FanPost

Belle de Jour

Let us pause, in our seemingly interminable series of Two O' Cats for Bats, Left Field Variety, to more closely consider the case of Mr. A. Jojuan Belle, esq., of the Shreveport Belles, and latterly of the Cleveland, Chicago and Baltimore entries in the American Baseball League. The sixteen members of the Today's Game committee, this year's assemblage of stout and wise guardians of the Cooperstown Corridor, will determine on Monday whether there are any baseball savants, on the short list presented them, who ought to be granted passage to the pantheon of immortals. Though I have very little hope that they will agree with me, I would like to put this on record: Yes, kind sirs, there is one such, indeed.

For those who have nibbled at any of the previous offerings, you will doubtless understand that 2O'C is a measure of dominance; further, you will know that the threshold beyond which awaits a nice bronze plaque is, for corner outfielders, at any rate, a career total of 2,000 2O'C points. Here are all those who have surpassed that total, along with the number of seasons in which they earned at least one star, their total stars, the number of seasons with a specific star total, and then the number of times they finished first, second or third in one of the 2O'C categories, and their total medals earned. We'll also include HOF members who didn't get to that 2,000 point level. An asterisk denotes a member of the Hall of Fame. And I'll boldface the guys who've been left out in the cold, just so you don't forget them.

THE TWO O'CATS LEFT FIELD HEIRARCHY
Player Points Seasons Stars 5✮ 4✮ 3✮ 2✮ 1✮ Gold Silver Bronze Total
Barry Bonds 5671 16 67 7 7 0 2 0 146 47 34 227
Ted Williams* 5130 14 59 8 3 2 0 1 153 54 38 245
Manny Ramirez 3315 13 38 0 4 5 3 1 24 28 26 78
Big Ed Delahanty* 3304 11 45 6 2 2 0 1 61 39 26 126
Carl Yastrzemski* 3269 11 37 3 2 3 2 1 67 15 20 102
Rickey Henderson* 3228 12 35 1 2 5 3 1 40 21 25 85
Orator Jim O'Rourke* 2804 13 37 0 3 6 3 1 12 28 25 65
Jesse Burkett* 2662 10 34 1 5 2 1 1 24 19 23 66
Billy Williams* 2617 10 30 1 2 4 2 1 27 23 19 69
Sherry Magee 2421 10 31 3 0 3 3 1 28 35 13 76
Jim Rice* 2339 6 23 2 2 1 1 0 29 16 18 63
Ducky Medwick* 2321 8 25 2 1 2 2 1 33 23 22 78
Tim Raines 2219 8 23 0 4 1 1 2 19 24 24 67
Minnie Minoso 2192 7 21 1 1 3 1 1 13 20 32 65
Al Simmons* 2136 9 25 0 4 2 0 3 15 20 32 67
Albert Belle 2126 6 25 3 1 2 0 0 24 21 21 66
Ralph Kiner* 2108 7 25 3 1 1 1 1 43 24 13 80
Joe Kelley* 2041 8 26 2 1 2 3 0 2 13 10 25
Fred Clarke* 2008 9 24 0 2 3 3 1 11 15 7 33
Zach Wheat* 2007 9 24 0 2 3 3 1 8 14 22 44
Willie Stargell* 1963 7 21 0 3 1 3 0 19 22 15 56
Goose Goslin* 1795 7 19 0 0 5 2 0 4 5 23 32
Lou Brock* 1589 7 14 0 0 3 1 3 14 16 14 44
Heinie Manush* 1363 6 15 0 1 3 0 2 6 12 14 32
Chick Hafey* 796 4 8 0 0 2 0 2 5 6 5 16

The writers have whiffed a few times. Zach Wheat was left to the Veterans Committee in 1959 to gain his admission, and the BBWAA also passed on Magee, Minoso and Belle. That organization is currently watching a pair of worthies go right down the middle of the plate without lifting the bat off their collective shoulders—Bonds and Raines, of course. Various Veterans Committees also passed on Magee and Minoso. Hafey and Manush were granted ingress to the Hall under dubious Vet Com leadership; Stargell, Goslin and Brock have their own compelling cases, and I'll not revisit their qualifications further.

It seems to me that the man immediately below Albert on the above list is a good comp for Belle. Ralph Kiner was the preeminent masher in the NL in the years right after WWII, leading the league in homers in his first seven seasons. That string was broken in his age-30 a season, and he faded quickly, winding up with the Indians in 1955 with a season that barely registers on the 2O'C scale. The BBWAA elected Ralph to the Hall in 1975, on his 13th try. Let's compare Albert and Ralph in their 2O'C tables. First, Albert.

Albert Belle, 1989-2000. Career WAR: 39.9.
Year and Team Age Points Stars Gold Silver Bronze Total
1991, Cleveland Indians 24 19 0 0 0 0 0
1992, Cleveland Indians 25 62 0 0 0 0 0
1993, Cleveland Indians 26 247 3 1 0 1 2
1994, Cleveland Indians 27 389 5 2 12 5 19
1995, Cleveland Indians 28 383 5 8 3 4 15
1996, Cleveland Indians 29 322 4 1 1 5 7
1997, Chicago White Sox 30 92 0 0 0 2 2
1998, Chicago White Sox 31 424 5 12 4 3 19
1999, Baltimore Orioles 32 185 3 0 1 1 2
2000, Baltimore Orioles 33 3 0 0 0 0 0
Total (6 Starred Seasons) 2126 25 24 21 21 66

Here's Ralph.

Ralph Kiner, 1946-1955. Career WAR: 49.3. HOF: BBWAA, 1975
Year and Team Age Points Stars Gold Silver Bronze Total
1946, Pittsburgh Pirates 23 103 0 1 0 1 2
1947, Pittsburgh Pirates 24 366 5 12 4 1 17
1948, Pittsburgh Pirates 25 239 3 2 1 4 7
1949, Pittsburgh Pirates 26 369 5 11 5 1 17
1950, Pittsburgh Pirates 27 294 4 2 7 4 13
1951, Pittsburgh Pirates 28 375 5 12 5 1 18
1952, Pittsburgh Pirates 29 164 2 2 1 1 4
1953, Pittsburgh-Chicago 30 127 1 1 1 0 2
1954, Chicago Cubs 31 63 0 0 0 0 0
1955, Cleveland Indians 32 8 0 0 0 0 0
Total (7 Starred Seasons) 2108 25 43 24 13 80

Those who argue against Albert—and we'll ignore the stupid ones who cite his temperament—point to his various counting stats, which are on the low side (though they're the equal of Kiner's). For me, gauging how dominant a player was in direct comparison to his playing peers is the true test, and I think that it is clear that Albert did enough, before that degenerative hip forced him to hang up his bats at the age of 33, to be acknowledged as a Hall of Famer.

It's funny, but before I researched this whole shebang, my recollection was that the balky hip ended Albert's season, and career, in early September, 2000. I had forgotten that he returned for the last week of the season. On the very last day of the year, and playing with what I can only guess was a considerable amount of pain, he stepped into the box in the bottom of the eighth against Denny Neagle, in relief for the Yankees. With the count at 1-2, he drove Neagle's next offering into the bleachers—his 23rd homer of the season, and 381st of his career. Unlike the Splendid Splinter, whose last trot around the bases also came in his last time to the dish, there was no John Updike in the audience to record whether this particular baseball god tipped his cap to the crowd before disappearing up the tunnel and into his future.

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