Average Numbers for National Baseball Hall of Famers: Second Baseman

Rogers Hornsby is widely regarded as the greatest second baseman and hitters of all-time with 7 NL batting titles, 2 NL MVPs, 2 Triple Crowns, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1942. Photo by National Baseball Hall of Fame Library.

Jack Butler

Second Basemen are the most well-rounded players throughout baseball’s 153-year history since they have been solid contact hitters, defenders, and base runners while providing power as well. The beginning of how this position was played occurred at the turn of the 20th century with Nap Lajoie and Eddie Collins with the Philadelphia Phillies and Philadelphia Athletics but reached greater heights with the Cleveland Naps and Chicago White Sox. Lajoie won 3 AL Batting Titles and led MLB in hits 3 times with the Naps while Collins had two MVP runner-ups and led the AL in stolen bases thrice. In Collins’ first year on the south side of Chicago, Rogers Hornsby debuted for Miller Huggins’ St. Louis Cardinals at the young age of 19, but it wasn’t until 1920 that he put himself on the map with his first of 4 out of 5 200 hit seasons. Hornsby battled with Charlie Gehringer for the game's best second baseman which the latter claimed by having 5 200 hit campaigns compared to the formers 1 from 1929-35.

Joe Morgan and Rod Carew reigned supreme in the 1970s with the Cincinnati Reds and Minnesota Twins and played a different style. Morgan was more of a power threat who hit for a high average while Carew was the game’s greatest contact hitter at that point. The 1980s belonged to the Chicago Cubs Ryne Sandberg who displayed power, excellent fielding, and base running over his 16-year career earning the 1984 NL MVP, 9 Gold Gloves, and 7 Silver Sluggers

Alomar and Craig Biggio were establishing themselves as the game's prolific second baseman in the 1990s. Alomar is most known for displaying his offensive and defensive abilities with the Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, and Cleveland Indians. Biggio played his entire 20-year career with the Houston Astros and hit more doubles than anyone in baseball with 668 which stands for 6th on the all-time list. Jeff Kent and Chase Utley were baseball’s most successful second basemen of the 2000s with Kent's 5 of his 8 100-RBI campaigns coming in the decade and Utley produced four consecutive 100-RBI seasons. The 2010s belonged to Ian Kinsler and Dustin Pedroia where Kinsler was a key piece to Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers playoff runs and Pedroia was a tough out as evidenced by his .299 BA and striking out only 30 more times than he walked. Currently, José Altuve, Marcus Semien, Ozzie Albies, and Whit Merrifield are the elite second baseman in 2022.

Now that we’ve looked at the game’s greatest second baseman of each era, let’s take a deep look at the average numbers needed to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Beginning with WAR, the average is 70.2 which is only behind the rightfielders for the best WAR of 70.6. Rogers Hornsby has the highest WAR of 127.3 and just five others exceeded the average including Nap Lajoie, Eddie Collins, Frank Frisch, Charlie Gehringer, Joe Morgan, and Rod Carew. Lajoie, Collins, Hornsby, and Morgan inflate the data with all having a WAR over 100. If you remove those 4, the average goes down to a 59.1 WAR or a 15.8% decrease from the original average.

Just like with catchers, defense is highly valued at second base so below are the top 10 highest dWAR collected by second basemen. Bill Mazeroski’s 24.0 is the highest mark on the list while 16.3 put up by Hall of Fame snub Lou Whitaker in Detroit is 10th. On the list, there is 3 Hall of Famers – Mazeroski, Joe Gordon, and Frank Frisch while arguments can be made for Bobby Grich, Whitaker, and Chase Utley.

This graph looks at the top 10 career dWAR leaders by second baseman. It shows how valuable these individuals were on defense during their careers. Graph by Jack Butler.

Continuing with defense, the Gold Glove Award is given out to the best defender at each position and 12 players have won more at second than anyone else. Roberto Alomar stands alone with 10 followed by Ryne Sandberg’s 9, Mazeroski and White are behind the Cubs legend with 8 apiece, Joe Morgan, and Bobby Richardson each have 5, and a sextet of Craig Biggio, Bret Boone, Bobby Grich, Orlando Hudson, Dustin Pedroia, and Brandon Phillips won 4 each. The 5 Hall of Famers on that list and Nellie Fox (HOF Class of 1997) who won 3 accounts for 39 of the 129 that were awarded – 1 given in ML in 1957 and 64 each given out in both the AL and NL from 1958-2021.

These 12-second basemen have been awarded the most Gold Gloves at the position. If you add them up it equals 69 of the 129 that have been given out over the 65 years of the award. Graph by Jack Butler.

The average percentage of games played at second was 85% which was met by 12 Hall of Famers while the other 7 failed to reach the mark. 14 Hall of Fame second baseman played over 80 percent of games at the position for an average of 93%. Bobby Doerr’s 99% of appearances at 2nd base is the highest of the members inducted while Rod Carew’s 46% is the lowest, but understand why the writers’ elected him as a second baseman since the Panama contact hitter won 5 of his 7 batting titles penciled in at that position despite winning the 1977 AL MVP while playing 1st base.

Switching gears to hits, the average is 2,466 which is third behind leftfielders and rightfielders with the most belonging to Eddie Collins’ 3,315 hits and is eleventh on the all-time hit list. The least amount belongs to Joe Gordon who compiled 1,530 hits over an 11-year career with the New Yankees and Cleveland Indians in the late 30s and 40s, but nobody will know the numbers he might have put up if he didn’t decide to serve in the military during WWII right in his prime.

The contact-hitting second baseman averaged to hit 425 doubles with Craig Biggio having the most and Johnny Evers’ 216 being the fewest. It was reached by 11 of the 19 Hall of Famers for a new number of 514 two-baggers which is a 20.9% increase from the original mark. The triples average is 106 and only eight 2nd basemen reached the mark whose career’s all took place during the 20th century.

There isn’t much power at the position with the most homers by a Cooperstown member is Roger Hornsby’s 301 – 223 at 2B –, but Jeff Kent hit 377 – 351 at 2B – which is the most ever hit by a second baseman. Those two exceeded the average of 151 home runs with only 7 others enshrined surpassing it including Charlie Gehringer, Bobby Doerr, Joe Morgan, Tony Lazzeri, Ryne Sandberg, Roberto Alomar, and Biggio. So, 9 of 19 or 47.3% of in the Hall – counting Kent who hopefully gets in on his last ballot in 2023 – met the home run mark. There are players such as Nap Lajoie, Eddie Collins, and Rod Carew who all hit less than 100 big files, but it’s not fair to examine them on that stat alone. They must be looked at from each statistic, especially the ones they excelled in.

Regarding driving in runs, the collective average is 1,086 RBI which was reached by 10 Hall of Famers with Nap Lajoie driving in 1,599 for the most while Johnny Evers’ 536 is the fewest. Second baseman steal bases too with an average of 289 steals being met by 13 members with 5 of the previous 10 inducted having reached the mark. By going through hits, doubles, triples home runs, RBI, and stolen bases, only four 2nd basemen have 2,300 H, 400 2B, 50 3B, 200 HR, 1,000 RBI, and 300 SB – Joe Morgan, Ryne Sandberg, Roberto Alomar, and Craig Biggio.

This graph shows the all-around play of these four 2nd basemen to reach these 5 hitting and lone running stat with them being classified as five-tool players in their primes. Graph by Jack Butler.

Now it's time for the career slash line, OPS, OPS+, and batting titles. The average slash line for second baseman to be considered for the Hall is .299/.372/.434 and combine the last two for a .806 OPS. Out of the past 10 inducted only 2 have reached the AVG mark, 2 met OBP, 4 exceeded the SLG, and 5 surpassed the OPS average. The OPS+ mark sits at 120 which is 20% better than the league average where Rogers Hornsby has a best 170 OPS+ and Bill Mazeroski has the lowest at an 84 OPS. With batting titles – the highest batting average recognized from each league at the end of the season – they are no stranger to being awarded to second baseman as if you combine the six 2nd baseman who won those batting titles you get 22. 14 of the 22 were won by Hornsby and Carew who each won 7 while Robinson and Gehringer won 1 apiece. Altuve has 3, the most of any active second baseman, and even though he is in his early 30s is still capable of winning another.

Batting titles are linked with second baseman who have 4 winning multiple of them accounting for 20 of the 22 awarded on this list. Graph by Jack Butler.

Throughout baseball's history, second basemen have been the game’s most all-around position that does a little bit of everything well with some of the 19 Hall of Famers examined displaying it fully while others were fantastic hitters and base runners or just pure defenders with good power. With that in mind, hopefully, in the coming years, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) recognizes the numbers and career of Jeff Kent and the Veterans Committee acknowledges what Lou Whitaker did on the diamond electing them both into the Hall where they belong.