Historically, second base has not been a position of great production.
Rogers Hornsby has owned the title of greatest second baseman since the 1920s. But today’s second basemen have a little more prowess with the likes of Robinson Cano, Dustin Pedroia and Brandon Phillips. Sure, they’re all still active, but if their numbers hold up, they might just join Hornsby in Cooperstown.
Now, let’s take a player like recent Detroit Tigers addition Ian Kinsler and compare him to recent second base superstars. A quick glance and you’ll see that through eight seasons, he’s on par with the likes of Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg and Roberto Alomar.
Kinsler – .272 batting average, 1142 hits, 176 home runs and 172 stolen bases (Through 8 seasons)
Kinsler – .272 batting average, 2284 hits, 352 home runs and 344 stolen bases (Projected through 16 seasons)
Sandberg – .285 batting average, 2386 hits, 282 home runs and 344 stolen bases (16 seasons)
Alomar – .300 batting average, 2724 hits, 210 home runs and 474 stolen bases (17 seasons)
It’s pretty clear that if Kinsler can duplicate the output he has had in his first eight seasons, he’s not only in their league but potentially better in some categories.
Overall, it’s not too far off to say Kinsler could be Hall of Fame bound. He is playing in an era of solid second basemen, but he has proved his worth so far.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jeremy Fine is a Rabbi in St. Paul at Temple of Aaron. He also created The Great Rabbino, a Jewish Sports Blog and is carried by several outlets. Fine writes two other columns…Pop Parsha, which takes biblical stories and infuses it with pop culture and Beyond the Bimah, which tackles Rabbi-issues outside the synagogue. You can find him tweeting at @RabbiJeremyFine.
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