A-side and B-side

Larry Walker joked that he is the B-side of the Hall of Fame class 2020. Funny, but let’s see what we have on the both sides of the HOF 2020.

Derek Jeter and Larry Walker both had more than 15-year experience in the big league. Larry Walker won 1 MVP and 3 batting titles. Jeter played 14 times in the all-star games and was a 5-time Gold Glove winner. 

Derek Jeter		Larry Walker
20 (1995-2014)	Seasons	17 (1989-2005)
0	MVP	1
14	All-Star	5
5	Silver Slugger	3
5	Gold Glove	7
0	Batting Title	3

WAR, as you can see, B-side is higher than A-side. Larry Walker hit more long balls and we can obviously see that his OPS was way higher. However, they both collected exactly 1311 RBIs and there was no huge difference between Jeter’s BA and Walker’s BA.  

Derek Jeter		Larry Walker
71.3	WAR	72.7
3465	H	2160
260	HR	383
1311	RBI	1311
358	SB	230
.310	BA	.313
.817	OPS	.965

Both HOFers had very similar Line Drive percentage. Jeter was more patient at bat, he saw more pitches than Walker and swung at the first pitch less frequently. Nevertheless, Walker had a lower SO/W. This really indicated that the B-side is too humble, even he swung at the first pitch often, pitchers still gave up lots of walks when facing this tough guy.

Derek Jeter		Larry Walker
.350	BABIP	.332
1.70	SO/W (SO/BB)	1.35
1.30	GB/FB	0.87
33.7%	1st Pitch Swinging %	43.7%
3.73	P/PA	3.49
21%	LD %	22%

Both Derek Jeter and Larry Walk had very successful careers. There is truly no doubt that Jeter is worth being a first ballot Hall of Famer. Meanwhile, Larry Walker is definitely well deserved to be a HOFer.

The 2020 Hall of Fame induction ceremony is scheduled to take place on July 26 in Cooperstown. But The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is closing to the public indefinitely because of the coronavirus.