Asher's 2007 Top 200 Notable Omissions
by Asher B. Chancey, BaseballEvolution.com
July 12, 2007

Notable Omissions

Juan Gonzalez, Jim Rice

I am very impressed by the ability to hit homeruns at an elite level, as well as the ability to lead the league in homeruns multiple times. But Jim Rice invented ways to hurt his team and benefited wildly from playing in Fenway Park. Juan Gonzalez too played in a beneficial park, and played in a beneficial era as well, and frankly just didn’t really do anything else well enough to make himself as valuable as his 400+ homeruns led me to believe that he was.

Lou Brock

I still subtly think he belongs. 900+ stolen bases and 3,000 hits is a rare combination – the Cobb-Brock-Henderson club. But Brock was a one trick pony who played long enough to make it appear as though he had two tricks.

Dennis Eckersley

Gee whiz, I had this guy in the 80s when I did my first list. Now he is out of the 200. In 1989 and 1990, the Eck had perhaps the greatest seasons by a closer ever. That said, I have very little respect (perhaps wrongly) for the job of a closer, and Eck didn’t do enough overall to distinguish himself from guys like Lee Smith, Bruce Sutter, Rollie Fingers, and Goose Gossage.

Scott Rolen, Nomar Garciaparra

I know Scott Rolen is Keith’s Dawg. I know he is the consensus best defensive shortstop of this era, and possibly ever. I know that during his career he has displayed a rare combination of offensive and defensive performance. I also know that he has played exactly five seasons of 150 games or more, seven seasons of 140 or more, and now appears to be on the downside of his career after only 1400 games. Frankly, I’d like to see where Rolen ranks among Eric Chavez, Troy Glaus and Aramis Ramirez five years from now. I can’t see Rolen not being a Top 200 player before its all over, especially since he is probably as strong defensively as Brooks Robinson and eight times the offensive player that Robinson was, but I’d to see more before I buy.

Nomar doesn’t even belong on this list, because in my mind his omission isn’t notable. For four (maybe six) seasons he was one of the greatest offensive shortstops of all time. He also accomplished this feat during one of the biggest offensive eras in baseball in Fenway Park (though to be fair his splits don’t indicate much advantage) and appears to be a poster child for steroid use (if his rash of injuries doesn’t beg the steroids question then you aren’t paying attention).

The obvious point to be made with respect to my comments on Garciaparra and Rolen is “Al Rosen and Vern Stephens.” As you have seen/will see in my comments, I am beginning to question Al Rosen’s place on the Top 200. As for Stephens, his production at the shortstop position was a lot more unique for his era than Nomar’s has been for his, and Stephens career as a shortstop spanned 1330 games played there, while Nomar’s seems to have come to an end at 1024.

Nomar and Rolen are both at very similar points in their careers. I will be very interested to see how their careers end; unfortunately it doesn’t look like we’ll have to wait long to find out.

Zack Wheat, LF

I like Zack Wheat, and he started around 195 on the list, but as I kept adding players, he kept slipping downward. In the end, I just can't justify having Zack Wheat but not Juan Gonzalez, Rocky Colavito, Dwight Evans, Mo Vaughn, Dale Murphy, or Jim Rice.

Dale Murphy

I am still defiant in my defense of Murphy (particularly with Dawson still on my list). From 1980 to 1987, Murphy was one of the two or three elite offensive players in the National League, and he did it from the centerfield position, where he was a gold glover. He played every game, produced massive amounts of runs, got on-base at a pretty high level for a power-hitter in the 1980s (Mike Schmidt excepted), and stole bases efficiently. Unfortunately, for the two years before this period and the three years after this period, he was legitimately terrible – he couldn’t get on-base at all, he struck out tons, he lost his power stroke, he didn’t score runs, he didn’t drive in runs. Dale Murphy spent half of his career as a legitimate five tool threat and spent the other half as a Kingman Candidate.

I think that Dale Murphy is judged by too many people too often through a 1990s lens, and that is unfair. I also think that looking at his career totals allows the casual observer to forget what kind of player he was during his prime.

I may have just talked myself into putting him back on my list next year.

See Asher's 2007 Top 200 List.


Questions? Concerns? Comments? Asher lives in Philadelphia, PA, and can be reached at asher@baseballevolution.com.