What the Average Hall of Famer Looks Like

It’s frequently easy to identify greatness. Places like the Great Wall of China and the Great Lakes are so great, in fact, that their name permanently marks them as such. The first time you see the Copacabana tracking shot in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas, or the mad-capped stunts of Buster Keaton, you know that you are witnessing greatness. A visit to Mount Rushmore elicits awe. Unfortunately, as easy as greatness can be to identify, it’s not always easy to quantify.

There is no metric that tells us how much more beautiful Mount Rushmore is than the average rock formation in South Dakota (weighted Rock Beauty Created?). Thankfully, part of the beauty of baseball is precisely that it is carefully measured. It inherently provides fans with the tools to measure the greats of the game against their peers. With that in mind, what exactly does the statistical profile of the average Hall of Famer look like against his positional peers?

This infograph compiles that data. Specifically, it illustrates which positions the various Hall of Famers have played, how many wins above replacement (WAR) they provided, and compares the production of the average Hall of Famer against the average non-Hall of Famer at his position across a multitude of categories.

Perusing the data, several unique factors and anomalies show up.

Among rate stats, walk-to-strikeout ratio is the largest indicator in the Hall of Fame group playing up the middle (catcher, second base, shortstop and center field). These players enjoy a sizable advantage over non-Hall of Famers at their position, much more so than seen at first base, third base and left field. Standouts at these positions control the strike zone much more compared to their peers in relation to corner positions.

The corner positions, on the other hand, provide the gaudiest counting stats, most notably in the HR category. These numbers are obviously anchored by the greatest power hitters the game has ever known. Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Mike Schmidt, Frank Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, Jimmie Foxx and Willie McCovey pepper the list.

In some rare instances, Hall of Famers actually have worse numbers than their non-Hall of Fame peers. For instance, over the course of a Hall of Fame catcher’s career, his base runs (BsR) registers lower than non-Hall of Famers. The same is true in the Defense category for first basemen and all three outfield positions. The logical conclusion here is that most Hall of Famers have much longer careers than the average player, and players at most of those positions do not reach greatness on the basis of their gloves.

Among pitchers, the most startling difference is the gap between FIP and ERA. The average non-Hall of Famer boasts an ERA almost completely identical to his FIP. Hall of Famers, on the other hand, buck the trend with ERAs a quarter of a run less than their FIP. It amounts to an ERA- nearly 25 percent better than the non-Hall of Fame pitcher.

Not surprisingly, pitchers in the Hall of Fame do a much better job of keeping the ball in the ballpark- a quarter of a home run fewer allowed per nine innings. Similarly to their Hall of Fame peers playing up the middle, pitchers in the Hall have shown a much better mastery of the strike zone compared to non-Hall of Famers. It amounts to half a strikeout more per walk.

The best baserunners in the Hall of Fame group, per BsR, have been second basemen. Joe Morgan, Frankie Frisch, Eddie Collins, Roberto Alomar and Craig Biggio have led the way.

In terms of overall productivity, the sweet spot for the average Hall of Famer is a WAR between 50 and 70. Of the 244 Hall of Famers, 83 fall in this range. The golden mark is a WAR of 100 or better, with just 25 players reaching or surpassing that figure. Six of those 25 are pitchers, along with four each from center field and right field. The Hall of Fame only has one shortstop and one third baseman in the century club. No catchers in the Hall of Fame belong to the century club.

Catcher and third base are the underrepresented positions, each registering 16 players in the Hall of Fame. For comparison, pitchers account for 77 Hall of Fame slots, and all other positions boast a tremendous balance between 21 and 24 players. It would appear that catcher and third base are the two positions where it’s most difficult to identify and properly recognize greatness, an aspect sure to be tested in coming years when Adrian Beltre retires.

While the bar is high, there is room for variance in the kinds of supreme performance required to reach the Hall, whether it be by position, total production, or types of production. With baseball’s meticulous amount of data, we have a framework for greatness unavailable in most other more subjective endeavors. It’s truly possible to measure the greatness of a man, especially if he wields cleats and a wood bat.