Best Non Hall Of Famer 'Peak'

[willshad]

It has been discussed which non hall of fame player had the best single season...but I dont know if 'peak' has been discussed. It has been said about many players that he was 'great' for a while, then declined too early, or was injured too much, to be a hall of famer. But who had the best peak among players who were not clear hall of famers(steroid guys like Mcgwire dont count)? Some names to consider:

Frank Howard
Jim Rice
Albert Belle
Don Mattingly
Dwight Gooden
Dick Allen
Tim Raines
Al Rosen
Will Clark
Babe Herman
Lefty O'doul
George Foster
Greg Luzinski (underrated peak)
Rocky Colavito
Roger Maris

[lovethegame]

Mattingley
he was Lou Gherig for his first 5 years or so until his back turned him into a good but unspectacular hitter

[stejay]

Definately Mattingly, Maris, Gooden and Belle. Also Daryl Strawberry should be added to this list.

[John Shoemaker]

I would say Albert Belle is the best example - only played 12 years - just a little over the minimum to be considered for the HOF and was done at age 33.

[willshad]

Mattingley
he was Lou Gherig for his first 5 years or so until his back turned him into a good but unspectacular hitter

That's a bit of an exaggeration...Mattingly had a 144 OPS+ at age 28, while Gehrig's at that age was 182. A better comparison would be to Will Clark or Nomar Garciaparra (a guy I forgot to put).

[willshad]

Im surprised nobody's showing love for F Howard..he was an beast from 1968-1970. One more good season and he would have had career stats very similiar to Duke Snider.

[hairmetalfreek]

I would add Eric Davis to the list for consideration. He was touted as the next Willie Mays and was a spectacular defensive centerfielder as well as hitter, but injuries brought him down too early.

[willshad]

I was thinking about Davis, but he was so injury prone, even in his prime, that I think it cut down his peak a bit. The guy NEVER had a 500 at bat season, and it's not like he walked a ton.
On a related note, I recall making a post about all the stars of the 80s who looked on pace for the hall of fame, but then in the 90s declined rapidly for various reasons. People seemed to chalk it up to chance, and said that ANY generartion of stars could be seen to be similiar, but I still wonder. Just looking at this post so far you can see ho much that generation stands out as guys with great peaks early on, who didnt maintain it to form hall of fame careers. Mattingly, Davis (both Eric And maybe Glenn), Clark, Strawberry, Hershiser, Gooden, Raines, Scott, Fielder(though he was more early 90s), Saberhagen, Canseco, Murphy, McGriff, Greenwell, Mitchell..the list goes on. Even the guys who did make the hall of fame in many cases still declined in the 90s a great deal(while still relatively young)...Yount, Rioken, Boggs, Henderson,etc.

[brett]

In our recent peak based draft, this is the order of non hall of famers drafted among those eligible for at least 1 year of election:

5 year peaks:
Ron Santo 49th
Dick Allen 59th
Tim Raines 75th
Will Clark 79th
Al Rosen 90th
B.J. Ryan (3 year peak)
Wilbur Wood
Dan Quisenberry (3 year peak)
Joe Torre
Ron Guidry
Hippo Vaughn
Mike Marshall (3 years)
Mattingly
John Hiller (3 years)
Joe Gordon
Charlie Keller
Albert Belle
Ken Boyer

[willshad]

I never really considered Santo as having a monster peak..how did he finish so far ahead of Belle? I think Matt Williams had a better peak than Santo.

[Westlake]

I never really considered Santo as having a monster peak..how did he finish so far ahead of Belle? I think Matt Williams had a better peak than Santo.

A) Because Santo was a good 3rd baseman and not a mediocre outfielder like Belle.

B) We were building teams, therefore good 3Bs are going to be harder to come by than corner outfielders.

C) Williams had a good 4 year peak (though still not as good as Santo's), but he didn't have 5 really good consecutive years.

[brett]

I never really considered Santo as having a monster peak..how did he finish so far ahead of Belle? I think Matt Williams had a better peak than Santo.

We based in on 5 consecutive years.

Santo had a 5 year OPS+ of 150 and averaged 160 games a year.
Williams never had a full qualifying year above 141 and a 5 year OPS+ of 125.

[willshad]

We based in on 5 consecutive years.

Santo had a 5 year OPS+ of 150 and averaged 160 games a year.
Williams never had a full qualifying year above 141 and a 5 year OPS+ of 125.

Williams was hurt by the strike perhaps more than anyone. From 1994-95 he was a monster..if you stretch out his stats to full seasons it it would be up there with A-rod territory, from a gold glover.

[leecemark]

I was thinking about Davis, but he was so injury prone, even in his prime, that I think it cut down his peak a bit. The guy NEVER had a 500 at bat season, and it's not like he walked a ton.
On a related note, I recall making a post about all the stars of the 80s who looked on pace for the hall of fame, but then in the 90s declined rapidly for various reasons. People seemed to chalk it up to chance, and said that ANY generartion of stars could be seen to be similiar, but I still wonder. Just looking at this post so far you can see ho much that generation stands out as guys with great peaks early on, who didnt maintain it to form hall of fame careers. Mattingly, Davis (both Eric And maybe Glenn), Clark, Strawberry, Hershiser, Gooden, Raines, Scott, Fielder(though he was more early 90s), Saberhagen, Canseco, Murphy, McGriff, Greenwell, Mitchell..the list goes on. Even the guys who did make the hall of fame in many cases still declined in the 90s a great deal(while still relatively young)...Yount, Rioken, Boggs, Henderson,etc.

--I think it just seems like the 80s had more guys who were great for a few years and then faded or got injured than other decades because we remember these guys as great talents. The short term stars of earlier eras are remembered by less of us (and less well) than the most recent gerenation.

[rsuriyop]

Charley Jones
Lip Pike
Ross Barnes
Cal McVey
Tip O'Neil
Pete Browning
Harry Stovey
Paul Hines
Gavy Cravath
Mike Donlin
Ken Williams