Build the Worst Position Player You Can ...

[AstrosFan]

... out of Hall of Famers. Let's say we use the following attributes to build a player out of:

Contact hitting
Plate Discipline
Power
Speed
Baserunning instincts
Fielding
Throwing

Obviously we can break down some of those attributes further, but for now, I am trying to keep things simple. Using Hall of Famers who were elected for their contributions as position players, who would you choose to build your worst player?

[Victory Faust]

Wow, this is a tough one. Here are my choices:

Contact hitting: Ray Schalk (lowest lifetime BA of any non-pitching HOFer)
Plate Discipline: Reggie Jackson
Power: Wee Willie Keeler
Speed: Ernie Lombardi
Baserunning instincts: Brooks Robinson
Fielding: Lou Brock
Throwing: Rickey Henderson

[Chickazoola]

Contact hitting - Reggie Jackson
Plate Discipline - Bill Mazeroski
Power - Willie Keeler (Was Johnny Evers)
Speed - Ernie Lombardi
Baserunning instincts - I have no idea.
Fielding - Lou Brock
Throwing - Jake Beckley

[Blackout]

eating disclipline: babe ruth

[Victory Faust]

Baserunning instincts was the toughest one for me, too, Chick. I just picked Brooks because the guy only stole 20-something bases over his long career. I figure he must have crappy baserunning instincts, since a ballplayer should be able to get 3-4 steals each year by accident! Brooks averaged about 1 per season!!!

[AstrosFan]

Reggie Jackson's OBP-AVG was 42% higher than the league figures for his career. I fail to see how anyone could argue his plate discipline is the worst among Hall of Famers. Too much is being made of his career strikeout total. Jackson also had a career BA higher than the league for his career.

Contact hitting - Harmon Killebrew
Plate Discipline - Kirby Puckett
Power - Ozzie Smith (lowest ISO+ among HOFers)
Speed - Ernie Lombardi
Baserunning instincts - Got me. Maybe I should have left this one off.
Fielding - Willie McCovey
Throwing - Jake Beckley

[AstrosFan]

Durocher is in for his contributions as a manager. You need to find someone who is in for his contributions as a position player.

[stejay]

Contact hitting- Ray Schalk
Plate Discipline- Reggie Jackson
Power- Ozzie Smith
Speed- Ernie Lombardi
Fielding- Willie McCovoy
Throwing- Rickey Henderson

[hellborn]

Reggie Jackson's OBP-AVG was 42% higher than the league figures for his career. I fail to see how anyone could argue his plate discipline is the worst among Hall of Famers. Too much is being made of his career strikeout total. Jackson also had a career BA higher than the league for his career.

Contact hitting - Harmon Killebrew
Plate Discipline - Kirby Puckett
Power - Ozzie Smith (lowest ISO+ among HOFers)
Speed - Ernie Lombardi
Baserunning instincts - Got me. Maybe I should have left this one off.
Fielding - Willie McCovey
Throwing - Jake Beckley

I think you make good points for Reggie, but the same basic points could be made for Killebrew. He was also a great OBP guy, and his lifetime BA isn't bad for his era. Kiner may be a better choice than Killer, in that he had a career BA barely above league in a short career, and I'd probably go with Brock...I don't think he took too many strike 3 calls looking, but still struck out a lot. His BA is good because he was so fast.
Throwing - Ralph Kiner (Enos Slaughter claimed he could score from 3rd on a ball hit to Ralph 30 feet behind the bag)
Baserunning Instincts - Babe Ruth (not that he was a terrible baserunner, but tried to prove that he was faster than he really was...and, there's no excuse for him making the last out in the '26 WS trying to steal 2nd).
Plate Discipline - Lloyd Waner

[dgarza]

Rick Ferrell had the worst baserunning instict that I could find strong verification for so far.
His SB% is a horrific 45%. Out of 64 attempts, only 29 were successful.

Although Cary Carter's 48% in 81 tries is not too smart either.

[AstrosFan]

Reggie is probably worse overall at contact than Harmon, figuring in ability to get a base hit (relative avg.) and strikeout rate. But Reggie is a little above average at getting base hits, Harmon a little below. I decided I would start by looking at the Hall of Famers who are below average at getting base hits, and proceed from there; that is, highest strikeout rate among those players. I could have gone either way. I think I should point out, though, that I never suggested Harmon was the worst at plate discipline, so there's really no need to defend him in that area.

[AstrosFan]

http://baseball-fever.com/showpost.php?p=1087075

Relative Stats for Hall of Famers. Those stats like NOBP mean that SB and CS have been factored in. You should probably ignore these, since CS data was not available for a number of these HOFers.

[Dodgerfan1]

From accounts I've read, Hack Wilson was a horrible fielder. I also once read an article about Earl Weaver in which he stated that Brooks Robinson was one of the better baserunners going from first to third on a hit despite being slow afoot. That seems to go to instincts. If I hadn't read that I'd be tempted to go with Brooks too, on this one. Who knows?

[yanks0714]

Baserunning instincts was the toughest one for me, too, Chick. I just picked Brooks because the guy only stole 20-something bases over his long career. I figure he must have crappy baserunning instincts, since a ballplayer should be able to get 3-4 steals each year by accident! Brooks averaged about 1 per season!!!

Did you ever see Brooks run? Slow doesn't describe him. 20 soemthing SBs in his career? The pitchers and catchers whom he stole against should have been immediately demoted to the minors.

I once saw Brooks take off (yeah, right) on a botched hit and run. The batter swng and missed. The catcher gunned it down to 2nd, the SS took the throw, and actually took two steps forward to tag Brooks who was still trying to get there. Brooksie slid but ended up 2 feet short of the bag.
Embarrassing. He actually got up with a laugh on his face.

[Buzzaldrin]

Plate Discipline - Lloyd Waner

Did anyone else notice this? Sorry, but that's the funniest thing I think I've ever seen here- that this got by everyone. Hellborn, you are a genius and I salute you!