HALL OF FAME CASE FOR CRAIG BIGGIO and JEFF KENT
With the recent selection of Joe Gordon for the Hall there are now 17 second basemen (not counting Rod Carew who played more time at other positions than second base) in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Craig Biggio retired following the 2007 season. Jeff Kent will retire after the 2008 season. A great deal of difference exists between the game played over a hundred years ago and today, but if you compare the career numbers of Biggio and Kent with just those who have played in the last fifty years (Fox, Mazeroski, Morgan, Schoendienst and Sandberg) a strong case can be made for both Biggio and Kent to be early inductees into Cooperstown. Compare the numbers for the 17 second basemen already there with the numbers of Jeff Kent and Craig Biggio:
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Years Played
Eddie Collins 25 Rogers Hornsby 23 Joe Morgan 22 Nap Lahore 21 Craig Biggio 20 Nellie Fox 19 Charlie Gehringer 19 Frankie Frisch 19 Red Schoendienst 19 Bid McPhee 18 Johnny Evers 18 Bill Mazeroski 17 Ryne Sandberg 16 Billy Herman 15 Bobby Doerr 14 Tony Lazzeri 14 Joe Gordon 11 Jackie Robinson 10
Batting Average
Rogers Hornsby .358 Nap Lajoie .338 Eddie Collins .333 Charlie Gehringer .320 Frankie Frisch .316 Jackie Robinson .311 Billy Herman .304 Tony Lazzeri .292 Jeff Kent .290 Red Schoendienst .289 Nellie Fox .288 Bobby Doerr .288 Ryne Sandberg .285 Craig Biggio .281 Joe Morgan .271 Bid McPhee .271 Johnny Evers .270 Joe Gordon .268 Bill Mazeroski .260
Runs
Craig Biggio 1844 Eddie Collins 1821 Charlie Gehringer 1774 Bid McPhee 1678 Joe Morgan 1650 Rogers Hornsby 1579 Frankie Frisch 1532 Nap Lajoie 1504 Ryne Sandberg 1318 Nellie Fox 1279 Red Schoendienst 1223 Billy Herman 1163 Bobby Doerr 1094 Tony Lazzeri 986 Jackie Robinson 947 Johnny Evers 919 Joe Gordon 914 Bill Mazeroski 769
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Games
Craig Biggio 2850 Eddie Collins 2826 Joe Morgan 2649 Nap Lajoie 2480 Nellie Fox 2367 Charlie Gehringer 2323 Frankie Frisch 2311 Rogers Hornsby 2259 Red Schoendienst 2216 Ryne Sandberg 2164 Bill Mazeroski 2163 Bid McPhee 2135 Billy Herman 1922 Bobby Doerr 1865 Johnny Evers 1784 Tony Lazzeri 1740 Joe Gordon 1566 Jackie Robinson 1382
On Base Percentage
Rogers Hornsby .434 Eddie Collins .424 Jackie Robinson .409 Charlie Gehringer .404 Joe Morgan .392 Nap Lajoie .380 Tony Lazzeri .380 Frankie Frisch .369 Billy Herman .367 Craig Biggio .363 Bobby Doerr .362 Joe Gordon .357 Jeff Kent .356 Johnny Evers .356 Bid McPhee .355 Nellie Fox .348 Ryne Sandberg .344 Red Schoendienst .337 Bill Mazeroski .299
RBIs
Nap Lajoie 1599 Rogers Hornsby 1584 Jeff Kent 1518 Charlie Gehringer 1427 Eddie Collins 1300 Bobby Doerr 1247 Frankie Frisch 1244 Tony Lazzeri 1191 Craig Biggio 1175 Bid McPhee 1067 Joe Morgan 1133 Ryne Sandberg 1061 Joe Gordon 975 Bill Mazeroski 853 Billy Herman 839 Nellie Fox 790 Red Schoendienst 773 Jackie Robinson 734 Johnny Evers 538
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At Bats
Craig Biggio 10876 Eddie Collins 9949 Nap Lajoie 9589 Joe Morgan 9277 Nellie Fox 9232 Frankie Frisch 9112 Charlie Gehringer 8860 Red Schoendienst 8479 Ryne Sandberg 8385 Bid McPhee 8291 Rogers Hornsby 8173 Bill Mazeroski 7755 Billy Herman 7707 Bobby Doerr 7093 Tony Lazzeri 6297 Johnny Evers 6137 Joe Gordon 5707 Jackie Robinson 4877
Home Runs
Jeff Kent 377 Rogers Hornsby 301 Craig Biggio 291 Ryne Sandberg 282 Joe Morgan 268 Joe Gordon 253 Bobby Doerr 223 Charlie Gehringer 184 Tony Lazzeri 178 Bill Mazeroski 138 Jackie Robinson 137 Frankie Frisch 105 Red Schoendienst 84 Nap Lajoie 83 Bid McPhee 53 Billy Herman 47 Eddie Collins 47 Nellie Fox 35 Johnny Evers 12
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Hits
Eddie Collins 3315 Nap Lajoie 3242 Craig Biggio 3060 Rogers Hornsby 2930 Frankie Frisch 2880 Charlie Gehringer 2839 Nellie Fox 2663 Joe Morgan 2517 Red Schoendienst 2449 Ryne Sandberg 2386 Billy Herman 2345 Bid McPhee 2250 Bobby Doerr 2042 Bill Mazeroski 2016 Tony Lazzeri 1840 Johnny Evers 1659 Joe Gordon 1530 Jackie Robinson 1518
Slugging
Rogers Hornsby .577 Jeff Kent .500 Charlie Gehringer .480 Jackie Robinson .474 Nap Lajoie .467 Tony Lazzeri .467 Joe Gordon .466 Bobby Doerr .461 Ryne Sandberg .452 Craig Biggio .433 Frankie Frisch .432 Eddie Collins .429 Joe Morgan .427 Billy Herman .407 Red Schoendienst .387 Bid McPhee .372 Bill Mazeroski .367 Nellie Fox .363 Johnny Evers .334
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The fielding stats are for time at second base only. With the exception of Bobby Doerr, every player on the list played at some other position than second base sometime during their career, with Jackie Robinson playing nearly as much at a variety of other positions than second, and Craig Biggio putting in appreciable time as a catcher and outfielder. However, only time at second base is shown below:
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Put Outs
Bid McPhee 6545 Eddie Collins 6526 Nellie Fox 6090 Joe Morgan 5742 Nap Lajoie 5496 Charlie Gehringer 5369 Bill Mazeroski 4974 Bobby Doerr 4928 Billy Herman 4780 Red Schoendienst 4616 Frankie Frisch 4348 Craig Biggio 3992 Ryne Sandberg 3807 Johnny Evers 3758 Joe Gordon 3600 Tony Lazzeri 3351 Rogers Hornsby 3206 Jackie Robinson 1877
Double Plays
Bill Mazeroski 1706 Nellie Fox 1619 Bobby Doerr 1507 Joe Morgan 1505 Charlie Gehringer 1444 Red Schoendienst 1368 Eddie Collins 1215 Bid McPhee 1186 Billy Herman 1177 Joe Gordon 1160 Ryne Sandberg 1158 Craig Biggio 1152 Frankie Frisch 1062 Nap Lajoie 1050 Rogers Hornsby 893 Tony Lazzeri 808 Johnny Evers 688 Jackie Robinson 607 |
Assists
Eddie Collins 7630 Charlie Gehringer 7068 Joe Morgan 6967 Bid McPhee 6905 Bill Mazeroski 6685 Nellie Fox 6373 Ryne Sandberg 6363 Nap Lajoie 6262 Frankie Frisch 6026 Bobby Doerr 5710 Billy Herman 5681 Craig Biggio 5450 Red Schoendienst 5243 Rogers Hornsby 5166 Johnny Evers 5124 Joe Gordon 4706 Tony Lazzeri 4445 Jackie Robinson 2047
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Errors
Jackie Robinson 68 Ryne Sandberg 109 Craig Biggio 156 Red Schoendienst 170 Jeff Kent 194 Bill Mazeroski 204 Nellie Fox 209 Bobby Doerr 214 Joe Morgan 244 Joe Gordon 260 Tony Lazzeri 263 Frankie Frisch 280 Rogers Hornsby 307 Charlie Gehringer 309 Billy Herman 354 Johnny Evers 423 Eddie Collins 435 Nap Lajoie 451 Bid McPhee 791
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Fielding Percentage
Ryne Sandberg .989 Nellie Fox .984 Craig Biggio .984 Red Schoendienst .983 Bill Mazeroski .983 Jackie Robinson .983 Joe Morgan .981 Jeff Kent .980 Bobby Doerr .980 Charlie Gehringer .976 Frankie Frisch .974 Joe Gordon .971 Eddie Collins .970 Tony Lazzeri .967 Billy Herman .967 Rogers Hornsby .965 Nap Lajoie .963 Johnny Evers .955 Bid McPhee .944
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This
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