Categories: SPORTS

Should Omar Vizquel Be in the Hall of Fame?

After a 24 year career, Omar Vizquel called it quits after the 2012 season. Now the question turns to whether or not we will see Omar Vizquel inducted into the Hall of Fame. His first year of eligibility will be in 2018. Lets take a look at his qualifications and compare them to other Hall of Fame shortstops.

Here are Omar Vizquel career offensive statistics:

.272 BA, 2877 H, 80 HR, 951 RBIs, 404 SBs, .336 OBP, .352 SLG, .688 OPS, 82 OPS+

The offensive numbers don’t really stand out too much. His 82 OPS+ indicates that he was a fairly below average hitter during his career. It certainly does not stand out compared to the great hitting shortstops of his time, such as Alex Rodriguez, Miguel Tejada, Derek Jeter, and Nomar Garciaparra. However, Omar Vizquel’s legacy and potential for the Hall of Fame is really measured in his defense. During his career he won 11 Gold Gloves. That’s second all time to Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith’s 13 Gold Gloves and two ahead of Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio’s 9 Gold Gloves.

There’s no question that Omar Vizquel was the finest defensive shortstop of his time, but is that enough to get him into the Hall of Fame? The two players that Omar Vizquel should be most compared to are Ozzie Smith and Luis Aparicio, the other defensive shortstops in the Hall of Fame.

Ozzie Smith: .262 BA, 2460 H, 28 HRs, 793 RBIs, 580 SBs, .337 OBP, .328 SLG, .666 OPS, 87 OPS+

Luis Aparicio: .262 BA, 2677 H, 83 HRs, 791 RBIs, 506 SBs, .311 OBP, .343 SLG, .653 OPS, 82 OPS+

Omar Vizquel compares very favorably to these players on offense. He has a better batting average, more hits, more RBIs, and better OPS than both. Omar Vizquel did play during a time of better hitting, so his OPS+ is perhaps more telling of his offensive performance for his time. It’s the same as Luis Aparicio’s and just a notch below Ozzie Smith’s. So in other words, it’s very comparable.

However, Omar Vizquel’s overall performance compared to Smith, Aparicio, and a number of other Hall of Fame shortstops was a notch lower when you compare career WAR. Vizquel’s career WAR is only 40.5, a relatively low number. In fact, if he were elected to the Hall of Fame, he’d have one of the lowest career WARs of all shortstops in the Hall of Fame. Here’s a list of modern era shortstops in the Hall of Fame and their career WARs.

Cal Ripken Jr.: 90.9
Ozzie Smith: 73.0
Arky Vaughan: 70.5
Luke Appling: 69.9
Barry Larkin: 67.1
Pee Wee Reese: 63.3
Joe Cronin: 61.9
Lou Boudreau: 59.1
Luis Aparicio: 51.7
Omar Vizquel: 40.5
Phil Rizzuto: 38.1

So Vizquel’s is only a notch ahead of Phil Rizzuto. Now, it may be a bit harsh to knock Omar Vizquel for his offense. After all, he played in an a highly offensive era, so his offensive numbers may have been depressed simply relative to all of his peers. How does his overall defensive only WAR compare to other Hall of Famers.

Ozzie Smith: 43.4
Cal Ripken Jr.: 34.5
Luis Aparicio: 31.6
Omar Vizquel: 28.4
Pee Wee Reese: 25.5
Lou Boudreau: 23.3
Phil Rizzuto: 22.9
Luke Appling: 19.0
Joe Cronin: 14.3
Barry Larkin: 13.8
Arky Vaughan: 12.0

Based on this measure, Omar Vizquel is indeed one of the best defensive shortstops in baseball history. He’s only behind three other legends.

The question is, is this overall body of work enough for Vizquel to get into the Hall of Fame. Personally, I think it is. The 11 Gold Gloves are what truly stand out to me. Some players fall into this weird middle ground in the Hall of Fame debate. They were good all around players, but just didn’t excel in one particular area to separate them from the rest. Vizquel does not have that problem. While his overall contribution was a bit less than other Hall of Famers, his stellar defense for two decades should be enough to get him in.