.315+ batting average, not in Hall: Who deserves induction?

[Cowtipper]

This is kind of random, but which of the guys with a .315 average that are not in the Hall (that are eligible) do you think should get in? Those players are:

Name, BA

Lefty O'Doul, .349
Pete Browning, .342
Riggs Stephenson, .336
Mike Donlin, .333
Tip O'Neill, .326
Bob Fothergill, 325
Babe Herman, .324
Ken Williams, .319
Joe Harris, .317
Lew Fonseca, .316
George Van Haltren, .316

I think I got them all.

Discuss.

[bambambaseball]

Lots of interesting conversation pieces there, but you missed quite a few. Bibb Falk's lifetime BA was .3145 which rounds to .315 so he probably should have been mentioned as well. Dave Orr should also be there with his .342 lifetime average as should Bill Lange with his .330 BA. Jake Stenzel hit .338 in his career. Bill Everitt batted .317. Wheres Joe Jackson?

George Van Haltren is the closest of that list for me. Pete Browning would be there if not for his fielding. Tip O'Neill, Babe Herman, Mike Donlin, Ken Williams, Joe Harris, Lew Fonseca, Bob Fothergill lack longevity/enough full time seasons. :)

[Cowtipper]

Lots of interesting conversation pieces there, but you missed quite a few. Bibb Falk's lifetime BA was .3145 which rounds to .315 so he probably should have been mentioned as well. Dave Orr should also be there with his .342 lifetime average as should Bill Lange with his .330 BA. Jake Stenzel hit .338 in his career. Bill Everott batted .317. Joe Jackson?

George Van Haltren is the closest of that list for me. Pete Browning would be there if not for his fielding. Tip O'Neill, Babe Herman, Mike Donlin, Ken Williams, Joe Harris, Lew Fonseca, Bob Fothergill lack longevity/enough full time seasons.
Joe Jackson: not eligible (banned)
Stenzel, Everitt, Lange, Orr: Didn't play the prerequisite ten years
Falk: I didn't know if I should include him or not. The "Leaders" page on Baseball-Reference has his average as .3145, but his individual page has it as .314. So I chose not to include him.

[bambambaseball]

Joe Jackson: not eligible (banned)
Stenzel, Everitt, Lange, Orr: Didn't play the prerequisite ten years
Falk: I didn't know if I should include him or not. The "Leaders" page on Baseball-Reference has his average as .3145, but his individual page has it as .314. So I chose not to include him.

You didnt specify 10 years. The hall elected Addie Joss. He only played 9 years. That means the hall waives 10 years if it sees a good enough player.

[yanks0714]

Lots of interesting conversation pieces there, but you missed quite a few.
Pete Browning would be there if not for his fielding.

If you read 'American Gladiator: The Life and Times of Pete Browning' it will come as a surprise that his fielding probably wasn't as bad as has been discussed. he played 2B when he started out. Then played 3B before moving to the outfield.
Yes, he had some piccadillo's on defense, But the writer, Philip Von Borries, documents newspaper articles from a number of games that talk about defensive gems that Browning pulled off in the course of action.
I was suprised at that. You know who I pictured in my mind when reading about his defense? Manny Ramirez. Basically a decent defensive player who occasionally just has lapses of concentration, on defense.

The strange thing was Browning did not like to slide. In fact, he simply did not slide if he could help it. Supposedly in fear of injury.

[jalbright]

There's more to a ballplayer than simple batting average, and this list helps prove the point. Truthfully, though, if you're scraping for new ideas, look at some of the guys the BBWAA gave support to for multiple years in some numbers.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Van Haltren, Browning, O'Doul, and O'Neill should go in. In that order.

Herman would have gone in the HOF if he had been a career Brooklyn Robin/Dodger.

Ken Williams deserves some consideration, but I tend to vote "no" on his case.

[henrich]

I voted no to all. I was tempted with Van Haltren, and O'Neill, but ultimately I felt they fell short for me.

[SamtheBravesFan]

No one on that list does. Babe Herman is the closest to me, but his case is a bit weak.

[jalbright]

I only voted for Van Haltren, but that vote only takes into consideration his play. If we add post-playing accomplishments, I'd add O'Doul.

[Cowtipper]

You didnt specify 10 years. The hall elected Addie Joss. He only played 9 years. That means the hall waives 10 years if it sees a good enough player.

Joss got a special election because of an inconvenient death. I didn't specify 10 years but I did say "[players] that are eligible", and unless a guy dies inconveniently, he is not getting in unless he played 10 or more seasons.

[bambambaseball]

Joss got a special election because of an inconvenient death. I didn't specify 10 years but I did say "[players] that are eligible", and unless a guy dies inconveniently, he is not getting in unless he played 10 or more seasons.

Thats not why they made an allowance for him. They waived the 10 year rule because he had an amazing career. Just like Dave Orr and Bil Lange did. :crazy

[Cowtipper]

Thats not why they made an allowance for him. They waived the 10 year rule because he had an amazing career. Just like Dave Orr and Bil Lange did. :crazy
If that was the case, then Dave Orr, Bill Lange and Orval Overall would be in the Hall of Fame.

As it were, they made a special case for Joss. They waived the ten year requirement for him. Since there is a ten year requirement, Orr, Lange, etc are not eligible for the Hall of Fame, unless an exception is made. Since "exceptions" are not SOP, I did not include them in the poll.

[The Splendid Splinter]

Thats not why they made an allowance for him. They waived the 10 year rule because he had an amazing career. Just like Dave Orr and Bil Lange did. :crazy

The difference between Joss and those 2 is that Joss died. Lange quit so he can marry his wife. Orr did have a stroke that ended his career and lived for like another 20 years or so, but both of these guys had 7 or 8 seasons (Orr only had 1 game in the NL in his career) where Joss was in his 9th season when he quit from his illness and died the following year.

Yes, Joss had a pretty amazing career that helped him get in the HoF, but it was also because of his death. Had Orr died from his stroke or Lange died from an illness? They might've got in the HoF, but I'm not sure since their career was even shorter than Joss.

[SABR Matt]

Just say no to O'Doul...empty batting average and no other significant skills (he wasn't even much of a fielder).

Val Haltren is closer, but short on my list.