THE BOOK--Playing The Percentages In Baseball

FWIW, I agree on Tim Raines.  I was young when he played, but was an avid baseball fan the entire time, but my judgement was very influenced by AVG/HR/RBI statistically, however I was enamored by SB in my youth, so Tim Raines stood out, even though the Vince Colemans and Rickeys of the world stole that limelight, I at least (as say a 10 year old) realized he was a great player.  Now that I understand how things work statistically and know relative value, Raines was a true great.

I fear Edgar Martinez will get nixed from the hall.  I suspect the DH thing and the late start will kill his chances.  I’ve toyed with the numbers, and as best as I was able to tell, statistically, he is a (close to) borderline hall of famer on the more than likely-side of things, DH penalty, and late start or not.  He’d be a lock if he played even reasonable defensive 3B for even 10 years.  His bat was a monster in his prime, even if the Kingdome aided it, but on the flip side, he was reduced by Safeco the last few years of his career, and was still a very good bat.  I’ve been meaning to look at it from a Base Runs + Parkfactor point of view, but I have Carpel Tunnel and use a voice recognition mostly, so I haven’t.