Is Jorge Posada a Hall of Famer?

I see that the Hall of Fame has become an institution for the very good as opposed to being sanctioned only for the greats. But given that Jorge Posada's numbers stack up with some of the better offensive catchers of all time, does he deserve Hall of Fame consideration? I would put Posada behind such stalwarts as Fisk, Bench, Berra, Dickey, and even Gary Carter at the position. And when Mike Piazza becomes eligible he should be a first ballot guy. But what of Posada, the clutch hitting catcher and part of 5 World Championships with the Bronx Bombers. I have an opinion on the matter but would like to see what you guys have to say.

Sorry, I do not believe Jorge Posada is a Hall of Famer. But I have different standards for the HoF than the HoF itself. Half the people in the HoF dont deserve to be there, so while it would not shock me if Jorge gets in, he wouldn't get my vote. Posada was always a terrible defensive player (I remember one game when he had 3 passed balls on pitches right down the middle of the plate), and while some could say the same about Mike Piazza (Not exactly true, Piazza struggled throwing people out but did everything else defensively very well), Piazza and Posada's offensive statistics are just not even close. Piazza's career batting average was .308 compared to Posada's .273. Piazza had 427 career home runs to Posada's 275. Piazza had 1335 career RBIs to Posada's 1065. And this was while playing 1 more season than Piazza did! And also Posada had the chance to DH and take a break from catching, something Piazza never got the chance to do. I know Piazza is arguably the greatest offensive catcher in MLB history, but the HoF to me belongs to the greatest players that ever took the field, something Posada is NOT. Jorge Posada is not a HoFer in my book.

Piazza is the most productive offensive catcher ever so it's not fair to Posada to try and compare them. And Posada was definitely a better defensive catcher than Piazza. And I'm a Met fan before you think otherwise. However, I'm not sure what your standards are but the MLB Hall of Fame is far stricter than any other professional Hall of Fame. The guys who are in there all belong. But I'll take your bait, dluicbello. Name me one player who is there who shouldn't be.

Posada was not a better defensive catcher than Piazza. Piazza struggled in his one category(Throwing out runners) but other than that he was actually pretty good. Almost every pitcher that worked with Piazza said he was great at calling a game, he blocked balls well, and he was also very good at blocking the plate. I've never seen a catcher struggle just simply catching the ball as much as Posada did. After all, Posada did have 40 more passed balls in his career than Piazza did! Also, according to baseball-reference.com, Posada's Hall of Fame monitor ranking for batting is 98(Likely HoF is 100) and his Hall of Fame standars ranking for batting is 40 (Average HoF is 50). So even just batting wise he doesn't stack up against this watered down HoF. And before I get any "he was a great clutch performer" responses, his career postseason batting average was .248. He only hit over .300 once in a WS, in 98 he hit .333. In the other WS he played in he hit .250, .222, .174, .158, and .263. And as for one person who doesnt deserve to be in the HoF? I'll give you a few. Mazeroski, Ron Santo, and Tony Perez.

"It's pretty amazing this all happened one year to the day that he died," Santo's wife Vicki said. "I guess you could say that it should have been earlier, but all he said was I hope I get in in my lifetime." He was asked once, on one of the many days a new group of inductees was announced and he wasn’t among them, if he’d be OK getting a spot in Cooperstown, even if it came after he died. And, in that style that endeared him to generations of Cubs fans, he said “I don’t want to go in post-humorously.” Of course, he meant posthumously, but then an E-5 on words was part of what made Ron Santo. He had a.277 BA, 342 HR, 1,331 RBI. Santo also had 4 career 30-HR seasons, was a 9-time All-Star, a 5-time Gold Glove winner, and finished top 5 in MVP voting twice (1967, '69). His career ended quite abruptly at the age of 34 after a terrible season with the Southsiders. He batted .221 with a .591 OPS in 375 AB. That was the end of the road for Santo who probably gets elected in his original go-round with 2 more years of counting stats. He did have 2254 H and was the 11th third baseman to be elected to the hallowed Hall. I think the voters did a great job on Santo but would have like to see Gill Hodges go as well. Hodges did miss the honor by 3 votes. Not only was Santo the top 3B in the NL over a 12 year period his overall record speaks for itself. Gil Hodges should also be in the Hall but is downgraded by being "only" the 4th or 5th best player on those Brooklyn teams of the 50's. That's the same argument for Tony Perez who deserved enshrinement on his own hitting merits. I wasn't big on Mazeroski getting in. A few others who probably shouldn't be in off the top of my head are Rabbit Maranville (a SS before your time AND mine) and Ray Schalk (a catcher from the 1910's-1920's). I'm sure that I can come up with others if given the time1

There's no doubt that everyone in the HoF is very good, but they should all be amazing and excellent. There should be no doubt that they are HoFers, and a lot of people in the HoF have that doubt attached to them. People should not be elected in every year, it should only be when someone is no doubt a HoFer that they get in. This is obviously just my view on it as this is not how it actually works.

I never said Posada was a gold glove, I just said he was better than Piazza and I still think so and I love Piazza as much as anyone. The fact is throwing runners out is a big part of the job and Mike was so bad they wanted to move him. Plus he was an uncoordinated oaf. I really don't care who had more PB's cause those are based on scorers decisions. Let's just say that defense will not be discussed at Piazza's induction ceremony. As for your 3 HOF's. Perez is absolutely a HOF. I saw him play. He should have gotten in a while before he did. The other 2, Santo and Mazeroski, were veteran's committee picks so its a bit cheesy to try to argue they don't belong. Maz won gold gloves and went to all star games for like 10 or so years and was apparently an exceptional defensive player. Santo was underrated in his era and the veteran's committee was swayed that his stats had greater value then originally thought. Very few 3B in the Hall. He was one of the first to hit over 300 HR and in the 60's that wasn't a common task. I have no problem with either being there.