Baseball Hall of Fame Debate: John Olerud vs. Don Mattingly

With the Hall of Fame fresh in everyone’s head, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at two first basemen who played in New York.

One player received 13.6 percent of the vote or 79 total votes. The other player received 0.7 percent of the vote or just four total votes and is off the ballot.

The guy who received 13.6 percent of the vote is Don Mattingly and the guy who is now off the HOF ballot for good is John Olerud.

Now let’s get something straight: I don’t believe either was a HOF-caliber player. But it’s amazing how both players are perceived.

Mattingly is perceived as a guy, who if he didn’t hurt his back, would be a sure-fire HOF’er.

I don’t think people have any perception of Olerud other than a solid first baseman who wore a helmet while on the field.

However, take a look at this graph. I think you will find it interesting.

The graph shows both player’s cumulative WAR by age. Guess what, kids? Olerud was no joke and for his career, was just as good as Mattingly.

Even if you take out the seasons where Mattingly started to lose his power and just compare prime vs. prime, Olerud is right there with “Donny Baseball.”

Olerud retired with a .398 OBP over 17 seasons. That’s big time. And his 1993 season when he hit .363/.473/1.072 trumps any Mattingly season, including 1985 and 1986.

Both players will never see the inside of the HOF unless they go as a spectator. But still, it’s amazing how when it comes to voting, how one guy is perceived vs. another.

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