Bagwell First Ballot'er?

[sep]

He is one of only 9 players ever to hit for 1500+ RBI's, 1500+ Runs, +.500 Slug % and +.400 OBP

I looked it up on baseballreference.com some of the other 8 to do it are Ty Cibb, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams...

So I'd say hes in pretty good company, I say hes a first ballot'er.

[Freak93]

Don't get me wrong, Jeff Bagwell is good. He is not a first ballot hall of famer though. He has done a lot, but he will not be a first ballot guy. I think he will get in when there are not that many amazing players on the ballot. Although that might happen the first year, he just does not come off as a first ballot player.

[McGahee]

Has had a great career, but he never has had one really amazing year that most of the other players you mentioned had, and I think that will hurt him...

[Cerrano39]

I think he'll get in, probably, but when I think of the dominant 1B of the 90s/00s, his name isn't the first I think of, by a long shot. Kind of similar to how I thoght of Raffy, before any of the steroid stuff.

[Jami]

He's only been an All-Star four times, never won a World Series (and when his team finally got there, he had nothing to do with it), but he has won an MVP award ('94). Despite not being one of the more dominant players of his era, his numbers do add up to be HOF-worthy. Baseball-Reference's HOF tests for Bagwell are:

Black Ink (formula using how many times a player led the league in a category): Batting - 24 (Average HOFer ~ 27)
Gray Ink (formula using how many times a player appeared in the Top 10 in a category): Batting - 157 (Average HOFer ~ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 59.0 (Average HOFer ~ 50)
HOF Monitor (100 is a likely HOFer, 130 is a virtual shoo-in): Batting - 149.5

That's pretty impressive, but I still don't think he gets in first ballot. Partly because he was never regarded as the best player at his position, and partly because of the era he played in. While I believe Bags is the kind of guy that would stay clean, anyone's numbers from that era are going to be called into question. As a result, I think the guys like Bagwell will face a tougher time getting into the Hall than they should.

But seriously, think of the top first basemen of the 90's. Personally, I think Frank Thomas and maybe Jim Thome before I think of Bagwell, but part of that might be the Astros' struggles (never winning a playoff series) in the 1990's.

[bearcat]

Bags was always a favorite player of mine, but the numbers don't compare right now. He's HOF material, but second, maybe third ballot. Not first.