"Put me in, coach. I'm ready to play today. Look at me, I can be, centerfield." - John Fogerty
Centerfield is baseball's position most worthy of dreams, of Mays and Mantle and magnificence. It's also the sport's least-represented position in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
That has a chance to change Tuesday night. Carlos Beltran, who spent his prime roaming centerfield for the Royals and Mets, is going to get in. And Andruw Jones, one of the most magical centerfielders ever in his time with the Atlanta Braves, may get in, too.
Cue up the John Fogerty tune, over and over.
So say, "Hey Willie, tell Ty Cobb and Joe DiMaggio." Don't say it ain't so you, know the time is now.
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The Athletic's Chad Jennings dug into this recently, and he found that four of the 15-best centerfielders ever by Jay Jaffe's JAWS metric have yet to get into the Hall of Fame.
That quartet is Beltran, Jones, Kenny Lofton and Jim Edmonds.
And this stat is even crazier:
"Of the 24 center fielders in the Hall of Fame, 22 debuted before 1952. Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker were followed by Oscar Charleston and Cool Papa Bell, and when DiMaggio passed the torch to Mays, Mantle, Duke Snider, Richie Ashburn, and Larry Doby, the position reached its heyday in the 1950s and ’60s."
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The only two who have debuted since Mays retired in 1973 are Kirby Puckett and Ken Griffey Jr.
Mike Trout will be getting in when it's his turn, but it's been a slow run.
Centerfield seems to be held to a different standard.
"(Torii) Hunter, a nine-time Gold Glove winner who hit 353 home runs, has been on the BBWAA ballot six times and never received more than 10 percent of the vote," Jennings writes. "... Here’s one comparison: Edmonds debuted in 1993, and his career almost perfectly overlapped with second baseman Jeff Kent. They had similar career arcs, playing within the Steroid Era and having their best offensive seasons while in their early 30s. Kent won an MVP award, but Edmonds was an eight-time Gold Glove winner — a far better defender at a more difficult position — and he had better offensive numbers almost across the board."
Kent was elected this winter by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee. Edmonds got 2.5% of the BBWAA vote in 2016 and hasn't been up for consideration since.
Lofton was one-and-done on the ballot himself.
It's time to start putting these guys in, coach.
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