Davey Concepcion: Hall of Fame Worthy?
This year is Davey Concepcion's fifteenth, and final, year for election by the BBWAA to the Hall of Fame. Concepcion was a nine-time All-Star and won five Gold Gloves. He appeared in the World Series four times as part of the Big Red Machine teams of the 1970s. A strong argument can be made that he was the best shortstop in baseball during the 1970s.
In light of the fact that Concepcion has never received more than 16.9% of the votes (75% is needed to make Cooperstown), it's highly unlikely he'll be voted in this year. But does he deserve to be? Offensively, Davey posted a line of .267/.322/.357 with an OPS+ of 88. He also stole 321 bases, with a success rate of just under 75%. Per Baseball Reference, Davey top ten offensive comps are:
- Bobby Wallace .268/.332/.358 OPS+ 105
- Tony Fernandez .288/347.399 OPS+ 101
- Omar Vizquel .274/.340/.357 OPS+ 84
- Royce Clayton .258/.312 /.367 OPS+ 77
- Bert Campaneris .259/.311/.342 OPS+ 89
- Frank White .255/.293/.383 OPS+ 85
- Luis Aparicio .262/.311/.343 OPS+ 82
- Pee Wee Reese .269/.366/.377 OPS+ 99
- Tony Taylor .261/.321/.352 OPS+ 88
- Red Schoendienst .289/.337.387 OPS+ 93
Wallace, Aparicio, Reese, and Schoendienst are Hall of Famers. Of the four, the only player that Concepcion was better than offensively was Aparicio. However, Aparicio was probably better defensively (he at least won more Gold Gloves).
Concepcion was a great player, and a key part of the Big Red Machine teams of the 70s. He's always been one of my favorite Reds players. Although an argument can be made that Concepcion is Hall of Fame worthy, I think he falls just a bit short.
3 Responses to Davey Concepcion: Hall of Fame Worthy?
I know the numbers don't look worthy of the hall but Davey was an amazing player.
He was the first player to master playing SS on Astro-Turf (most just tried to survive initially).
He practically invented the one-hop throw to first to get the runner from short left field.
He provided a team full of sluggers and few pitchers with great defence up the middle. (There may be greater individuals but I never seen a foursome match Bench, Morgan, Concepcion, and Geronimo up the middle).
He was the only player I know who was placed in the clothes dryer to break a batting slump.
Ha! I hadn't heard about the slump-busting clothes dryer. Great story.
The dryer story can be found at http://www.thebaseballpage.com/players/conceda01.php. Of course, I'm old enough to remember it.
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