Saturday, May 20, 2006

Rangers Hall of Fame Predictions Part 3 of 3

Two weeks ago I analyzed the 1980’s candidates for the 2006 Rangers Hall of Fame induction. This week, I will look at the players from the 1990’s decade.

Decade 3: Will Clark, Mark McLemore, Dean Palmer, Roger Pavlik, Mickey Tettleton and Bobby Witt.

Will Clark:
Clark played for the Rangers from 1994-98. He holds the Rangers all-time record for the highest OBP for a season for a left-hander at .431 in 1994 and ranks 2nd on the Rangers’ all-time batting average list at .308. Will also ranks 10th on the Rangers all-time walks list with 324. He was an All-Star in 1994. Clark has the popularity and stats to have the best chance of getting into the Rangers Hall of Fame for this decade.
Percentage 65%

Mark McLemore:
Mark played for the Rangers from 1995-99 and in those years he got the highest batting average for a month, for a Ranger, at .472. He is 2nd on the Rangers’ all-time stolen base list with 83 and 8th on the Rangers’ all-time walks list 358. McLemore might have enough popularity to be inducted in his 1st eligible year but probably will have to wait.
Percentage 23%

Dean Palmer:
Palmer played for the Rangers in 1989 and 1991-97. He ranks 6th on the Rangers’ all-time home run list with 154 and 9th on the Rangers’ all-time runs list with 425. He also ranks 6th on the Rangers’ all-time slugging percentage list at .470. Palmer is the 3rd most deserving (behind Will Clark and Bobby Witt) and also the 4th most popular (behind Will Clark, Bobby Witt and Mark McLemore), which isn’t good enough for him to be inducted this year.
Percentage 10%

Roger Pavlik:
Pavlik played for the Rangers from 1992-98. He is tied with 3 for the best record after 10 decisions for a Ranger, going 9-1 in 1996. He was an All-Star in 1996. Pavlik isn’t very popular and didn’t have a very good career as a Ranger so he probably won’t be inducted this year.
Percentage 3%

Mickey Tettleton:
Tettleton was a Ranger from 1995-97, having his best year in ’95 when he batted .238 with 32 HR and 78 RBI’s. He didn’t do well enough for the Rangers, didn’t play long enough for the Rangers and isn’t popular enough to be inducted this year.
Percentage 0%

Bobby Witt:
Witt played for the Rangers from 1986-92 and 1995-98. He is tied with 3 players for the best start for a Rangers starting pitcher at 6-0 in 1997 and has the most consecutive wins as a Ranger with 12 in 1990. Bobby ranks 4th on the Rangers’ all-time games list at 276 and 5th on the Rangers’ all-time complete games list with 33. He also ranks 3rd on the Rangers’ all-time wins list with 104, is tied for 9th with 4 others on the Rangers’ all-time shutouts list with 5 and is 2nd on the Rangers’ all-time strikeouts list with 1,405. Witt is the most deserving player in this decade and the 2nd most popular in this decade, which I think gives him the 2nd best chance.
Percentage 42%

Come back next week for my May awards.

2 comments:

Ken Pittman said...

Wow... real tossup for me between Will Clark and Bobby Witt. Both are very deserving and I think both will eventually get in. For overall career I would go with Clark - but when I think of Will Clark I don't think of the Rangers, when I think of Bobby Witt I do. So even though both are very deserving, I'd go with Witt. Palmer would be my third choice and is pretty deserving as well. I like the 70's and 90's candidates much better than the 80's.

Grant Schiller said...

Hi Ken - I think the 80's is the strongest, the 70's is the second strongest and the 90's is the weakest. Because in the 80's, none of those players were undeserving. Thanks for reading and giving me comments all the time.