Bruce Sutter	661	87.6	62.7	22.9	36.1	79.3	71.0	8.6	21.7
*Ralph Kiner*	*1,472*	*211.1*	*183.4*	*14.0*	*34.5*	*217.8*	*176.7*	*28.6*	*49.1*
Ernie Lombardi	1,850	161.1	149.5	17.6	34.1	164.8	145.9	25.0	41.5
Bill Freehan	1,770	167.2	154.1	16.5	32.4	170.2	151.1	22.3	38.2
Bill Mazeroski	2,163	244.1	248.9	3.6	28.3	242.7	250.3	0.8	25.5
George Kell	1,795	216.2	202.5	6.1	27.7	219.4	199.3	12.5	34.1
Lou Brock	2,614	347.6	328.7	-7.4	26.1	349.5	326.7	-3.7	29.8
Chuck Klein	1,751	239.7	222.4	1.4	25.5	249.6	212.5	21.8	45.9
*Monte Irvin*	*764*	*97.5*	*79.4*	*12.2*	*21.5*	*95.9*	*80.9*	*9.1*	*18.5*
*Richie Ashburn*	*2,188*	*280.6*	*273.7*	*-9.0*	*19.6*	*282.5*	*271.8*	*-5.1*	*23.6*
Rick Ferrell	1,883	152.5	160.2	-1.8	14.4	158.9	153.8	10.7	26.9
Al Lopez	1,949	140.6	149.0	-2.9	12.1	140.4	149.2	-2.8	12.2
*Satchel Paige*	*179*	*29.4*	*29.0*	*1.3*	*6.1*	*30.0*	*28.3*	*3.4*	*8.2*
Tony LaRussa	131	4.9	5.6	-0.6	-0.0	4.8	5.7	-0.6	0.0
Walter Alston	1	0.0	0.0	-0.0	-0.0	0.0	0.0	-0.0	-0.0
Bobby Cox	220	19.1	20.6	-2.0	-0.0	19.0	20.8	-2.2	-0.2
Quincy Trouppe	6	0.1	0.4	-0.2	-0.2	0.1	0.3	-0.2	-0.2
Whitey Herzog	631	52.4	54.9	-6.0	-0.4	53.3	54.0	-4.3	1.3
*Willard Brown*	21	*1.9*	*2.4*	*-0.6*	*-0.4*	*1.8*	*2.5*	*-0.8*	*-0.6*
Sparky Anderson	152	13.9	16.5	-2.1	-0.6	13.4	16.9	-2.9	-1.4
Tommy Lasorda	26	2.0	3.6	-1.5	-1.1	2.2	3.3	-1.0	-0.6

	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Avg Hall of Famer	1,736.3	261.8	220.8	39.5	65.7	258.9	223.7	34.4	60.6
Average Hall of Meriter	1,818.5	278.5	231.6	44.5	71.9	275.6	234.5	39.4	66.8
Avg HOF, not HOM	1,347.4	170.5	155.6	12.9	31.0	168.6	157.5	9.7	27.7
Avg. HOM, not HOF	1,769.9	259.3	214.9	39.6	64.5	257.2	217.0	35.6	60.5

Hall-of-Fame Players in bold.
Hall-of-Merit Players in italics.
Averages exclude Monte Irvin, Satchel Paige, Willard Brown, and Quincy Trouppe, whose careers were spent primarily in the Negro Leagues.

Excluding Negro League players, the Hall of Famer with the lowest career pWORL is Richie Ashburn. Ashburn looks somewhat better when evaluated using (context-neutral, teammate-adjusted) eWins, although he still ranks quite low even there.

Looking at Hall of Famers for whom Retrosheet play-by-play data covers their entire career, the average Hall of Famer has an average Player won-lost record of 261.8 - 220.8, with 39.5 pWOPA (pWins over Positional Average), and 65.7 pWORL (pWins over Replacement Level).

Hall of Fame vs. Hall of Merit

The next two tables extract those players from the previous table who are in one Hall, but not the other. Quincy Trouppe, who is in the Hall of Merit, but not the Hall of Fame, is excluded, as his entire career in the integrated major leagues consisted of 6 games in 1952.

Players in the Hall of Fame, but not the Hall of Merit

Player	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Tony Perez	2,773	307.1	256.0	31.1	59.1	303.4	259.8	23.5	51.6
Jim Rice	2,089	284.8	246.9	27.3	54.4	278.6	253.1	16.1	43.2
Dizzy Dean	325	132.2	99.1	39.3	53.4	126.1	105.2	28.4	42.5
Luis Aparicio	2,601	329.9	328.1	17.5	50.3	326.4	331.6	11.7	44.6
Trevor Hoffman	1,034	100.2	62.7	35.0	50.3	91.2	71.6	18.2	33.6
Lefty Gomez	368	163.5	141.6	29.3	48.3	155.1	150.1	15.4	34.4
Catfish Hunter	515	208.9	194.0	22.8	47.5	205.2	197.7	16.0	40.7
Phil Rizzuto	1,661	203.1	181.1	27.3	47.3	194.4	189.8	11.2	31.2
Lee Smith	1,021	110.2	78.8	28.6	45.5	101.0	88.1	11.4	28.2
Jack Morris	568	222.8	209.0	16.7	45.2	218.6	213.2	8.1	36.6
Orlando Cepeda	2,124	250.3	208.0	20.9	44.3	250.0	208.3	21.5	44.9
Harold Baines	2,822	279.6	258.8	10.1	41.0	279.5	258.9	10.0	40.8
Red Schoendienst	2,215	260.9	251.8	13.3	40.0	256.9	255.8	5.8	32.5
Kirby Puckett	1,783	238.2	216.9	16.0	38.0	236.7	218.4	13.2	35.2
Bruce Sutter	661	87.6	62.7	22.9	36.1	79.3	71.0	8.6	21.7
Ernie Lombardi	1,850	161.1	149.5	17.6	34.1	164.8	145.9	25.0	41.5
Bill Mazeroski	2,163	244.1	248.9	3.6	28.3	242.7	250.3	0.8	25.5
George Kell	1,795	216.2	202.5	6.1	27.7	219.4	199.3	12.5	34.1
Lou Brock	2,614	347.6	328.7	-7.4	26.1	349.5	326.7	-3.7	29.8
Chuck Klein	1,751	239.7	222.4	1.4	25.5	249.6	212.5	21.8	45.9
Rick Ferrell	1,883	152.5	160.2	-1.8	14.4	158.9	153.8	10.7	26.9
Al Lopez	1,949	140.6	149.0	-2.9	12.1	140.4	149.2	-2.8	12.2
Tony LaRussa	131	4.9	5.6	-0.6	-0.0	4.8	5.7	-0.6	0.0
Walter Alston	1	0.0	0.0	-0.0	-0.0	0.0	0.0	-0.0	-0.0
Bobby Cox	220	19.1	20.6	-2.0	-0.0	19.0	20.8	-2.2	-0.2
Whitey Herzog	631	52.4	54.9	-6.0	-0.4	53.3	54.0	-4.3	1.3
Sparky Anderson	152	13.9	16.5	-2.1	-0.6	13.4	16.9	-2.9	-1.4
Tommy Lasorda	26	2.0	3.6	-1.5	-1.1	2.2	3.3	-1.0	-0.6

	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Average	1,347.4	170.5	155.6	12.9	31.0	168.6	157.5	9.7	27.7

Players in the Hall of Merit, but not the Hall of Fame

Player	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Barry Bonds	2,985	466.8	310.6	136.5	174.4	462.8	314.6	127.1	164.9
Roger Clemens	709	316.9	228.6	94.6	131.3	314.8	230.7	90.6	127.2
Manny Ramirez	2,301	320.0	247.6	60.2	88.9	315.5	252.2	51.6	80.3
Lou Whitaker	2,387	303.8	262.6	51.2	78.5	299.5	266.8	43.3	70.6
Dwight Evans	2,602	330.1	271.9	45.6	75.3	325.3	276.7	36.3	66.1
Gary Sheffield	2,575	343.2	288.0	41.0	72.7	342.8	288.4	40.5	72.2
J. Kevin Brown	490	204.2	164.5	48.2	72.3	206.1	162.7	52.7	76.8
Jim Edmonds	2,009	258.9	207.3	46.4	69.3	255.6	210.6	39.7	62.5
Curt Schilling	571	205.8	172.8	44.5	69.2	204.5	174.1	42.9	67.6
Mark McGwire	1,874	221.2	158.3	48.7	67.2	221.0	158.6	48.3	66.7
Andruw Jones	2,195	281.1	232.8	40.4	65.7	274.9	238.9	28.2	53.5
Bobby Grich	2,006	252.2	218.9	41.9	64.7	253.8	217.2	45.0	67.8
Pete Rose Sr.	3,562	439.3	394.7	23.6	64.5	431.2	402.8	6.6	47.4
Jeff Kent	2,297	301.3	266.1	36.3	63.9	299.2	268.2	32.4	60.1
Billy Pierce	615	217.6	190.6	38.6	63.9	211.4	196.7	28.6	53.9
Dick Allen	1,748	237.7	181.4	43.1	63.8	236.0	183.0	40.5	61.2
Scott Rolen	2,037	266.5	221.6	39.4	63.1	263.9	224.2	34.0	57.8
Minnie Minoso	1,835	265.9	211.6	38.1	62.7	258.3	219.2	22.4	46.9
Luis Tiant Jr.	573	224.7	195.6	36.0	62.6	218.4	201.9	25.0	51.6
Graig Nettles	2,692	309.5	270.9	33.4	61.8	303.1	277.3	20.8	49.2
Charlie Keller	1,169	173.2	119.3	45.6	60.9	168.6	123.9	36.2	51.6
Darrell Evans	2,683	303.5	259.5	31.6	59.5	302.7	260.2	29.9	57.8
Willie Randolph	2,202	272.9	247.9	33.9	58.9	269.3	251.5	27.3	52.3
David Cone	451	183.5	154.0	35.9	58.0	177.6	159.9	24.8	46.8
Reggie Smith	1,986	264.7	217.2	33.1	56.9	264.6	217.3	32.9	56.7
Jimmy Wynn	1,920	269.5	223.9	31.9	56.3	271.4	222.0	35.8	60.2
Will Clark	1,976	232.7	179.2	35.0	55.0	230.4	181.4	30.3	50.2
Bret Saberhagen	403	153.6	120.9	36.6	54.7	154.3	120.2	38.3	56.4
Rick Reuschel	579	218.2	206.7	25.3	50.4	217.2	207.7	25.1	50.2
Kenny Lofton	2,103	269.6	240.4	25.2	50.2	263.8	246.2	14.0	38.9
Johan Santana	360	128.0	97.3	34.9	50.2	125.6	99.8	30.7	46.0
Rafael Palmeiro	2,829	309.1	267.4	20.4	49.9	311.7	264.8	25.9	55.4
Ken Boyer	2,034	257.8	226.4	23.5	47.9	258.8	225.4	25.7	50.1
Stan Hack	1,938	237.9	210.8	22.9	46.2	239.5	209.3	25.9	49.1
Keith Hernandez	2,088	229.1	185.6	24.8	44.7	225.3	189.4	16.8	36.8
Dave Stieb	454	170.5	149.9	22.8	43.9	171.5	148.9	24.9	45.9
Todd Helton	2,247	247.1	208.7	15.6	37.8	253.0	202.8	27.9	50.0
Bill Freehan	1,770	167.2	154.1	16.5	32.4	170.2	151.1	22.3	38.2

	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Average	1,769.9	259.3	214.9	39.6	64.5	257.2	217.0	35.6	60.5

Hall of Fame

The first table finds 28 players whose full career is covered by Retrosheet who are in the Hall of Fame, but not the Hall of Merit.

Hall of Merit

The list of players in the Hall of Merit but not the Hall of Fame is quite a bit longer than the reverse, 38 players in all. Most of the Hall of Fame's errors of commission - i.e., players in the Hall of Fame who don't really belong - were Veterans' Committee inductees who played in the 1920s and 1930s (or even earlier). Most of the Hall of Fame's errors of omission - i.e., players who are as good or better than most players in the Hall of Fame who have not been inducted - are players who played in the 1960s and later, who were overlooked by the BBWAA and have not had the opportunity (yet) to be inducted by more recent Veterans' Committees. The Hall of Merit has replaced the former group of players (players such as Sunny Jim Bottomley, George 'Highpockets' Kelly, and Lloyd Waner, et al.) with the latter group of players.

A couple of the players on this list were elected to the Hall of Merit based in part on games not included here. In addition to the aforementioned Quincy Trouppe, Minnie Minoso was given some Negro / Cuban league credit at the Hall of Merit.

The remaining 37 players fall into three possible categories.

1. Players not inducted into the Hall of Fame just yet

This time last year, the above table would have included Ted Simmons and Larry Walker. They are not included there, of course, because both of them were finally elected by the BBWAA and will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in summer 2020. It is likely that some of the 37 players listed above will eventually be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

In theory, every player on this list still has a chance to be elected to the Hall of Fame. The most likely players to do so, however - especially within the next few years - are the eight players listed here who are still on the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Todd Helton, Andruw Jones, Manny Ramirez, Scott Rolen, Curt Schilling, and Gary Sheffield. Realistically, some of these players are unlikely to be elected to the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA. Nevertheless, for now, I'm going to set these players aside in comparing the memberships of the Hall of Fame and the Hall of Merit.

2. Players hurt by character clause

There are some differences between the voting rules for the Hall of Fame and the Hall of Merit. This difference is probably most clear in one name from the above table: Pete Rose. Pete Rose was elected to the Hall of Merit in his second year of eligibility. To date, Pete Rose has not yet had a first year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame. He's outright banned because of betting on baseball.

Even for players who are technically eligible for the Hall of Fame, the Hall of Fame ballot contains an explicit "character clause": "Voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played (emphasis added). Most recently, the character clause has been invoked by a plurality of BBWAA voters to exclude players who used (or are strongly suspected of having used) steroids or similar performance-enhancing drugs. Six players in the Hall of Merit were named in the Mitchell Report: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Kevin Brown, Gary Sheffield, Mark McGwire, and Rafael Palmeiro; and a seventh Hall-of-Merit member, Manny Ramirez, failed a drug test.

In addition, one more player from the above table whose Hall of Fame candidacy might have been adversely affected by the character clause is Dick Allen, who had several unfortunate incidents in his career. He might not have been elected even without the character issues, but he might have.

3. Players the Hall of Fame has missed (so far)

Excluding players who remain on the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot and players whose Hall of Fame vote totals were negatively affected by character issues, I am left with 21 players for whom Retrosheet has full play-by-play records for their career who have been elected to the Hall of Merit, but not the Hall of Fame. Player won-lost records for these players are repeated below.

		Players in the Hall of Merit, but not the Hall of Fame
Player	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Lou Whitaker	2,387	303.8	262.6	51.2	78.5	299.5	266.8	43.3	70.6
Dwight Evans	2,602	330.1	271.9	45.6	75.3	325.3	276.7	36.3	66.1
Jim Edmonds	2,009	258.9	207.3	46.4	69.3	255.6	210.6	39.7	62.5
Bobby Grich	2,006	252.2	218.9	41.9	64.7	253.8	217.2	45.0	67.8
Billy Pierce	615	217.6	190.6	38.6	63.9	211.4	196.7	28.6	53.9
Luis Tiant Jr.	573	224.7	195.6	36.0	62.6	218.4	201.9	25.0	51.6
Charlie Keller	1,169	173.2	119.3	45.6	60.9	168.6	123.9	36.2	51.6
Graig Nettles	2,692	309.5	270.9	33.4	61.8	303.1	277.3	20.8	49.2
Darrell Evans	2,683	303.5	259.5	31.6	59.5	302.7	260.2	29.9	57.8
Willie Randolph	2,202	272.9	247.9	33.9	58.9	269.3	251.5	27.3	52.3
David Cone	451	183.5	154.0	35.9	58.0	177.6	159.9	24.8	46.8
Reggie Smith	1,986	264.7	217.2	33.1	56.9	264.6	217.3	32.9	56.7
Jimmy Wynn	1,920	269.5	223.9	31.9	56.3	271.4	222.0	35.8	60.2
Will Clark	1,976	232.7	179.2	35.0	55.0	230.4	181.4	30.3	50.2
Bret Saberhagen	403	153.6	120.9	36.6	54.7	154.3	120.2	38.3	56.4
Rick Reuschel	579	218.2	206.7	25.3	50.4	217.2	207.7	25.1	50.2
Ken Boyer	2,034	257.8	226.4	23.5	47.9	258.8	225.4	25.7	50.1
Stan Hack	1,938	237.9	210.8	22.9	46.2	239.5	209.3	25.9	49.1
Keith Hernandez	2,088	229.1	185.6	24.8	44.7	225.3	189.4	16.8	36.8
Dave Stieb	454	170.5	149.9	22.8	43.9	171.5	148.9	24.9	45.9
Bill Freehan	1,770	167.2	154.1	16.5	32.4	170.2	151.1	22.3	38.2

	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Average	1,644.6	239.6	203.5	33.9	57.2	237.6	205.5	30.2	53.5

A comparison of the average HOF, not HOM player and the average HOM, not HOF player are summarized below.

		Players in One Hall, but not the Other
	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
in Hall of Fame	1,347.4	170.5	155.6	12.9	31.0	168.6	157.5	9.7	27.7
in Hall of Merit	1,644.6	239.6	203.5	33.9	57.2	237.6	205.5	30.2	53.5

I think that if one looks closely, there's a great deal to be gleaned from that comparison. On a strict statistical basis, players in the Hall of Merit, but not in the Hall of Fame, had better, more valuable careers than players in the Hall of Fame, but not in the Hall of Merit. This is not a big surprise: the entire point of the Hall of Merit was to remove the least valuable Hall-of-Famers and replace them with "better" players and while Hall-of-Merit elections mostly pre-dated the development of Player won-lost records, the electorate of the Hall of Merit was certainly using the same general "sabermetric" approach to player valuation.

The largest difference between any of the numbers in the preceding table are for eWOPA - (context-neutral, teammate-adjusted) eWins over positional average. The average HOM-not-HOF player beats the average HOF-not-HOM player by 20.5 eWOPA. That number narrows to 25.8 when the comparison shifts from average to replacement level. The number shrinks even further when the comparison shifts to raw eWins (69.0).

Lou Brock is probably the most extreme example of this. Brock played for 19 seasons, appearing in 2,616 games (35th all-time), and collecting over 3,000 career hits. His career length helped him to amass over 340 career pWins, but, in fact, he was actually slightly below average over his career as measured by Player won-lost records. [This is somewhat unfair to Brock who was below average at the beginning and ends of his career (1961-62, 1975-79). From 1963 - 1974 (ages 24 - 35), Brock amassed 8.3 eWOPA.]

The other thing that emerges in the above table is that while both "average players" rate better in context - pWins - than context-neutral - eWins - the difference between pWins and eWins is fairly trivial for Hall-of-Merit-only players, while Hall-of-Fame-only players gain a more significant 3.2 WORL when player performance is put into the context of team performance. Of the sixteen HOF-not-HOM players shown earlier, thirteen of them had more career pWORL than career eWORL (and a fourteenth, Orlando Cepeda, had a pWORL within 0.5 win of his eWORL).

Tony Perez may be the best example of this. Tony Perez may be the only player in the Baseball Hall of Fame based primarily on his career RBI total (1,652, 28th all-time). The first sentence on Perez's page at the Hall of Fame's website reads: "One of the national pastime's great run producers, Atanasio 'Tony' Perez Rigal was among the best when it came to driving in big runs for Cincinnati's 'Big Red Machine' clubs of the 1970s." His Hall-of-Fame plaque reads, "A clutch performer throughout an illustrious 23-year career, he tormented the opposition with his ability to consistently drive in runs...."

Sabermetricians tend to disdain RBI's as a valid statistical measure of "value", arguing that RBI's are merely a function of (a) general hitting ability, which is better measured by other statistics (e.g., Perez's career batting line of .279/.341/.463), and (b) opportunity, which is outside of the control of a player. Perez, for example, batted 4th (and occasionally 5th) in his career, which tend to provide maximum RBI opportunities within a typical major-league lineup, and Perez tended to bat behind Pete Rose and Joe Morgan, who both finished in the top 5 in the major leagues in times on base every season from 1972 through 1977, which gave Tony Perez lots of baserunners to drive in.

There is definitely something to this. And, as can be seen in the above tables, Player won-lost records think that both Morgan and Rose (as well as Reds' teammate Johnny Bench) were more valuable players over their careers than Tony Perez. But there is value in actually driving in runs, and Tony Perez did drive in a lot of runs. Perez also hit better over his career with runners in scoring position - .284/.364/.470 - than with the bases empty - .265/.322/.442. He also hit better in high-leverage situations for his career - .300/.359/.491 - than in either medium- or low-leverage situations (.277/.341/.456 and .269/.331/.456, respectively). In late and close situations, Perez batted .300/.370/.490 for his career. In extra innings, Tony Perez batted .352/.427/.552. Was Tony Perez's "clutch performance" a skill? Maybe. Was Tony Perez's "clutch performance" real? Of course. The runs Perez drove in really scored and those runs contributed to real wins for Perez's teams.

Typical Hall-of-Fame/Merit Players

The next table shows the ten players whose final career totals end up most similar to those of an average player in the Hall of Fame but not the Hall of Merit, as measured by Player won-lost records.

Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
	Most Similar Players to Average Player in Hall of Fame but not Hall of Merit
HOF, not HOM	170.5	155.6	12.9	31.0	168.6	157.5	9.7	27.7
-----------	-----	-----	----	----	-----	-----	----	----
Charlie Leibrandt	139.6	130.4	13.6	30.9	137.8	132.2	10.6	28.0
Richie Zisk	167.9	147.2	12.6	29.3	166.3	148.8	9.3	26.0
Rick Rhoden	151.5	148.9	11.6	29.4	151.2	149.2	11.5	29.3
Jhonny Peralta	213.4	206.9	13.4	33.5	210.8	209.5	8.4	28.6
Asdrubal Cabrera	198.6	193.8	10.6	29.5	197.7	194.7	8.7	27.6
Pat Burrell	195.7	170.6	13.8	32.0	192.4	173.9	7.9	26.2
Raul Mondesi Sr.	206.1	180.9	13.4	32.4	203.7	183.3	8.3	27.4
Fritz Ostermueller	123.2	118.2	11.7	27.2	122.6	118.8	11.1	26.6
Steve Gromek	120.1	114.8	11.2	26.6	118.8	116.1	9.0	24.4
Bob Stanley	98.2	82.6	14.0	28.6	96.4	84.4	10.5	25.1

Hall-of-Fame Players in bold.
Hall-of-Merit Players in italics.

I suppose it shouldn't be a big surprise that most players of this quality are in neither the Hall of Fame nor the Hall of Merit. The only player in the above table in either Hall is Kirby Puckett, whose career values are relatively low because he was forced into an early retirement due to an eye injury. And the reverse: the ten players whose final career totals end up most similar to those of an average player in the Hall of Merit but not the Hall of Fame, as measured by Player won-lost records.

Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
	Most Similar Players to Average Player in Hall of Merit but not Hall of Fame
HOM, not HOF	239.6	203.5	33.9	57.2	237.6	205.5	30.2	53.5
-----------	-----	-----	----	----	-----	-----	----	----
Ron Cey	255.7	216.3	31.5	54.4	253.7	218.3	28.2	51.1
Herb Pennock	151.7	129.7	28.7	46.3	148.4	133.0	23.6	41.1
Will Clark	232.7	179.2	35.0	55.0	230.4	181.4	30.3	50.2
Willie Randolph	272.9	247.9	33.9	58.9	269.3	251.5	27.3	52.3
Chase Utley	238.1	202.4	36.3	57.4	236.7	203.8	33.2	54.4
Emil 'Dutch' Leonard	192.0	172.9	28.9	52.6	190.1	174.8	26.7	50.5
Reggie Smith	264.7	217.2	33.1	56.9	264.6	217.3	32.9	56.7
Hack Wilson	191.5	151.5	32.4	50.2	189.0	154.0	28.1	45.9
Dave Bancroft	207.6	189.8	24.9	45.3	206.1	191.3	21.8	42.2
*Vladimir Guerrero Sr.*	*293.8*	*245.0*	*33.4*	*61.4*	*291.9*	*246.9*	*30.1*	*58.1*

Hall-of-Fame Players in bold.
Hall-of-Merit Players in italics.

More appropriately, five of the ten players in this table are in the Hall of Merit. Four are in the Hall of Fame and, interestingly, two are in the Hall of Fame but not the Hall of Merit, the exact opposite of the basis for the table. In addition to comparing hypothetical "averages", I thought it might be instructive to compare two actual players: a "typical" HOF-only player against a "typical" HOM-only player. I had thought I might use players from the above tables, but I'm not sure that Kirby Puckett is the best example of the HOF-not-HOM player: I think it's probably more that Hall-of-Fame voters gave Puckett hypothetical credit for what he could have done had he not been injured (specifically, I think he might have been given a "he could have had 3,000 hits" boost - which, to be fair, Puckett was four or five typical Kirby Puckett seasons from 3,000 hits and was coming off a season in which he batted .314/.379/.515 with 169 hits).

So instead, I'm going to compare Jim Rice, whose Hall-of-Fame case was widely derided by sabermetric fans, and Reggie Smith, who earned three Hall-of-Fame votes his only time on the ballot.

Rice and Smith are compared in the next two tables. The first table compares their careers in context, based on pWins. The second table compares their careers outside of context, using eWins.

Age	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL
	Jim Rice						Reggie Smith
21	24	2.1	1.4	0.7	1.0	6	0.4	0.8	-0.4	-0.4
22	144	20.1	15.4	4.0	5.9	158	18.0	17.4	-0.4	1.3
23	153	17.5	17.5	-0.7	1.1	155	20.3	18.8	0.4	2.4
24	160	18.4	13.9	3.9	5.9	143	18.3	15.0	2.4	4.1
25	163	26.5	16.9	8.8	11.1	147	20.8	15.8	4.0	5.8
26	158	21.4	18.4	2.2	4.2	159	23.3	18.6	3.4	5.5
27	124	17.2	15.4	1.1	2.7	131	19.0	14.3	3.7	5.4
28	108	15.5	14.2	0.6	2.1	115	15.5	12.2	2.9	4.3
29	145	22.2	19.8	1.5	3.5	143	20.4	16.7	2.5	4.3
30	155	26.5	21.6	4.0	6.3	135	16.4	14.2	1.0	2.5
31	159	23.6	22.0	0.5	2.6	112	15.8	12.7	2.2	3.6
32	140	19.9	19.7	-0.7	1.2	148	21.8	15.9	4.6	6.5
33	157	24.9	19.3	4.7	6.8	128	18.9	14.2	3.6	5.2
34	108	13.0	14.3	-2.0	-0.7	68	8.1	8.4	-0.9	-0.1
35	135	11.8	12.3	-1.0	0.5	92	13.3	10.7	1.8	3.0
36	56	4.5	4.7	-0.3	0.3	41	1.4	1.9	-0.3	-0.1
37						105	12.9	9.5	2.6	3.7
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER TOTALS	2,089	284.8	246.9	27.3	54.4	1,986	264.7	217.2	33.1	56.9

Age	Games	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA	eWORL	Games	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA	eWORL
	Jim Rice						Reggie Smith
21	24	1.8	1.7	0.1	0.3	6	0.5	0.7	-0.3	-0.3
22	144	18.9	16.6	1.6	3.5	158	18.2	17.2	-0.0	1.7
23	153	16.9	18.0	-0.7	1.2	155	20.7	18.4	1.2	3.1
24	160	18.0	14.2	3.3	5.2	143	18.0	15.3	1.7	3.4
25	163	25.0	18.4	5.8	8.0	147	20.6	16.1	3.6	5.4
26	158	22.3	17.5	4.1	6.2	159	23.2	18.8	3.1	5.1
27	124	16.6	15.9	-0.1	1.5	131	18.7	14.6	3.2	4.8
28	108	15.3	14.4	0.2	1.7	115	15.5	12.2	2.9	4.3
29	145	21.6	20.4	0.4	2.3	143	20.3	16.8	2.3	4.1
30	155	26.1	22.1	3.1	5.4	135	16.5	14.0	1.3	2.7
31	159	22.8	22.8	-1.1	1.1	112	15.2	13.3	0.9	2.3
32	140	20.3	19.3	0.1	2.1	148	21.9	15.8	4.8	6.7
33	157	23.5	20.7	1.9	4.0	128	18.9	14.3	3.5	5.1
34	108	13.4	13.9	-1.0	0.3	68	8.7	7.8	0.3	1.1
35	135	11.8	12.3	-0.9	0.6	92	14.0	10.0	3.4	4.6
36	56	4.3	4.9	-0.7	-0.1	41	1.5	1.8	-0.2	0.0
37						105	12.3	10.1	1.4	2.5
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER TOTALS	2,089	278.6	253.1	16.1	43.2	1,986	264.6	217.3	32.9	56.7

Jim Rice and Reggie Smith both broke in with the Boston Red Sox at the age of 21 and both were key contributors to a Red Sox pennant in their first full season at the age of 22.

Smith moved on to three other teams - the Cardinals for his age 29-30 seasons and part of his age-31 season, the Dodgers for part of his age-31 season through his age-36 season, and the San Francisco Giants for his final age-37 season. Smith's 5-1/2 seasons in Los Angeles included three trips to the World Series.

In terms of personal accolades, Smith finished second in Rookie-of-the-Year voting in 1967, was named to seven All-Star teams, and received MVP votes seven times with two top-10 finishes (back-to-back 4th-place finishes in 1977 and 1978).

Rice stayed in Boston for his entire career and made it back to a second World Series in his age-33 season. In terms of personal accolades, Rice also finished second in Rookie-of-the-Year voting. He made one more All-Star team and received MVP votes one more time than Smith (eight each). More significantly, Rice finished in the top five in MVP voting six times, including winning the award in 1978 with a monster season in which he became the first American League player in forty years to have more than 400 total bases.

The Rice-Smith comparison highlights the differences between Hall-of-Fame and Hall-of-Merit players discussed above. Smith beats Rice in both pWOPA and pWORL, but by fairly narrow margins. Shifting from pWins (the first table) to eWins (the second table), however, Smith is decisively better than Rice. The gap between the two is most striking in eWOPA (16.8) and least striking in pWORL (2.6). And Rice actually beats Smith in raw wins (both pWins and eWins).

Breaking the comparison down by seasons also reveals some potentially relevant distinctions between the two, I believe. While Smith has better career numbers across the board, Rice's 1978 MVP season was better than any season of Smith's by any measure.

But beyond his 1978 season, it's not clear that Rice necessarily deserved as much MVP support as he received while Smith might have deserved a bit more than he got. Looking at the two careers side-by-side, it seems fairly clear that Reggie Smith had the more valuable overall career. But I also think, looking at the numbers season by season as well as the career numbers, one can see why Jim Rice did better in Hall-of-Fame voting.

Best Players in Neither the Hall of Fame nor the Hall of Merit

Finally, what players have the best Player won-lost records but are in neither the Hall of Fame nor the Hall of Merit? The table below shows all players whose career began between 1928 and 1990, who are in neither the Hall of Fame nor the Hall of Merit, and whose career pWOPA, pWORL, eWOPA, and eWORL sum to at least 175.

Player	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Tommy John	761	276.0	248.5	38.3	70.9	270.3	254.2	29.7	62.3
Vern Stephens	1,720	246.7	208.6	41.6	65.1	244.1	211.1	37.4	60.9
Darryl Strawberry	1,583	219.9	163.2	45.6	64.3	213.1	170.0	31.9	50.7
Jack Clark	1,992	250.2	204.0	30.2	53.0	253.1	201.1	36.7	59.4
Indian Bob Johnson	1,863	275.1	239.2	21.0	47.6	284.7	229.6	41.0	67.6

Additional Writing on the Hall of Fame

A large number of the articles which I have written for the website over the years have been related to the Hall of Fame.

Hall-of-Fame Players

Several years ago, I began a project to attempt to write an article taking a look at every member of the Hall of Fame through the prism of Player won-lost records. With the recent revisions to my Player won-lost records, I have decided to work back through these articles to update them to reflect my most recent Player won-lost records.

As I was doing in the past, I began in the present time and am working my way backwards through past inductions. These articles in my "Hall-of-Famers" series will be linked here as they are written.

Hall-of-Famers as Seen Through Player Won-Lost Records
Roberto Alomar
Richie Ashburn
Jeff Bagwell
Harold Baines
Johnny Bench
Craig Biggio
Bert Blyleven
Wade Boggs
George Brett
Lou Brock
Jim Bunning
Rod Carew
Steve Carlton
Gary Carter
Orlando Cepeda
Andre Dawson
Larry Doby
Bobby Doerr
Dennis Eckersley
Rollie Fingers
Carlton Fisk
Nellie Fox
Tom Glavine
Joe Gordon
Goose Gossage
Ken Griffey Jr.
Vladimir Guerrero
Tony Gwynn
Roy Halladay
Rickey Henderson
Trevor Hoffman
Catfish Hunter
Reggie Jackson
Fergie Jenkins
Derek Jeter
Randy Johnson
Chipper Jones
Barry Larkin
Tony Lazzeri
Ernie Lombardi
Greg Maddux
Edgar Martinez
Pedro Martinez
Bill Mazeroski
Willie McCovey
Paul Molitor
Joe Morgan
Jack Morris
Eddie Murray
Mike Mussina
Hal Newhouser
Phil Niekro
Jim Palmer
Tony Perez
Gaylord Perry
Mike Piazza
Kirby Puckett
Tim Raines
Jim Rice
Cal Ripken
Mariano Rivera
Phil Rizzuto
Ivan Rodriguez
Nolan Ryan
Ryne Sandberg
Ron Santo
Mike Schmidt
Red Schoendienst
Tom Seaver
Ted Simmons
Enos Slaughter
Lee Smith
Ozzie Smith
John Smoltz
Willie Stargell
Bruce Sutter
Don Sutton
Frank Thomas
Jim Thome
Joe Torre
Alan Trammell
Arky Vaughan
Larry Walker
Hoyt Wilhelm
Billy Williams
Dave Winfield
Carl Yastrzemski
Robin Yount

Hall-of-Fame Elections

Every year, since 2013, when the Hall-of-Fame ballot is announced, I have written an article about the Hall-of-Fame ballot as well as articles about each of the players on the ballot. The articles on the individual players are linked within the above-referenced articles, as are links to additional Hall-of-Fame analysis which I did following these elections.

The first seven of these articles are probably out-dated now, with revisions to Player won-lost records over these years. The last of these articles is linked below.

2020 Hall-of-Fame Ballot

Article last updated: November 8, 2020

All articles are written so that they pull data directly from the most recent version of the Player won-lost database. Hence, any numbers cited within these articles should automatically incorporate the most recent update to Player won-lost records. In some cases, however, the accompanying text may have been written based on previous versions of Player won-lost records. I apologize if this results in non-sensical text in any cases.

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