Heck, people still think that. They were joined at the hip in their careers, serving as the best and longest-tenured double play combination in baseball history. That plus, with a nod to Sandberg, he was no worse than the second best defensive second baseman of his era and was the best in his league, he was the leadoff batter on a World Series winning team and as a thing that Hall of Fame voters normally consider a cherry on top for candidates he played with the same team for his entire career. SAN DIEGO -- Lou Whitaker's wait for the call from Cooperstown goes on. Despite that late start to his big league career, he still piled up 3,089 hits while tallying 10 All-Star selections, 10 Gold Glove Awards, two batting titles and 2001 AL MVP honors. Although some discredit the record because of the Performance Enhancing Drugs Bonds was using, he still holds the MLB record for most home runs in a season, smacking an outrageous 73 balls out of the park in 2001. The heavily loaded plane crashed just off the Puerto Rican coast, and Clementes body was never recovered. Baseball researcher and Cooperstown enthusiast Adam Darowski made note of this in an email and also offered a theory for Trammell and Whitakers differing popularity. We played, we won.. ", The Best Baseball Players Not in The Hall of Fame. All advice, including picks and predictions, is based on individual commentators opinions and not that of Minute Media or its related brands. The ballot was determined by the BBWAAs 11-person historical overview committee: Bob Elliott (Canadian Baseball Network), Jim Henneman (formerly Baltimore Sun), Steve Hirdt (Stats Perform), Rick Hummel (St. Louis Post-Dispatch), David OBrien (The Athletic), Jack OConnell (BBWAA), Jim Reeves (formerly Fort Worth Star-Telegram), Tracy Ringolsby (InsideTheSeams.com), Glenn Schwarz (formerly San Francisco Chronicle), Susan Slusser (San Francisco Chronicle) and Mark Whicker (Los Angeles News Group). If you dont know the answer to that after reading this far I cant help you. vs. BAL 1 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB, Rookie Status: But the universal respect that Molina had throughout his career should help him join that exclusive group. As for arguments against him, heres the most I can muster: Normally that peak/black ink thing would be a big blow to a Hall of Fame case, but not so much with second baseman who, again, are not expected to be the best offensive players on your team. "What am I supposed to say, now I'm up there (on Comerica Park wall), that I belong in the Hall of Fame?" After adjusting for length of schedule, catchers, and relief pitchers, the 75.0 WAR becomes MLB Power Rankings: The biggest Hall of Fame snub for every team Palmeiro is one of just seven players with 3,000 hits and 500 homers (along with Tigers great Miguel Cabrera, who joined the club in April) but tested positive for PEDs a few months after testifying against their use in front of Congress in 2005. Whitaker's chances seemed better in 2019, when he was the only Tiger under consideration and committee members included former opponents George Brett, Rod Carew, Dennis Eckersley, Eddie Murray, Ozzie Smith and Robin Yount, not to mention former Tigers president/general manager Dave Dombrowski. Bonds was a home run king for the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants from 1989-2007. 1 retirement, 3 MLB teams that could repeat Cincinnati Bengals feat, 10 questions with former Tigers, Angels, Giants pitcher Shane Loux, Former Minnesota Twins All-Star Francisco Liriano announces retirement, Sandberg: 16 seasons, .285/.344/.452, 114 OPS+, 60 career TZ (3.75 TZ/season), 67.9 rWAR, Whitaker: 19 seasons, .276/.363/.426, 117 OPS+, 77 career TZ (4.05 TZ/season), 75.1 rWAR. He also aged as well as any player in recent memory with 52.2 WAR from his age-30 season until his retirement.