Those voting for Omar Vizquel for Cooperstown are not voting for Chase Utley. Why is this? Utley's case is analytically based, while Vizquel's is based more traditional numbers--hits and Gold Gloves.
Personally, I am not sure I'd put either in the HOF. Utley was a good player with a decent peak. But not necessarily a HOF career. Vizquel was undoubtedly a glove wizard but, as illustrated, was not great at the plate. Perhaps it's unfair to punish his candidacy so much when we often look the other way for offensive juggernauts who cannot play a defensive position well or at all. But hey, that's what the DH is for.
Also, and I understand this is not the aim of this article and therefore wasn't covered, I can't help but wonder whether Omar Vizquel's off-field incidents (allegations of sexual harassment and domestic violence) hurt or bury an otherwise long-odds HOF chance.
Personally, I am not sure I'd put either in the HOF. Utley was a good player with a decent peak. But not necessarily a HOF career. Vizquel was undoubtedly a glove wizard but, as illustrated, was not great at the plate. Perhaps it's unfair to punish his candidacy so much when we often look the other way for offensive juggernauts who cannot play a defensive position well or at all. But hey, that's what the DH is for.
Also, and I understand this is not the aim of this article and therefore wasn't covered, I can't help but wonder whether Omar Vizquel's off-field incidents (allegations of sexual harassment and domestic violence) hurt or bury an otherwise long-odds HOF chance.
Things are looking good for Wagner. The voting numbers I have seen early on for utley don’t look so good for this round