The next Phillie in the HOF is…

This week we found out what we already knew. Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. were voted into the Hall of Fame and Mark McGwire will have to wait. As is normally the custom around this time of year the analysts and reporters have been speculating about who will make it into the Hall in future years.

So I began to ponder about former Phillies enshrined for the rest of time in the Hall of Fame. The most recent Phillie Hall of Famer to spend the majority of their career with in Philadelphia is the man, the myth, the legend, Michael Jack Schmidt. Schmidt inducted in 1995 made it into the HOF a year after Steve “Lefty” Carlton. Before that you have to go back 18 years to 1976, the year Robin Roberts was inducted. Other notable Phillies inductees include Tony Perez (Class of 2000) and Joe Morgan (Class of 1990) who were both part of the 1983 Phillies team the made it to the World Series.

The next best hope for a Phillie to make it into the HOF is Dale Murphy. Murphy spent the majority of his career with the Atlanta Braves but also played for the Phillies for two and half seasons from 1990 to 1992. Murphy earned five consecutive Golden Glove Awards and back-to-back MVP awards in 1982 and 1983. He meets the dominance for a decade test compiling more runs, hits, extra base hits, and RBIs than any other player in the NL during the 1980’s. Despite those stellar stats Murphy’s chance of making it into the HOF don’t look great. Players need to get the vote of 75% of the 545 baseball writers who participate in HOF elections. In the nine years Murphys has been on the ballot the highest percentage of votes he has received was 23.25% in 2000. Since then the number of votes he has received has gone steadily down. On this most recent ballot he only received 9.2% of the vote. Murphy a squeaky clean Mormon could get a lift because of integrity he brought to the game, now stained by the steroid era. If Murphy doesn’t make it there are a few Phillies still in the Majors who have a shot at baseball immortality.

One former Phillie who may have a shot at the Hall is Curt Schilling. Schilling has 3015 strike outs, which ranks him 14th all time. Schilling 207 wins at this stage in his career means he probably will never make it to the 300 win plateau, the high watermark for pitchers. Schilling will get a boost from stellar performances in the playoffs. Schilling was the National League Championship Series MVP in 1993, the World Series MVP in 2001, and is maybe best known for pitching in the 2004 World Series despite having an injury that soaked his sock in blood. Schilling a free agent next year will hopefully continue his career and his journey towards the Hall with the Phillies.

Another former Phillie who has a chance at enshrinement in the HOF is Bobby Abreu. Abreu’s individual stats at first look don’t look impressive. Abreu has racked up 205 HRs and 271 SBs in his career; at first look these stats aren’t very impressive. What does distinguish Abreu is his ability to draw walks, which contributes to his stellar .412 career OBP. In addition Abreu is one of four players to have six consecutive seasons with twenty home runs and twenty stolen bases. The others are Willie Mays, Bobby Bonds, and Barry Bonds; that’s pretty exclusive company. Abreu like Schilling has a few more years left to pad his stats.

The former Phillie who has the best chance at making the Hall is slugger Jim Thome. Thome will most likely enter the 500 HR club. Thome who has 472 career HRs could surpass the 500 mark next season. Thome for a pure slugger also has a stellar .409 career OBP. One potential mark against Thome is that although he has never been personally accused of steroid use the cloud of performance enhancing drugs hangs over all cotemporary power hitters.

The Phillies also have a number of young talented players. Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, and Jimmy Rollins all have tremendous potential but will need to continue to produce for many years in the future to merit induction consideration. The truth is that it may be a while before another Phillie has their image sculpted into a bronze plaque. With a bit of luck and a bit of hard work these younger Phillies have a chance at the highest individual honor baseball has to offer.

Sources:
www.baseballhalloffame.org