Why is he always overlooked?

[Base On Balls]

Step out of the dugout with me and let's sit up in the bleachers with the fans for a moment. The Hall of Fame is all about impact players stepping up when a hero is needed. The 1992 Blue Jays were teeter-tottering between the first and second place in the Al East during mid-July, when a two-out single gave the Jays a 6 run lead in the bottom of the 6th inning versus the Detroit Tigers. This was the catalyst that drove the Jays to that second trophy. The man responsible:

Rance Mulliniks.

Rance batted .500 that year, and that single turned the city of Toronto into a community of believers. How could a man who batted .500 in the 1992 season not be considered worthy of Cooperstown? Speak on it.

[Hammerin Hank]

You're kidding, right?

[Base On Balls]

I wish I was, but the history has been written in stone. In 1984 he batted .324 with only 24 SO in 343 AB. That's incredible. He hit over .300 5 times in his career- more than many can say.

Originally posted by CubbieFan7
You're kidding, right?

[Base On Balls]

Huh?

[yellowdog]

Originally posted by Base On Balls


Rance batted .500 that year, and that single turned the city of Toronto into a community of believers. How could a man who batted .500 in the 1992 season not be considered worthy of Cooperstown? Speak on it.

You failed to mention that he only had two at bats that season and only one base hit. Not what most people would consider a career year.

He played 16 years in the majors and hit .272 with 73 HRs and 435 RBI. I don't think these numbers would translate into a HOF career by any stretch of the imagination. But you are entitled to your opinion, I just don't think many people will agree with you, other than perhaps Don Sutton, who could never get him out.

And by the way, welcome to Baseball Fever.

[Hammerin Hank]

Hey, after we put Rance Mulliniks in let's put Joel Youngblood in! Then of course we have to include Roy Howell....

Originally posted by Base On Balls
Huh?

I was in complete agreement with CubbieFan7, basically.

Sorry to be rude, welcome to BBF!

[Base On Balls]

Nothing personal, fellow fans. You raise interesting arguments, but I'll still fight to see him inducted. He's not only a stalwart in the field of baseball, but he is a distinguished gentleman as well, and no amount of money can buy that, comprende?

[Hammerin Hank]

So he's in just because he's a nice guy?

[Steffo]

Lol, let's elect the next nobel peace award winner!

[bluezebra]

Originally posted by Steffo
Lol, let's elect the next nobel piece award winner!

Piece of what? PEACE, maybe?

Bob

[The Commissioner]

Originally posted by yellowdog
You failed to mention that he only had two at bats that season and only one base hit. Not what most people would consider a career year.

Yes, but by using Sabermetrics and incorporating Bill James' analyses including win shares, park factors, wind chill factors, etc., Mulliniks' pro-rated readjusted stats translate into a .790 batting average over his career with 1897 home runs in 8798 at bats. That to me is a Hall of Fame career, my friend.

[Steffo]

Originally posted by bluezebra
Piece of what? PEACE, maybe?

Bob

Yes, I meant PEACE.

[Steffo]

Originally posted by The Commissioner
Yes, but by using Sabermetrics and incorporating Bill James' analyses including win shares, park factors, wind chill factors, etc., Mulliniks' pro-rated readjusted stats translate into a .790 batting average over his career with 1897 home runs in 8798 at bats. That to me is a Hall of Fame career, my friend.

Thank you, I have been waiting for someone to bash on Bill James!

[Hammerin Hank]

Well of course it doens't work if you only get two at bats.

[Base On Balls]

No, I think the Commissioner's on to something. Mulliniks should have made it this year, seeing as how no one else was capable enough.

And again, I am not joking.

[Captain Cold Nose]

Originally posted by Base On Balls
No, I think the Commissioner's on to something. Mulliniks should have made it this year, seeing as how no one else was capable enough.

And again, I am not joking.

No one else was capable enough? Eddie Murray and Gary Carter were elected.

The Commisioner is on an anti-Bill James soapbox, which he is more than entitled to stand on.

A guy who never really was a full-time player (and Mulliniks only had ober 300 AB and 400 PA on a couple occasions) hardly has a place on the ballot, let alone the HOF itself.

We all have our personal and sentimental favorites who weren't exactly superstars. I was a big Johnny Wockenfuss fan growing up. And he's a helluva guy. But if I was to say he is HOF worthy it would not only be laughable, but would cause me to lose any respect I would have as someone who claims to know something about baseball.

[Steffo]

No, acording to Bill James, he needs, weight factor, hight factor, chicken soup eating factor, and chess playing factor. That gets him up to a .970 Batting average with 2089 homers and 9000 rbis with 17000 hits. Wow!

[Base On Balls]

Hey! Hey!

Rance would NEVER put up ex-girlfriend's names on bathroom walls! Why are you trying to defame one of the nicest and most talented players to play the America's beloved national pasttime? He never did anything to hurt anyone! He even had Don Sutton perplexed! Spelling his name backwards is just silly, and I seriously doubt it would have helped him in the HOF selection process. But, you're entitled to your opinion.

[Captain Cold Nose]

Not Don Sutton!!!


Hey Hay Fever, I don't know what great numbers you were referring to? I called one of those numbers, and let me tell you, it was hardly even good.

B on B, if your dad said a third-place finish in 1988 was the Blue Jays's best team, he must not have thought much of the 1985 team that won the division and the 1987 team that just barely got edged out by Detroit.

[PopTop]

Originally posted by Base On Balls
And again, I am not joking.

Do the doctors at the hospital know you're using their computers when you're really supposed to be knitting a new straight jacket for yourself? I'll have someone come by and change the dressing on your head, maybe this time change it to Thousand Island, or would you prefer Ranch?

[Sandman]

1-2 and a .500 BA?
People do better than that in an everyday game.

[Markus58]

Mulliniks should have made it this year, seeing as how no one else was capable enough

B on B,

Welcome to this Forum. Your passion for Rance Mulliniks and all things Bue Jay are commended, however your treched-in position reminds me of that great one liner by Steve Martin ... "Yeah, I remember my first beer."

To suggest that Mulliniks and his one hit in 1992 against Detroit galvanized a team and a whole city into a championship stretch run is to devalue all the excellent individual performances that came after that game. It may play out that way in your head, and in the family room with Pop, but that's not how real life is. Comprende, vu?

And although I think you know this, the Jays were driving to their first trophy in 1992, not their second.

A word of advice, take it for what you will ... your audience here is by and large impressively studied and well-seasoned. Not on a dare would I tout a decent utility player of yore as HOF material, unless I was a glutton for abuse. Foreward is forearmed.

[Sandman]

He may have had a shot if he actually did bat .500 in 1992, but he did not qualify: 400 ABs are needed.