Hall of Fame Candidates
The following players last played in 2012 or received enough votes to stick on the ballot in previous elections. They are now eligible for the Hall of Fame.
OF Dirk Lindros
Lindros was the most hyped prospect in league history, and was made the #1 overall pick in the 1994 draft. He made an immediate impact on the league, hitting .288 with 38 homers, 118 RBI, while drawing 109 walks. He was named Rookie of the Year and won the MVP award. The Hollywood B's improved from a 67 win, last place finish to 90 wins, the best record in the major league. The B's however, under high priced new manager R.J. Duke, suffered an early exit in the playoffs. The following season Lindros hit 40 homers and drew 136 walks, however another early round playoff exit let to feuds between the superstar manager and superstar player. That feud and the league salary structure led to both being replaced, as Duke was fired and Lindros was traded to the New York Cobra.
In his first season with New York, Lindros hit .305 and drew 133 walks against only 508 at bats, good for an OBP of .449. The next season, a strike shortened 120 games, Lindros led the team all the way to the world series, where they were swept by the Utah Utes. Early in the 1997 season, Lindros was traded again, to the Springfield Isotopes in a block buster deal that brought HOF second baseman Joe Thomas to New York.
Lindros had his best seasons in his 8 year stay with the Isotopes. In 1998 he hit .301 with 43 homers, 140 RBI, and walked 149 times. The next year he hit .314 with 44 homers, drew 137 walks, and stole 32 bases for the only 30/30 season of his career. In 2001 Springfield reached the World Series, and swept the Florida Penguins for their only championship. After playing for Boston, Hawaii, and the New York Knights Lindros played his final season with the Los Angeles Shockers in 2012. At age 39, he was a shadow of his former self and hit only .221 with 16 homers.
He retired with 632 homers, an even 2000 in both runs and RBI, 2727 hits, and 2073 walks. He ranks 4th all time in homers, 3rd in both runs and RBI, and first in walks. He also ranks 3rd in offensive wins above replacement, with 108.8.
C Bruce Berano
A first round draft pick in 1996 by the Las Vegas Gamblers, the switch hitting Berano would go on to become one of the greatest hitting catchers in league history. After four seasons in Las Vegas, Berano signed with the Cleveland Spiders, where he would play for the next 11 seasons. He hit .322 his first year in Cleveland, with 21 homers and 91 RBI. Two years later he had his best season, hitting .333 with 40 homers and 118 RBI. His slugging percentage was .638. In 2006, age 34, he hit .325 with 28 homers. Berano played his last two seasons in Hawaii, hitting .288 with 17 homers in 2011, and a respectable .279 with 9 homers and a .434 slugging percentage in 2012, when he was 40.
Berano finished his career with 324 homers, 2050 hits, and 1235 RBI. He is among the top 3 in each category among catchers. His 64.6 offensive WAR is second best among catchers. As a defensive player he was regarded as a strong leader and capable handler of pitchers, however his throwing arm was average at best. For his career he threw out 26 percent of opposing baserunners.
1B/3B Jerry Tugwell
The sweet swinging Tugwell hit .317 for the 1995 Penguins. He was a disciplined hitter who drew his share of walks, and later developed power. In 2000, the year of the Penguin, Tugwell was moved to the leadoff spot despite hitting more like a middle of the order hitter. That season Tugwell hit .271, hit 23 homers with 66 RBI, and thanks to a .368 on base percentage scored 117 runs as the Penguins went to the first of back to back World Series.
The following season Tugwell moved back to the middle of the order and broke out with an MVP season, hitting .312 with 39 homers, 126 RBI, 53 doubles, a .416 OBP and .601 slugging. The following season Tugwell had an even better season for the Louisville Sluggers, hitting .336/39/139. He remained a strong force in the middle of the order for the LA Shockers for four more seasons. In his late 30s Tugwell was a productive platoon 1B/DH for Mars, Miami, Baltimore, and Las Vegas. In 2011 he was traded to the Miami Stars at the trade deadline and went on a tear, hitting 10 homers in only 114 at bats, with a .434 OBP and .596 slugging as he helped the Stars win their first world championship since 1993. He had another productive season in 2012 as a platoon player, and retired at age 41.
1B Vern Terrell
Vern Terrell began his career with the 1991 Denver Rabbits. A lefty swinging first baseman, he didn't often hit for high averages but his patience and power made him a dangerous middle of the order hitter. In his second season, he hit 27 homers and drove in 113 runs. After a decade with the Rabbits Terrell joined the Springfield Isotopes and from 1999 to 2001 hit at least 30 homers with 100 RBI per year, while averaging 100 walks per season. In 2001 he drove in 120 runs as the team won the world championship. He remained a dangerous hitter long into his career, hitting 25 homers at age 39. He retired with 408 homers, 1523 RBI, and 1557 walks.
1B/3B John Conner
John Conner had 2875 hits, and had his best season in 2001 (.314-34-132) as Springfield won their only world series. Conner was a line drive hitter, his 652 doubles rank 8th alltime. He twice reached 200 hits and 6 times drove in 100 runs.
OF Damon Nkik
Damon Nkik was the #1 overall pick in the 1996 draft. In 1998, he hit .338 with 21 homers and 117 RBI while stealing 36 bases and leading Green Day to 93 wins, their first winning season and first playoff appearance. In 2000 Nkik stole 108 bases. He drove in 100 or more runs 7 times. In 2006 and 2008 Nkik was an important part of two Superior League championship Miami teams, though both times they fell short in the world series against New York. Nkik retired with 2456 hits.
C Monty Harmon
Harmon began his career with the 1998 Miami Stars, hitting .285 with 15 homers. The following season he was traded to the Utah Utes. In 2001 he hit .309 with 23 homers and 88 RBI for the Utes. In 2006 he hit .340 for Mars. He remained a solid offensive contributor until he was 38, hitting for high averages with occasional power. For his career, Harmon threw out 29% of opposing baserunners.
OF Sammy Swopa
Sammy Swopa hit 445 homeruns, including 6 seasons of 40 or more. In 1999 he became one of 6 players to hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in a season. In 2002 Sammy hit 50 homeruns. In 2003 Sammy hit 49 homers, drove in 147 runs, and won the Superior League MVP award. A fine defender, Sammy won 4 gold glove awards. Sammy did not have a long career, fading in his 30's and retiring at age 35.
OF Leon Wolf
Leon Wolf started his career with the Charlotte Hawks. He was not expected to excel defensively, or show great speed or power, but make a living with his bat. He only hit .214 his first year, and .269 his second, and was let go to look for another job. He improved to a .303 average in his third year for the El Paso Devils, but only hit 3 homers in nearly 400 at bats. Once again he was looking for the job, and found a great opportunity with the 1994 Utah Utes.
Wolf won a job as a platoon left fielder and thanks to a team culture that embraced advanced hitting theory, improved to .348 and drove in 66 runs in only 374 at bats. The Utes went on to win the first of 3 consecutive championships. In 1997 Wolf hit .382. Despite such lofty stats, Wolf was never a fulltime player in Utah due to a talented roster, however he did win 4 rings in his 5 seasons there.
After the breakup of the Utes in 1999 he spent one year in Portland, then went to Hollywood where he became a fulltime player and had the most productive seasons of his career. In 2000 he hit .335 with 22 homers. The next two years he won batting titles (.357 and .344) while also hitting over 20 homers, and in 2003 hit career bests with 28 homers and 114 RBI. He remained a productive bat into old age, hitting .322 with 17 homers as a 39 year old. He retired in 2008 with a .312 average and 2166 hits.
C/1B Shazeem Abdul Mustafa
Abdul Mustafa began his career with the Texas Gunfighters as a power hitting catcher, however his defense at catcher was not very good. In 2000, he allowed 116 stolen bases. Many of those were likely by Kenny Anderson as Kenny stole a league record 309 bases. Abdul Mustafa moved to first base shortly after that. He hit 20 or more homers 8 times and finished with 280.
SS Alex Salazar
Salazar began his career in 1995 with the Toledo Mud Hens, winning the rookie of the year award as he hit 26 homers, stole 19 bases, and played outstanding defense. Thanks to playing in the same league as Lou Zamuda prevented him from winning gold gloves early in his career, however he did win the award in 2000 and 2001. Salazar never hit 26 homers again, but was a solid hitter with 15-20 homer power for 11 years in Toledo, and in 2002 he stole 45 bases in 50 attempts.
Salazar remained productive for a long time, and hit .318 at age 36 for St. Louis. He played 18 seasons and finished with 2394 hits, 248 homers, and 349 stolen bases.
2B Stephon Jameson
After hitting .202 as a 20 year old rookie for the 1997 Shockers, Jameson went to the Cleveland Spiders in the 1998 expansion draft. He was one of the few bright spots on that 115 loss team, stealing 60 bases. The following year he had 211 hits and stole 52 bases. Jameson was durable, with over 600 AB each year from 1998 to 2009. He ended his career with 2258 hits.
OF Sithas Kawasaki
Kawasaki was one of the first hitting stars of the Elven league to play on this side of the world. He had over 1500 hits in that league. In 2002 he joined the Chicago Winds and hit .322 with 208 hits, 39 doubles, 14 triples, and stole 41 bases. The next two years he also topped 200 hits, with averages near .330, and stole 37 bases per year while hitting 46 doubles. Kawasaki remained a productive hitter with plenty of doubles and triples for the next five years. He finished his APBA career 1725 hits, giving him a combined total of over 3000 between APBA and the Elven league. Kawasaki was an outstanding defender with a strong throwing arm and won 2 gold gloves.
P Tom Groovine
In Tom Groovine's rookie year the Utah Utes won 100 games. The following year they won 110, with Tom winning 17 of them. That year they won their first world championship, with Tom winning the final game. They won 117 the next year, Grooving went 21-5 with a 2.75 ERA, and once again he won the last game of the world series. He later had seasons of 18 and 19 wins for the Utes. After the team broke up, he went to Hollywood for 3 years, then to Boston for 4. In his first 3 seasons in Boston Tom won 18, 18, and then 19 games, winning the Cy Young award with a 2.68 ERA in the latter.
After 3 years (and 47 more wins) for the New York Knights Tom returned to Utah at age 40. He won 16 games that year and helped the Utes win yet another world championship, pitching a pivotal game 3 after the team lost the first 2 to New York. Tom pitched well in that game, which the Utes won in extra innings, and the Utes rallied to win the next 3. Tom pitched 3 more seasons, his final season at age 43, to reach the 300 win plateau.
In 20 seasons Groovine won 303 games, lost 178, and pitched 4202 innings. His ERA was 3.61, he struck out 2498 batters, and completed 119 games.
P Sid Rubin
Sid Rubin pitched for 16 years, won 166 games against 158 losses, and struck out 2081 batters. His top season for wins was 15, and 4 times he won 14.
P Troy Everett
Troy Everett burst onto the scene with 44 saves for the 1997 Green Day Dukes. The following season he saved another 44, with a 1.71 ERA, as the team won their first division title. He was consistently around 40 saves over a 15 year span, finishing with 587. In 2004 the Bay Area Bandits used him in a 1970s workhorse role, and he pitched 126 innings with a 14-5 record, 32 saves, a 2.91 ERA, and 151 saves.
Two years later Everett pitched his only season for the New York Cobra, and ended up as a hero in a very surprising way. Over his career, he was not asked to bat much, and wasn't very good at it. For his career he had 4 hits in 55 at bats (.073) and struck out 25 times.
In the 2006 world series game 7 Everett came into the 9th inning with his team down a run, and allowed an insurance run to the Miami Stars. In the bottom of the 9th, with one out and 2 runners on, New York still down 2 runs, Everett came to the plate and due to previous moves and injuries, New York was out of pinch hitters. Everett had to bat, and loaded the bases with a single. One out later, Joe Thomas ended the world series with a grand slam on the final swing of his career.
For his career Everett pitched 1275 innings, had a 3.29 ERA, and struck out 1240 batters.
P Paul Williamson
Over a 17 year career Williamson saved 508 games, pitched 1412 innings, and had a 3.04 ERA. In 2004 he posted a 0.78 ERA with 31 saves for the Toledo Mud Hens. In 2010, at age 38, he saved 47 games for the Denver Rabbits, and the next year saved 49. In 2012 he struggled to a 5.76 ERA, but was part of the Rabbits only world championship.
P Jake Decker
In 1995 Decker, a rookie for the Alaska Snow Sox, pitched 138 innings, struck out 158 batters, and saved 35 games. The following season his ERA was 1.65. In 2003 he saved 47 games for the New York Cobra with a 1.70 ERA. Over his 15 year career, Decker pitched 1061 innings, had a 2.84 ERA, struck out 1015, walked only 316, and saved 494 games.
posted by Lyman L Solo @ 9:04 PM
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