Tuesday, July 5, 2011

ANOTHER JEWISH BALLPLAYER THAT SHOULD BE IN THE HOF

If you've been in Max and Benny's you know by the pictures on the walls how much we love baseball. We especially love our two great Jewish Hall of Fame players Hank Greenberg and Sandy Koufax. But there is another past Jewish baseball star who has been ignored by the HOF Veterans Committee. He is Buddy Myer, a second baseman who played for 17 years from 1925-1941, 16 of those years with the Washington Senators.

It's a shanda that Buddy Myer is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was a contemporary of HOF second baseman Billy Herman, who he had comparable lifetime statistics, and Myer had considerably better stats than  Bill Mazerowski, another HOF second sacker. Myer played in 1923 games to Herman's 1922. Myer batted .303 compared to Herman's .304. Myer scored 1174 runs and Herman had 1163. Myer had 850 RBIs to Herman's 839.

Herman had about 200 more career hits than Myer, but Myer had about 200 walks, making their On Base Percentage very similar. Herman did outpace Myer in doubles, 486-353, but Myer hit 130 triples to Herman's 67. Both players had minimal home run power, only 47 for Herman and 38 for Myer. Myer played on two losing World Series teams, and Herman played in five World Series losers (four times with the Cubs).

Mazerowski  was a lifetime .260 hitter who played more than 250 games more than Myer, yet Myer had more than 115 more career hits. Mazerowski did have 138 homers in his career, but he had paltry base speed and only stole 27 bases compared to 156 for Myer.

We Jewish baseball fans don't have much representation among players in Cooperstown. This is why I am kvelling about Myer's stats and kvetching why the HOF Veterans Committee continues to ignore him for induction. 

Cousin Richie 

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