Ross Youngs' most similar: Who deserves induction?

[Cowtipper]

Of all the players statistically similar to Youngs, nine of them are not in the Hall of Fame. Those nine players are:

Chick Stahl
Curt Walker
Tip O'Neill
Elmer Smith
Roy Johnson
John Stone
Buddy Lewis
Pete Browning
Henry Larkin

Which, if any, deserve induction into the Hall of Fame?

Here are some notable achievements, grey ink, black ink, and similar Hall of Famers for each (from Baseball-Reference):

Stahl:

* AL Triples Leader (1904)
* 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 3 (1897, 1899 & 1901)
* 200 Hits Seasons: 1 (1899)
* Won a World Series with the Boston Americans in 1903
* Black ink: 1
* Grey ink: 85
* Similar Hall of Famers: Ross Youngs

Walker:

* 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 1 (1922)
* Record: Triples, inning, 2, 7/22/26 (tied)
* Grey ink: 33
* Similar Hall of Famers: Ross Youngs

O'Neill:

* AA Triple Crown (1887)
* 2-time AA Batting Average Leader (1887 & 1888)
* AA On-Base Percentage Leader (1887)
* AA Slugging Percentage Leader (1887)
* AA OPS Leader (1887)
* AA Runs Scored Leader (1887)
* 2-time AA Hits Leader (1887 & 1888)
* AA Total Bases Leader (1887)
* 2-time AA Singles Leader (1886 & 1888)
* AA Doubles Leader (1887)
* AA Triples Leader (1887)
* AA Home Runs Leader (1887)
* 2-time AA RBI Leader (1886 & 1887)
* 100 RBI Seasons: 3 (1886, 1887 & 1889)
* 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 5 (1886, 1887 & 1889-1891)
* 200 Hits Seasons: 1 (1887)
* Record: Runs, right handed batter, season, 167, 1887
* Record: Most times hitting for the cycle, season, 2, 1887 (tied)
* Black ink: 35
* Grey ink: 124
* Similar Hall of Famers: Tip O'Neill

Smith:

* AA ERA Leader (1887)
* 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 3 (1893-1894 & 1896)
* 100 RBI Seasons: 1 (1893)
* Black ink: 6
* Grey ink: 38
* Similar Hall of Famers: Ross Youngs, Elmer Flick

Johnson:

* AL At Bats Leader (1929)
* AL Doubles Leader (1929)
* AL Triples Leader (1931)
* 100 RBI Seasons: 1 (1934)
* 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 3 (1929, 1931 & 1932)
* 200 Hits Seasons: 1 (1929)
* Won a World Series with the New York Yankees in 1936
* Black ink: 4
* Grey ink: 37
* Similar Hall of Famers: Billy Southworth, Casey Stengel

Stone:

* 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 1 (1932)
* 100 RBI Seasons: 1 (1932)
* Grey ink: 29
* Similar Hall of Famers: Ross Youngs

Lewis:

* 2-time AL All-Star (1938 & 1947)
* AL At Bats Leader (1937)
* AL Singles Leader (1937)
* AL Triples Leader (1939)
* 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 4 (1936-1938 & 1940)
* 200 Hits Seasons: 1 (1937)
* Black ink: 2
* Grey ink: 45

Browning:

* 3-time League Batting Average Leader (1882/AA, 1885/AA & 1890/PL)
* 2-time AA On-Base Percentage Leader (1882 & 1885)
* AA Slugging Percentage Leader (1882)
* 2-time AA OPS Leader (1882 & 1885)
* AA Hits Leader (1885)
* AA Total Bases Leader (1885)
* 2-time AA Singles Leader (1885 & 1887)
* PL Doubles Leader (1890)
* 100 RBI Seasons: 1 (1887)
* 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 3 (1884, 1887 & 1890)
* 200 Hits Seasons: 1 (1887)
* 50 Stolen Bases Seasons: 1 (1887)
* 100 Stolen Bases Seasons: 1 (1887)
* Black ink: 21
* Grey ink: 147
* Similar Hall of Famers: Ross Youngs, Elmer Flick, Earle Combs

Larkin:

* AA Doubles Leader (1885 & 1886)
* 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 4 (1885-1887 & 1889)
* 100 RBI Seasons: 2 (1888 & 1890)
* Black ink: 4
* Grey ink: 108
* Similar Hall of Famers: Ross Youngs

[jjpm74]

I put in a vote for Pete Browning because he's close for me. The rest definitely fall outside.

[henrich]

Browning and O'Neill close for me, but I stayed to my convictions and voted none, nor do I think Youngs deserves election.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Browning and O'Neill deserve consideration; I voted "yes" for both of them.

Ross Youngs is one of the most unfairly maligned HOFers, IMHO. He was a Frankie Frisch selection, and he gets flak for that today, but he was the BEST of the Frisch Cabal selections, IMHO, and by a decent margin.

I would argue that Youngs was the best RF in the NL while active. He posted a .667 OWP that would have been over .700 had he not contracted Bright's Disease; his swift decline and early death was due to illness, and not to anything playing-related. If I weren't so tired, I'd put forth a spirited defense of Youngs' induction. I think Youngs' current treatment is a case of guilt by association; he's a clear Definition C HOFer, short career and all.