Is Jimmy Rollins a Hall of Famer? 4 voters weigh in…

I'm not sure how I might evaluate Rollins when the time comes, but he certainly merits more than a cursory examination.

 

Without taking a deep dive, I think I can venture to say that he and Chase Utley probably have the strongest Hall of Fame credentials of the position players that were part of the Phillies teams that won five consecutive division championships. The older guard will value Rollins' MVP and the Gold Gloves/All-Star appearances. The newer guard will point to a relatively low on-base percentage and, as a result, an OPS that didn't crack .800.

 

My guess is that Rollins will have enough support to stay on the ballot, perhaps for all 10 years of his eligibility, and he'll be a solid case for the Veterans Committee. But he's a long-shot to reach the 75 percent needed for election. Alan Trammell had better numbers across the board and he didn't get to 50 percent (he was eventually elected by the Modern Era baseball committee). Barry Larkin's rate stats were even better, and it took him a couple ballots to be elected. On the surface, it seems to me that Rollins made just as important a mark on his era as Larkin did. With his average and on-base percentage, though, he would have had to be a compiler to get in, meaning he would have needed to reach some benchmark numbers like 3,000 hits.

 

It's too bad Rollins couldn't maintain for another couple seasons to achieve that, but time comes for us all.

 

Anyway, I can't say how I will vote when the time comes since I value the five-year gap to allow perceptions to be altered. But that's a prediction of how it might go for him. 

 

 

Danny Knobler, Bleacher Report

I've always been a Jimmy Rollins fan, and I enjoyed watching him on TBS during the postseason.

I’m still not convinced Jimmy Rollins is a sure-thing, book-your-Cooperstown-reservation-right-now Hall of Famer. But I’m convinced of one thing: you can’t find a single shortstop in history who did all the stuff he’s done. Here goes:

• He finished with 470 stolen bases and 231 home runs. And how many other shortstops in history are in the 400-200 Club? Not one.

• He also ended his career with 2,455 hits. How many players in history had that many hits and that many home runs while playing shortstop? Exactly two: Derek Jeter and Cal Ripken Jr. – two of the most slam-dunk Hall of Famers of modern times.

• Now let’s add in defense. Rollins also won four Gold Gloves. And while there are going to be voters who say the metrics tell us he shouldn’t have won those Gold Gloves, here’s the deal. Only four other shortstops in history had as many hits and Gold Gloves as this guy: Jeter, Ozzie Smith, Luis Aparicio and Omar Vizquel. Is it OK to mention that Rollins hit more home runs than Ozzie, Aparicio and Vizquel combined?

And then there’s all the other stuff:

• One of just six shortstops in the last 40 years to win an MVP award.
• More extra-base hits (857) as a shortstop than anyone except Ripken and Jeter.
• More hits than any player in the history of the Phillies, a franchise that has existed for 135 seasons.
• Had the longest hitting streak (38 games) of the last quarter-century.
• One of four players who ever lived with a 20-homer, 20-steal, 20-double, 20-triple season.
• Stayed healthy enough to play at least 140 games in 12 different seasons, a total reached in the last 40 years by only four other shortstops: Jeter, Ozzie, Vizquel and Ripken
• Started an All Star Game.
• Led his league in runs, steals and triples.

You can find a few shortstops who did some of that. You can’t find any other shortstop who has done all of it. So what are we supposed to make of that?

Remember, merely being a unique player doesn’t make you a Hall of Famer. And Rollins’ Wins Above Replacement totals (46.0) certainly don’t scream “Hall of Famer,” even though five Hall of Fame shortstops rank below him on that list.

Among the shortstops who rank above him: Jim Fregosi (48.7), Bert Campaneris (53.0) and Miguel Tejada (46.9). And the Alan Trammell Fan Club will be happy to remind you that Trammell (70.4) crushes Rollins in Wins Above Replacement.

But one thing I’ve learned, as a longtime Hall voter, is that we shouldn’t be looking at any one metric when we cast these votes. Not WAR. Not OPS-Plus. 

I’ll admit I loved watching Jimmy for more than a decade and a half. I saw his entire career, and I’m still not sure he’s a Hall of Famer. But when a guy has had himself a career unlike that of any other player who ever played his position, he has assembled a compelling case for himself. I look forward to assessing it one more time when that 2022 Hall of Fame ballot arrives in my mailbox.