Philadelphia Phillies: Case for and against each Hall of Fame candidate

Bobby Abreu is a former Philadelphia Phillies player with numbers and no Hall of Fame respect.

Those who only follow baseball from a spreadsheet might think Bobby Abreu is an easy lock for the Hall of Fame. In 18 seasons, he hit .291/.395/.475 with 288 home runs and 400 stolen bases. His 2,470 hits fall shy of a major milestone yet because he was able to walk 100+ times every season from 1999-2006, I think it’s excusable.

Abreu was an OBP machine at his best. Let’s also not forget to mention the 2005 Gold Glove he won as a member of the Phillies.

A career spent playing well but not winning much, I always found it unique how Abreu was traded away from the Phillies right before they made the postseason and left the New York Yankees a year before they won the World Series versus the Phillies in 2009. He did get to experience some postseason action but nothing significant to make him one of those baseball legends.

Often, in any Hall of Fame case, if the numbers aren’t among the all-time greats you need to have a big playoff hit or a bloody sock to help you out.

So far, Abreu has received only mild Hall of Fame consideration. He got 5.5% of the vote his first time and only 8.7% the second time. Only a two-time All-Star which is nearly impossible to believe when we look back at how the Phillies must have sent him there far more often, this is a case of Abreu having good numbers in an era when other outfielders were superior.

Abreu has a long way to go for any Hall of Fame shot. Instead, he’ll likely have to settle for the ever-popular Hall of Very Good located in an even smaller village than Cooperstown.