Cowtipper
07-06-2008, 11:53 AM
Mike Tiernan played 13 years, from 1887 to 1899. He hit .311 with 1834 hits and 428 stolen bases in that time. An integral part of two World Series, he hit .316 in 76 postseason at-bats.
Despite not leading the league in too many things (he led the league in homers twice, OPS twice, OPS+ twice and runs created twice, and some other stuff once), he was often in the top 10 in a few categories. For example, he was in the top 10 in slugging seven times, in home runs seven times, in OPS+ seven times, AB/HR seven times, and so forth.
From his obituary:
"In the early days of the Giants the name of Mike Tiernan was on the lips of every baseball fan, and to this day the old-timers talk about the long drives which Silent Mike used to make in Harlem."
So clearly, he was an exceedingly popular player in his day.
Of the 10 players most statistically similar to him, four are in the Hall of Fame: Earle Combs, Elmer Flick, Freddie Lindstrom and Sam Thompson - a whole bunch of borderline/mistake Hall of Famers. Also on his list are Harry Stovey (his most similar), Mike Griffin, Kip Selbach, Ben Chapman, George Gore and Baby Doll Jacobson. Of all the non Hall of Famers in his top 10 most similar, Stovey and Gore seem to get the most Hall of Fame discussion.
According to Wikipedia, he is the Giants career leader in triples and stolen bases.
So, should "Silent Mike" Tiernan be in the Hall of Fame?
Despite not leading the league in too many things (he led the league in homers twice, OPS twice, OPS+ twice and runs created twice, and some other stuff once), he was often in the top 10 in a few categories. For example, he was in the top 10 in slugging seven times, in home runs seven times, in OPS+ seven times, AB/HR seven times, and so forth.
From his obituary:
"In the early days of the Giants the name of Mike Tiernan was on the lips of every baseball fan, and to this day the old-timers talk about the long drives which Silent Mike used to make in Harlem."
So clearly, he was an exceedingly popular player in his day.
Of the 10 players most statistically similar to him, four are in the Hall of Fame: Earle Combs, Elmer Flick, Freddie Lindstrom and Sam Thompson - a whole bunch of borderline/mistake Hall of Famers. Also on his list are Harry Stovey (his most similar), Mike Griffin, Kip Selbach, Ben Chapman, George Gore and Baby Doll Jacobson. Of all the non Hall of Famers in his top 10 most similar, Stovey and Gore seem to get the most Hall of Fame discussion.
According to Wikipedia, he is the Giants career leader in triples and stolen bases.
So, should "Silent Mike" Tiernan be in the Hall of Fame?