A quick thought: underappreciated players

A friend and I were having a conversation about the most underappreciated players of our time. I threw out Scott Rolen, first, which I still think is a pretty solid answer. Except in certain circles on the internet, Rolen, who ranks as one of the best third baseman of all time, is rarely ever mentioned in the discussion for the Hall of Fame. Other names you could add to the list would Jim Edmunds, Adrian Beltre, and Andruw Jones (thought Jones is an interesting case, because it is arguable that his “underappreciated” nature stems from his rapid decline and feeling that there was always something that he left on the field).

A trend might be immediately apparent: all of these guys were exceptional defenders (you could also add Mike Cameron to the list, though he’s not quite on the same level as the others). They were also all players who were typically overshadowed throughout their primes by more famous teammates and/or played on some very bad teams.

I don’t have the familiarity with non-legends from before the last decade, but I would guess that the same type of player would have been even more unappreciated: without modern stat-heads (or defensive metrics), someone like Scott Rolen wouldn’t achieve even the same amount of acclaim that he has now.

One name in particular popped into my head: Dom DiMaggio. The youngest brother of Joe (he of the hit streak), played on the same teams as Ted Williams (which were not, incidentally, great, World Series-winning teams), missed time due to World War II, had a relatively short career, and was a defensive wizard before there were Gold Gloves (let alone defensive metrics) to take account of such things. He set an AL record for putouts and chances by a center fielder (chances would indicate range, though not particularly accurately) that lasted 30 years, and was a seven-time all-star in 13 seasons. In the modern game, a team would have taken a floater on him after he was released three games into the season in 1953, and we would have some sort of fielding data for the guy. He didn’t make the Hall, of course, and is certainly not even close to a household name. I don’t know if he’s the most underappreciated player ever, but you have to imagine that someone like him is.