Should Bill Freehan be in the HoF?

[1905 Giants]

I would have made a new thread but I saw this one and looking at Freehan's stats I gotta ask:

Why didn't he get more support for the Hall?

11-Time All-Star
112 OPS+ at Catcher
5 Gold Gloves
2 Top-5 MVP Finishes (3rd in '67, 2nd in '68)

[PVNICK]

Was everyone supposed to be Bench to get in around that time? He retired @ 1976. They really were tough, look at Simmons. did Freehan have any sort of cachet or was he just another guy?

[Paulmcall]

I would have made a new thread but I saw this one and looking at Freehan's stats I gotta ask:

Why didn't he get more support for the Hall?

11-Time All-Star
112 OPS+ at Catcher
5 Gold Gloves
2 Top-5 MVP Finishes (3rd in '67, 2nd in '68)

His batting average is too poor.

[1905 Giants]

His batting average is too poor.

Better than league average

[Captain Cold Nose]

Better than league average

It was a time for low league averages, though. Nobody was looking past the actual numbers when Freehan was on the ballot. He appeared to be the best of a weak lot.

Just as the 80's overall reduction in numbers are held against the players from that era, the AL 60's generally gets ignored, especially compared to the NL at the same time.

[Herr28]

I'm all for Freehan and Simba getting in. I wouldn't be real upset if Torre, Munson, and Parrish got in either.

[1905 Giants]

It was a time for low league averages, though. Nobody was looking past the actual numbers when Freehan was on the ballot. He appeared to be the best of a weak lot.

Just as the 80's overall reduction in numbers are held against the players from that era, the AL 60's generally gets ignored, especially compared to the NL at the same time.

Do you support him for the Hall Captain?

[Freakshow]

He's borderline. Players with 50%+ career G at catcher, debut 1956-66:

Rk           Player WAR/pos OPS+ dWAR   PA From   To
1      Bill Freehan    44.6  112 11.8 6900 1961 1976
2        Tom Haller    29.3  114  7.7 4520 1961 1972
3      Tim McCarver    28.4  102  6.4 6206 1959 1980
4     John Roseboro    22.6   95  8.8 5529 1957 1970
5       John Romano    20.9  122  3.3 3256 1958 1967
6    Clay Dalrymple    16.7   85 13.1 3532 1960 1971
7       Jerry Grote    15.1   83 11.3 4844 1963 1981
8    Johnny Edwards    14.9   85  9.8 5132 1961 1974

Freehan was the best of a weak crop, an argument that I've never been very fond of. I said yes in the poll, but I don't much argue for him with so many other candidates being more deserving.

[Captain Cold Nose]

Do you support him for the Hall Captain?

I'm on the fence but would not have a problem with him getting in. He was the best at the position in his league for some time, and that should count for something.

[1905 Giants]

Someone mentioned his excellent (in context) 1968 season, so I thought I'd dig deeper into it:

-AS Game
-2nd in MVP Voting
-Gold Glove
-3rd in Position Player WAR
-6th in OBP
-7th in Slugging
-6th in RBI
-7th in OPS+
-4th in RC
-1st in HBP
-2nd in Assists
-1st in Putouts
-1st in Caught Stealing as C

[J W]

He's borderline. Players with 50%+ career G at catcher, debut 1956-66:

Rk           Player WAR/pos OPS+ dWAR   PA From   To
1      Bill Freehan    44.6  112 11.8 6900 1961 1976
2        Tom Haller    29.3  114  7.7 4520 1961 1972
3      Tim McCarver    28.4  102  6.4 6206 1959 1980
4     John Roseboro    22.6   95  8.8 5529 1957 1970
5       John Romano    20.9  122  3.3 3256 1958 1967
6    Clay Dalrymple    16.7   85 13.1 3532 1960 1971
7       Jerry Grote    15.1   83 11.3 4844 1963 1981
8    Johnny Edwards    14.9   85  9.8 5132 1961 1974

Freehan was the best of a weak crop, an argument that I've never been very fond of. I said yes in the poll, but I don't much argue for him with so many other candidates being more deserving.

True, but he's way ahead of everyone else. Then again this list doesn't include Torre who played significant time at C but not over half his games. Torre is at 57.4 WAR, a little under 40 of which was attributed to playing catcher if I'm correct.