2013 HOF RBI'ers

[fknmclane]

That's fkn great.

I'd put Kenny Lofton #3.

[Gantry]

I may have to go with Ichirio

[BDawk]

Rose

[fknmclane]

I'd define a leadoff hitters job as the following and in this order:

make the pitcher work
get on base
score

Stealing bases at a high clip obviously helps with scoring and for that matter, making the pitcher work.  In that sense, I still go with Lofton.

[Nacho]

I may have to go with Ichirio

This.

Also, I always thought Rose was a #2 hitter.

[BeefMaster]

I just looked up Rose's splits, because I was wondering about that, too, and he had the most plate appearances at leadoff (over 10000, out of 15000 total), so he should qualify as a leadoff man.

I'd also say Ichiro was the greatest leadoff man ever apart from Raines and Rickey, although there isn't nearly as much competition as I'd thought.  My actual question was who was the greatest BEFORE Raines and Rickey (which would disqualify Ichiro and Lofton), but I'm pretty pleased that he answered my question at all, and the fact that he wrote a whole column from it is awesome regardless.

[fathedX]

I thought the knock on Ichiro was that he got lots of hits, but didn't walk much, making his OBP a little low for a leadoff guy.  He's got a .366 lifetime OBP, which is decent but not great.  Brett Butler is .377 OBP lifetime.  Pete Rose is .375 OBP.

Ichiro can hit doubles and steal bases, so I see the argument for him.

I went to one of the all-time greats teams (1927 Yankees) to see who their leadoff guy was.  Earle Combs had a lifetime .397 OBP.  He scored 137 runs in 1927 and 143 runs in 1932, he was on base a lot and had two of the greatest hitters of all time hitting behind him.  He always seemed to bat leadoff from the years I checked.  He didn't steal bases but he did hit some doubles.  He finished with a .325 lifetime batting average and the veteran's committee put him in the HOF.  He seems pretty good.  There has to be some more guys like this in the 40s, 50s, and 60s, right?

[Shooty]

My picks would be Blyleven, Raines, or Jack Morris,  doubt any of the three will get in.  5 more days we find out!!

Morris and Raines maybe, but Blyleven?  You really think he'll get in?

[fathedX]

He didn't even get any votes this year!

[Metal King]

Duhhhhhhhh, lol Blyleven's already in, how easily I forgot that....

[Nacho]

I thought the knock on Ichiro was that he got lots of hits, but didn't walk much, making his OBP a little low for a leadoff guy.  He's got a .366 lifetime OBP, which is decent but not great.  Brett Butler is .377 OBP lifetime.  Pete Rose is .375 OBP.

Ichiro can hit doubles and steal bases, so I see the argument for him.

I'm very surprised at how low his OBP is. I wonder if the fact that he started his MLB career at 27 or whatever has something to do with it. Did he have a high OBP in his prime?