Cooperstown Chronicles – Gary Gaetti
Photo courtesy of TSN Archives/Icon SMI
Gary Gaetti was suggested by thewho52, a friend of mine from the Sporting News community. I’ve decided to review his numbers and offer my opinion to his Hall of Fame worthiness.
The Numbers
2507 Games (46th All-time)
8951 At Bats (66th All-time)
.255 Batting Average
1130 Runs
2280 Hits
443 Doubles (90th All-time)
39 Triples
360 Home Runs (70th All-time)
1341 RBI (78th All-time)
3881 Total Bases (86th All-time)
842 Extra Base Hits (72nd All-time)
World Series - 7 games, 7 hits in 27 at bats (.259), 4 runs, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 1 HR, 4 RBI, .519 Slugging %
The Awards
1987 ALCS MVP (.300, 5 runs, 6 hits, 1 double, 2 HRs, 5 RBI)
2 All-Star Games
4 Gold Gloves
1 Silver Slugger
MVP votes in 4 seasons
Top Ten Finishes
Slugging % – Twice
OPS – Once
Games – Three Times (Led league in ‘84)
Doubles - Once
Home Runs – Three Times
Total Bases – Once
RBI – Twice
Exta-base Hits – Twice
Hit by Pitch – Three times
The Rat had a cool nickname. He had a good glove and some pop in his bat. However, he never reach 100 runs, 200 hits, 110 RBI, 40 doubles, or 40 Home Runs. Had he played on both of the Twins World Series teams, he’d have a better shot of convincing me. He was good, not great, and doesn’t belong in Cooperstown.
References
Baseball-reference.com
Past Chronicles
Bert Byleven
Andre Dawson
Dale Murphy
Mark McGwire
Bobby Matthews
Tommy John
Buck O’Neill & Minnie Minoso
Jim Rice
Ted Simmons
Lee Smith
Jack Morris
Al Oliver
Steve Garvey
Jim Kaat
Pete Ro$e
Shoeless Joe Jackson
Dave Concepcion
Lou Whitaker
Alan Trammell
Ron Santo
Ron Guidry
Gil Hodges
Dave Parker
Tony Mullane
Keith Hernandez
Don Mattingly
Dwight Evans
Ralph Houk (Manager)
Jimmie Dykes (Player/Manager)
Charlie Grimm (Player/Manager)
Billy Martin (Player/Manager)
Harold Baines
Gene Mauch (Manager)
Whitey Herzog (Manager)
Tom Kelly (Manager)
Joe Carter
Rusty Staub
Larry Novak
February 27th, 2008 at 9:19 pm #
He has better numbers than I thought, However He just does not have the “Wow” type of numbers or even a “Wow” Season to get in.
Ryan Lester
February 28th, 2008 at 5:17 am #
Larry – exactly
Big Denny
March 3rd, 2008 at 5:42 pm #
I like the Rat, but I agree he’s not quite there.
Ryan Lester
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:56 pm #
Agree
The Gary Gaetti Cult
May 11th, 2008 at 1:04 am #
Obviously, we’re homers, but as many people may mention that Ron Santo should be in the Hall of Fame, check Gaetti’s numbers. On par or if not, better than Ronnie’s (especially in the post season). Ronnie and Gary are both class acts and although both men don’t have crazy offensive stats, both we stud 3rd basemen that had cannon arms and were field generals of their squads.
Hold on to the night,
The Chairman
Ryan Lester
May 11th, 2008 at 6:25 am #
TGGC – I can’t fault you for being passionate about your guy. Good luck to you.
Cooperstown Chronicles - Jesse Haines | Fantasy Sports Blog
May 7th, 2009 at 8:56 am #
[...] Dwight Evans Rick Ferrell* Wes Ferrell Chuck Finley Steve Finley Nellie Fox* John Franco Gary Gaetti Steve Garvey Lefty Gomez* Luis Gonzalez Dwight Gooden Joe Gordon Mark Grace Bobby Grich Charlie [...]
Cooperstown Chronicles - Jesse Haines | 1800blogger
May 7th, 2009 at 8:56 am #
[...] Dwight Evans Rick Ferrell* Wes Ferrell Chuck Finley Steve Finley Nellie Fox* John Franco Gary Gaetti Steve Garvey Lefty Gomez* Luis Gonzalez Dwight Gooden Joe Gordon Mark Grace Bobby Grich Charlie [...]
Cooperstown Chronicles - Stan Coveleski :: Elites TV
May 13th, 2009 at 12:52 pm #
[...] Dwight Evans Rick Ferrell* Wes Ferrell Chuck Finley Steve Finley Nellie Fox* John Franco Gary Gaetti Steve Garvey Lefty Gomez* Luis Gonzalez Dwight Gooden Joe Gordon Mark Grace Bobby Grich Charlie [...]
Cooperstown Chronicles - Kiki Cuyler | Fantasy Sports Blog
May 28th, 2009 at 7:48 am #
[...] Dwight Evans Rick Ferrell* Wes Ferrell Chuck Finley Steve Finley Nellie Fox* John Franco Gary Gaetti Steve Garvey Lefty Gomez* Luis Gonzalez Dwight Gooden Joe Gordon Mark Grace Bobby Grich Charlie [...]