Graig Nettles Vs. Dwight Evans
Posted by Steve L. on November 26th, 2012 · Comments (8)
So, who had the better big league career?
| Player | WAR/pos ▴ | From | To | Age | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dwight Evans | 62.8 | 1972 | 1991 | 20-39 | 2606 | 10569 | 8996 | 1470 | 2446 | 483 | 385 | 1384 |
| Graig Nettles | 62.8 | 1967 | 1988 | 22-43 | 2700 | 10228 | 8986 | 1193 | 2225 | 328 | 390 | 1314 |
.
Too close to call?
Bill James always loved Evans, if memory serves, James has written that his was a HOF career, albeit in the “grey”. It’s also strange, IMHO, that Nettles didn’t make it. Not many players could play the position well, even fewer that hit almost 400 HR’s, when that still was damn good. I still don’t understand the “real whys” of HOF voting, and I’m not sure that I want to…….
Great post; two excellent players defensively at their positions and division rivals. Too close to call… If I had to choose between both to have for the duration of their careers and from the outset, I might have to take Nettles for the defense at third.
@ KPOcala:
Well, you figure the batting average is a bit low, looking at “traditional” metrics that BWAA voters tend to reference. Also, looking at his similarity scores, none of his peers are what you would call “HOF worthy.” Even his numbers compared to HOF’er don’t really stand out.
Evans was one of those players who was terribly underrated during his day. The numbers just aren’t there in the big picture, and the fact that he played with HOF in Yaz, Fisk, Rice, & Boggs may have overshadowed him.
But still, he was very consistent, durable for the most part, probably the best AL outfield arm of that era who could have held his own against the Dave Parker & Ellis Valentine arms in the NL.
Evans is a marginal Hall of Famer. So is Nettles. Evans WAR is equal to that of Nettles because the average right fielder hits better than the average 3rd baseman, and so Evans was the better hitter, is position differential is not taken into account.
It is arguable that Evans, taken all in all, was a better player for his whole career than Jim Rice.
To me, both Graig and Dwight are “just misses”, along with (sigh) Bernie, Thurman, Andy, Jorge, and (Sigh) Donnie.
@ Raf:In the case of Nettles (and I don’t know if you saw him in his prime), third basemen in the HOF are strangely over-looked. The players that can really play the position in baseball are few. Which makes me wonder if the metrics don’t under-rate the the defensive difficulty. Had he not played when Brooks played he’d have gone in, no question.
@ Evan3457:If Andy keeps going…I’ve wondered if he goes through the ‘family ritual’ to appease his wife (not to mention the money angle). He may go on as an effective pitcher for years…HOPING!
KPOcala wrote:
How much could Brooks have overshadowed him, he retired in 1977. He won his last Gold Glove in 1975. He last placed in the MVP voting in 1974. Nettles had a pretty good stretch from 1975-80, but that’s about it.