During the mid 2000’s, there were three players who dominated at the plate for the Cardinals. They were Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds, and the gentlemen we will be talking about today… Scott Rolen. Together, these three were known as the “MV3”.
Rolen, the All-Star third baseman, was not only a huge presence at the plate, but a dominant player at third base.
But today, on the newest edition of “The Cooperstown case”, we will see if he was good enough for enshrinement into the Hall of Fame.
There are over 215 members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Despite that, there’s only 11 third basemen (and that’s really a staggering statistic). Over the course of his 17 seasons in Major League Baseball, Rolen was voted to the All-Star Game eight times, won the Gold Glove eight times, and was the winner of the 1997 Rookie of the Year Award.
However, he only finished in the top five for MVP once (when he finished fourth place back in 2004).
And yet, there are certain instances where Rolen stacks up quite well to some of the third basemen who are enshrined into Cooperstown. The most recent third baseman to have been inducted into Cooperstown was the late Ron Santo. Comparing the two players, Santo had a career .277/.362/.464 line, compared to Rolen’s .281/.364/.490.
One thing that did hinder the third basemen’s career was the injury bug. In his career, Rolen only played 130 games in a season only eight times. Also, his hit (2,077), home run (316), and RBI (1,287) stats aren’t as impressive when matched up against not only those enshrined, but the competition in current and future ballots. As far as defensive skills go, there’s no doubt that Rolen was one of the best in the 2000’s, but given his injury history and lack of comparable hitting statistics, it doesn’t seem as likely he would make it into Cooperstown.
So, does Rolen have a good case in your eyes?
Feel free to discuss below, and as always, tune back in next Sunday for another edition of “The Cooperstown case”.
Also, make sure to tune in to “The Jeremy Karp Show” on SoundCloud every week.
