Does Andruw Jones' Hall of Fame Selection Add Salt To The Wound Of Jimmy Edmonds Hall Ommission

Many believe the 2016 Hall of Fame induction ceremony was short one center fielder,  Jimmy Edmonds.

Mr. Edmonds, nicknamed Jimmy Ballgame and Hollywood, garnered a reputation for acrobatic catches when he wasn’t at the plate crushing baseballs in a 17-year career that began with the California Angels in 1993, ended with the Cincinnati Reds in 2010, and in-between, established himself as a core member of the St. Louis Cardinals as they blitzkrieged the playoffs in six of the eight years he played for them.

What irked baseball fans in 2016 was that Mr. Edmonds received a scant 2.5% of the vote. Meaning, by rule, he was bounced from the Hall of Fame Ballot.

Yesterday's addition of center fielder Andruw Jones got me thinking about Mr. Edmonds and if his Hall of Fame omission was justified or not.

I have spent the past 10 years thinking he should have been inducted. Let’s shed some light on the matter by comparing Mr. Edmonds and Mr. Jones.

Fascinatingly, they both played 17 seasons; Mr. Edmonds played in 2,011 games; Mr. Jones took the field for 2,196 games.

That makes the two players near equal in playing time, with Mr. Jones eking out an additional 185 games, or just more than one season of play. His career covered the same era as Mr. Edmonds, 1996 through 2012.

Career Statistics

Edmonds had a .284 batting average, 903 OPS and 132 OPS+

Jones checks in with a .254 batting average, 823 OPS and 111 OPS+

Edge Edmonds

Edmonds Baseball Reference range actor per game was 2.65

Jones Baseball Reference range factor per game was 2.49

Edge Edmonds

Jimmy Edmonds was a stellar defensive player. As a center fielder, he liked to play in and go back on the ball, as opposed to playing back and running in.

Edmond Runs Above Replacement was 660.3

Jones Runs Above Replacement was 681.3

Edge Jones

(Runs above replacement represents how many more runs a player contributes than a replacement-level player would. It is a combination of batting, fielding, running, and position. The statistic used was provided by Fangraphs.)

Edmonds received eight Gold Gloves, one Silver Slugger, zero MVPs.

Jones received 10 Gold Gloves, one Silver Slugger, zero MVPs

Edge Jones

Lastly, per Baseball Reference, Edmonds is bested by Jones in the Hall of Fame Statistics section listed on each player’s page.

In the aggregate, Andruw Jones has a slight edge over Jimmy Edmonds. Though there are many other statistics that can be considered and Hall of Fame center fielders by which to compare Jimmy Edmonds against, perhaps the voters got this one right. Mr. Edmonds might just be in that respected category, hall of the very good.

MLB celebrated Andruw Jones Hall of Fame selection on social media with this picture along with: 10x Gold Glove Award winner, 5x All-Star, 434 career home runs.

(Please feel free to reachout with your favorite stat and how these two players compare.)

Jimmy Edmonds - Baseball Reference Hall of Fame Statistics Section

Andruw Jones - Baseball Reference Hall of Fame Statistics Section

Charles I. Guarria is an author, reporter and host based in the state of Florida, USA, covering any topic, anywhere in the world. His career began in 2009. Mr. Guarria is a three-time winner of Emerald Group Publishing’s Highly Commended Award and host of The Opinion Guy Fun Friendly Informative. He is available for hire to write, research, or beta-read.

Check the online show, The Opinion Guy Fun Friendly Informative for news, sports, music and art coverage.

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Photo Credit. This Day in Baseball, MLB

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