Hall of Fame Poll: Manny Ramirez

So Manny Ramirez was a pretty good hitter....a bit of an understatement.

19 seasons, a .312/.411/.585 line with 555 home runs, 1831 RBI. bWAR of 69.2.

He made 12 All-Star teams, picked up MVP votes 11 times (finished 3rd twice), 9 Silver Slugger awards, won the Hank Aaron award twice and was World Series MVP in 2004. And he  finished  secondin Rookie of the Year voting in 1994, after playing in just  91 games.

He played 8 seasons with Cleveland, 8 with the Red Sox, 3 with the Dodgers and 1 each with the Rays and White Sox.

Manny played left field (1037 games), right (904) and DH (332). He was pretty terrible  defensively.

He also played 111 playoff games, hitting .285/.394/.554 with 29 home runs. He has two World Series rings.

On the negitive side, he was suspended for PEDs twice, making it doubtful that the BBWAA will vote him in. Players lose votes for rumors of PED use, but with Manny they have proof.  For me, it is often a question of if I think the player would have been a Hall of Fame type without the help. In Manny's case, it's a tough call. I doubt we'd be considering him a Hall of Famer if he didn't use. It is hard to tell.

Ramirez stats are here.

Matt's  chart:

A lot of debate about the Hall of Fame relates to comparing a candidate against others elected and excluded. The chart below shows all players who played the majority of their career after 1945 (excluding active players, and those on the ballot or yet to hit the ballot) according to how long they played and how productive they were. TRC+ is wRC+, just for all runs rather than just batting runs. This is not meant to be definitive, but a high level starting point showing how players with similarly productive and lasting careers have fared.

Similar Players: Frank Thomas (elected BBWAA), Carlton Fisk (BBWAA), Rod Carew (BBWAA), Luke Appling (BBWAA), Williw McCovey (BBWAA), Ryne Sandberg (BBWAA), Harmon Killebrew (BBWAA), Lou Whitaker, Alan Trammell, Graig Nettles