Manny Sanguillen

[Cowtipper]

Catcher Manny Sanguillen spent 13 years in the big leagues, hitting .296 with 1,500 hits, 585 RBI and 566 runs scored. The three-time All-Star received MVP votes four times, finishing as high as eighth in the balloting. In 1986, he received a little support for the Hall of Fame, earning 0.5% of the vote.

He once led the league in defensive games at catcher, once paced the loop in catcher assists and once threw out the most batters attempting steals, as well. Solid defensively, he was frequently in the top-10 in the league in catcher putouts and games. He had a defensive WAR of 11.2.

In the postseason, Sanguillen generally performed well, hitting .282 with 29 hits, eight runs scored, three doubles, one home run and four RBI in 29 games. In the 1971 World Series, he hit .379 with 11 hits and in the following year's NLCS, he hit .313. He won two World Series rings in his career.

Statistically, he is similar to Thurman Munson, Neifi Perez, Paul Lo Duca, Tim McCarver, Jimmie Wilson, Johnny Logan, Jack Clements, Cristian Guzman, Johnny Ray and Wally Schang. He was a unique type of baseball player, however, so his most similar players aren't especially similar to him at all (Munson's score is only 891).

He was elected to the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011.

What do you think about Manny Sanguillen? Should he be in the Hall of Fame? Did he have Hall of Fame potential?

[BigRon]

Manny was a good player. He was a line drive hitter with decent gap power, not much ability to elevate the ball for homers. He rarely walked so most of his offensive value came from his BA. He ran very well for a catcher, and was good defensively.

He wasn't a HOF- level performer. He needed to do more than he did in the years he played, or he needed to play at the level he did for at least several more seasons than he actually did.

I could see Sanguillen placed anywhere from about 30th to 45th or so alltime at C- quite good but not good enough for the HOF.

[TomBodet]

Was always a fan, I remember the game winning hit top of the 9th game 2 of the '79 Series. Manny seemed a genuinely nice guy and was a part of a team I liked rooting for back when.

[1905 Giants]

No 5+ WAR Seasons but a couple of 4s, going as high as 4.7 in 1971, which was also the year he finished 8th in the MVP Ballot.

His '75 season wasn't bad at all either: .328/.391/.451 for an OPS+ of 136 and a WAR of 4.4

[Cougar]

Not a Hall of Famer, but one doesn't need to be a lot better than Manny Sanguillen to have a legitimate case. Good career, if a little short.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Not a Hall of Famer, but one doesn't need to be a lot better than Manny Sanguillen to have a legitimate case. Good career, if a little short.

1.Thurman Munson (891)
2.Neifi Perez (879)
3.Paul Lo Duca (876)
4.Tim McCarver (875)
5.Jimmie Wilson (874)
6.Johnny Logan (873)
7.Jack Clements (873)
8.Cristian Guzman (867)
9.Johnny Ray (867)
10.Wally Schang (866)

There are no HOFers in Sangy's best comps, but his best comp (Munson) has a legitimate HOF case, and his 10th best comp (Schang) gets some HOF love here. Sangy's case was diminished because Ted Simmons came along and became the 2nd best catcher in the NL. Sangy's case would have been stronger, and his reputation greater, if he had played a little longer and kept his BA over .300; he retired at a time when that would have been a big deal for a catcher. Sangy was never the best catcher in his league, and I don't think he would have been the best catcher in his league (or even the 2nd best) if he played in the AL with Munson, Freehan, and Fisk. Cougar's comment really sums it up perfectly; if Sanguillen were a LITTLE better, he'd have a more compelling case. As he is, he's behind Simmons, Munson, Torre, Parrish, Freehan, and even Elston Howard; he's about even with Sherm Lollar and Tim McCarver.

[Freakshow]

Sanguillen and closely similar catchers:

Rk             Player WAR/pos OPS+   PA Rfield From   To
1        Sherm Lollar    28.4  104 6220     40 1946 1963
2        Tim McCarver    26.2  102 6206    -24 1959 1980
3          Spud Davis    25.5  110 4713     11 1928 1945
4     Terry Steinbach    25.4  102 5905     14 1986 1999
5        Del Crandall    25.4   96 5583     70 1949 1966
6    Manny Sanguillen    25.3  102 5383     41 1967 1980
7       Elston Howard    24.5  108 5846     40 1955 1968
8       Mike Scioscia    24.0   99 5057     38 1980 1992
9        Johnny Kling    22.9  100 4645     11 1900 1913
10      Jason Varitek    21.6   99 5839     -5 1997 2011