Sean (Call me Chone) Smith is putting together his own WAR (Wins Above Replacement) system for the Retrosheet years, and he has found that there are five players who are in the "gray area" of Hall of Fame worthiness (high ranking, but not yet in the Hall). They are Tim Raines, Lou Whitaker, Reggie Smith, Willie Davis, and Ron Santo.
You don't hear much about Reggie Smith, though I've mentioned his Hall worthiness before. But you never hear Willie Davis mentioned as an overlooked Hall member. After all, Davis is 140th in Win Shares Above Bench all time (far below the others on Sean's list). Plus, he's 837th in Batting Wins, according to Baseball Reference.
I have a feeling there's a story there.
Dave was called a "national treasure" by Rob Neyer. Seriously. Comments about this article can be sent to him through the miracle of e-mail.
