Why Johnny Damon Belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame

By the end of the 2011 season Johnny Damon will be less than 300 hundred hits away from 3,000. 

And if things play out as planned, 3,000 should happen sometime near the end of the 2013 season. If Damon does in fact eclipse the legendary number, a serious discussion for his enshrinement will take place. 

While my opinion may not make the biggest headlines, the closer Damon comes to the end of his career some interesting questions will be asked of the two-time World Series champion, including, What cap will you wear at your Hall of Fame induction? 

According to Hardball Talk, Damon was recently on the MLB Network and was indeed asked about the Hall of Fame and what cap he would wear if inducted, 

“Well, it’s a tough decision…four years in Boston…four years in New York…five and a half years in Kansas City. And if you go by the numbers, that’s where my best years were. So if they’d have me…” 

He would garner some consideration if his career ended to today, but if Damon makes it through two more seasons and hits the magic number, in my opinion he has to be a guaranteed lock to get in. 

Just to put this into perspective, his statistics—500-plus doubles, over 100 triples, more than 200 home runs and over 2,500 hits—are only matched by some players you might have heard of: George Brett, Lou Gehrig, Goose Goslin, Rogers Hornsby, Willie Mays, Paul Molitor, Stan Musial, Babe Ruth, Al Simmons and Robin Yount. 

If that’s not enough of a case, I don’t know what is. 

If you read the BBWAA election rule No. 5, “Voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.”

When you couple Damon’s accomplishments with his ability, sportsmanship, character and other intangibles, in my eyes I cannot understand why he wouldn’t be inducted. Damon has never been accused of anything, except being that of an “idiot” during his Boston days, and has always shown up for work and delivered. 

The writers, voters and fans should embrace someone, not flashy, but dependable and his body of work does demonstrate Hall of Fame credentials.

Devon is the founder of The GM’s Perspective

Devon is a former professional baseball player with the River City Rascals & Gateway Grizzlies, and is now an independent scout.