Does Frank White belong in the HOF?

[jjpm74]

I've never really thought of Frank White as a HOFer, but I've seen him mentioned in several HOF conversations, so I thought I'd ask.

Offensively, Frank White was average, but defensively he was a star.

81 HOF Monitor
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One of his most similars is in the HOF in Bill Mazeroski and many consider him a mistake. Dave Concepcion who is also one of his similars and gets some support for the HOF.

5-time all star
8-time gold glove winner

[Brooklyn]

Not a good offensive player. .255 / .293 / .383 / 85 OPS+ is just not good enough regardless of how good his defense is. While this is similar to Mazeroski, I view him as a mistake.

His 8 gold gloves and 5 all-stars (only one as a starter) are not enough to overcome the fact that he was never on the offensive leaderboard for anything during his career.

[KCGHOST]

Frank White was an awesome defender. Eight Gold Gloves and cheated of a couple others. The thing about his defense was that he could make a game saving/winning in the ninth innings when most supposed "good gloves" become awfully short on range. He was worth the price of admission to Royals Stadium every time I went out there.

HoFer, though?? Uh, no. Just wasn't much of an offensive force at all. A career OPS+ of 85 is just awful. He did develop some power late in his career that tends to make most people think he became a "good" hitter. But it just isn't true.

He was no worse a hitter than Mazeroski, but I don't see that as much of a reason to induct a guy.

[Paul Wendt]

I've never really thought of Frank White as a HOFer, but I've seen him mentioned in several HOF conversations, so I thought I'd ask.

Offensively, Frank White was average, but defensively he was a star.

Wasn't he more like average for a shortstop?
--or a catcher at sometimes in baseball history. Where are they now?

One of his most similars is in the HOF in Bill Mazeroski and many consider him a mistake. Dave Concepcion who is also one of his similars and gets some support for the HOF.

Dave Concepcion was a shortstop and superior to White as a batter; better for his career, much better in his prime. (OPS+ ~93 after his first three seasons, which was 85-8600 plate appearances, 100 more than White. OPS+ 100-101 during his ten-year prime.)

Frank White is not among the most similar batters for Dave Concepcion. I believe that is partly because White hit more like a shortstop than a 2Bman.
(This is a "vote for one" poll, I believe, but two options look good to me.)

[Fuzzy Bear]

Frank White was an awesome defender. Eight Gold Gloves and cheated of a couple others. The thing about his defense was that he could make a game saving/winning in the ninth innings when most supposed "good gloves" become awfully short on range. He was worth the price of admission to Royals Stadium every time I went out there.

HoFer, though?? Uh, no. Just wasn't much of an offensive force at all. A career OPS+ of 85 is just awful. He did develop some power late in his career that tends to make most people think he became a "good" hitter. But it just isn't true.

He was no worse a hitter than Mazeroski, but I don't see that as much of a reason to induct a guy.

It all depends on how much you value defense, and how legitimate you view Mazeroski's elevation to the HOF.

If one believes Maz is a HOFer, then, really, how can you say White is not?

How valuable was White's and Maz's defense? I tend to believe it did not offset their offensive limitations enough for the HOF, but those guys were the best in the field at 2B, perhaps ever. That ought to keep the discussion going, at the very least.

[stejay]

Mybe, you never know. One thing is for sure- Jeter won't get in because of the strength of his fielding.