Hall of Fame

In about 2 months APBA hall of fame voters will get their chance to determine the class of 2006. Its not a deep class, and only one player is likely to get strong support. That would be my nephew, Lewis (the kid) Solo Jr.

The kid is about to turn 40 this offseason, reminding us all of how fleeting life can be. At the end of the 1989 season, the Kid was selected #1 overall by the Miami Stars. He went on to hit .350 with 38 homeruns and 141 RBI that year, and all would be career highs. 1990 was the offense year, however, and those numbers did not put him among the best oufielders in the league, he was merely another good player.

The next season was shortened to 54 games by a player strike. Solo Jr. hit only 5 homers as the "rabbit" was taken out of the ball, but he hit .332 as he learned to drive the ball to all fields, using the difficult to master "strum" technique taught by Hall of Famer Shockwave. He followed that up with a .325-22-101 season, narrowly missing the league MVP award as he was betrayed by his hometown sportswriters, who voted for Hawaii's Rod Jackson.

In 1992-2 the kid, fast but not having true centerfield speed, switched to left field to accomodate Eric Nixon, a true leadoff man and basestealer. Plagued by injuries, the Kid only hit 19 homeruns and 65 RBI but the team won the first of back to back world series. In 1993, the Kid came back healthy, hitting .307-30-111, joining the 30-30 club with 31 steals, and finally winning his first MVP award. He won another 2 years later, and the year in between may have been even better than his MVP years (36 homers, 123 RBI, 40 steals, his only gold glove).

Solo never had another season where he would contend for an MVP award, but remained a solid left fielder from 1995 to 2002. He played 130-140 games per year to conserve his strength, and while his speed was no better than average, he was a smart enough baserunner to swipe 55 bases in 68 attempts from 1997 to 2003.

His skills left him in 2003, as he hit only .229 with 13 homeruns. He retired at the age of 37 with a .300 average, 2546 hits, 394 homeruns, 1513 RBI, and 499 doubles.