What does a Hall of Fame career look like?
Increasingly, the answer to that question has become muddled in the wake of controversial careers by players whose numbers are Cooperstown worthy, changes to the game and a data-based evolution of how we contextualize a sport that has been ingrained in our culture for 150 years.
The past couple of years in particular have been a time of great change in baseball. New rules. New schedules. New playoff format. These changes were a response to other changes that affected the style of baseball being played, the way players have been used and, most germane to the subject at hand, the numbers they put up.
This year's Hall of Fame ballots must be postmarked by the end of the year, as the electorate from the Baseball Writers' Association of America once again casts its judgment on the greats of the game -- and those who fell short of greatness. The current ballot is interesting because you can see the new dilemmas the writers face even as the dilemmas of the past have not quite yet been resolved.
Every player on the ballot, by definition, began his career at least 15 years ago -- 10 years in the majors to become eligible, with a mandatory five-year waiting period before he can appear on the ballot. Fifteen years ago was 2008, when the collective MLB batting average was .264 (it was .248 in 2023), there were 9.1 hits per game (8.4 in 2023), 6.8 strikeouts per game (8.6 in 2023) and 136 complete games (35 in 2023).
It's the same game but one that nevertheless looks very different in its output. The players on the Hall ballot bridged this era of change, one in which the roles of entire position groups have been redefined.
Specifically, we're talking about three positions -- catchers, starting pitchers and relief pitchers -- all of which are represented on the ballot. The standards for these positions have moved in ways both subtle and obvious, making it a little more work to evaluate them against the past greats.
With that in mind, let's consider the cases of three avatars of this bridge generation: Joe Mauer, the catcher, Billy Wagner, the closer, and Mark Buehrle, the starter.