Kenny Lofton's Hall of Fame Chances

[Fuzzy Bear]

No one much thinks that Kenny Lofton has much chance of becoming a Hall-of-Famer these days. A cursory look at Lofton's career, however, suggests that he may be a stronger candidate, when all is said and done, than has been thought over the last few years.

At this writing, Kenny is batting .404 with a .475 OBP. He has no HRs in 52 ABs. This is an appealing trend. Lofton, in my opinion, fell in love with the long ball over the last few years, damaging not only his ability to hit for a high average, but the ability to get on base, overall. (Lofton had a Horace Clarke-like .322 OBP last year, with a career-worst 47 BB.) Perhaps he has salvaged his reputation as a great ballplayer by going back to the style of play that made him a truly great ballplayer in the early and mid 1990s.

Lofton is 34, going on 35. He has a .303 lifetime BA and a .378 OBA, with 1663 hits. He has hit 92 career HRs. He has scored over 100 runs six times (over 90 nine times). He has played CF during his career, a key defensive position.

Lofton's mid-career funk has hurt his chances for the Hall. His early hot streak this year indicates he can come back.

Is he a Hall-of-Famer now? I wouldn't put him in if he blew out his knee today, but he has had a better career (by far) to date than Earle Combs, Lloyd Waner, Max Carey, not to mention the Fordham Flash, Frankie Frisch's Famous Flops (Lindstrom, Kelly, Hafey, et al). He would not disgrace the Hall of Fame.

At his peak, for a brief moment, Kenny Lofton was the best CF in the AL, even better than Junior in 1993 and 1994. One could make a good argument that Kenny Lofton was the best player in the AL during those years. Frank Thomas won the MVP both years, and had monster stats, but he was a poor fielding DH, whereas Lofton was a star CF who stole bases and won the Gold Glove both years. (Lofton has won four Gold Gloves for his career.) He supplanted Rickey as the best leadoff man in the AL at that time.

I think Lofton is a Hall of Famer IF he plays 5 more years at his present established level of play. I don't think he needs 3,000 hits to be worthy. (I don't think he'll get them, either.)

I DO think, however, that the public has forgotten just how great Kenny Lofton was not so long ago. He appears to be able to arrest some of the decay of his career. Can he reprogram himself toward the HOF? What would he need to do to be elected, and what would he need to do to be worthy?

[Ytown Tribe fan]

This public hasn't forgotten.

Kenny developed "Willie Wilson's syndrome" and lost much of his impact. A lot of that has to do with Clarence Jones, the Tribe's old hitting coach, and a lot has to do with Kenny.

Ironically, he MAY be better off in Cleveland, now that Eddie Murray has joined the staff.

I am in complete agreement with you about his prospects in about 5 years or so. His contributions to winning teams, his fine career OBP, his action on the basepaths and in runs scored (not to mention runs created) should get him in with votes to spare.

But then again, I'm still wiating for Eddie Yost to get in, so...

[TGwynn19]

I would put his chances at the HOF at exactly 0%

[LeGrandOrange]

Lofton seemed like a sure-fire HOF'er some time ago...then he started playing hurt. He was a pleasure to watch, a great leadoff hitter, beautiful in the field...at various points, he was the best at BOTH in baseball...Junior not withstanding on the latter.
The end of his career will probably end up being some kind of hybrid of Devon White and Brett Butler's career totals, and it won't be hall of fame caliber...although it's a known fact I will petition for Butler's case even if it's not legitimate. Hey, at least it's not Joe Carter. (in-joke)
And BTW, Ytown, you ALSO want Eddie Yost in the Hall? And here I was thinking I was the only one...heh.
Back to Lofton...the way he's playing now, he could be a 15 ballot player when he retires...he seems rejuvenated...

[pathogan]

that whole cleveland team was odd...Baerga, Lofton, the great Albert,Wright...Lofton would have to have ...nah, I dont think it will happen.

[pwdennis]

Lofton needs to put up a good five year (or a fairly decent eight year) run in order really to be HOF material.

Those of us who watched him play CF with the Braves in '97 wondered what happened to his defensive abilities - he did not seem like a gold glover during his stay there and in fact, has not won one since 1996.

I always liked Kenny but at this point he is just short of HOF numbers

[moose]

i would say slim to none, short of him doing something barry-esque (ie, blowing away a famous record).

one of the problems w/ the hall is that it tends to exclude players that were truly great but were not considered "truly great" at the time [read: gary carter...]. I don't even think lofton meets the first criterion, but even if he did, i know he doesn't meet the second

[BuzzBuzzard]

Originally posted by TGwynn19
I would put his chances at the HOF at exactly 0%

Ditto.

[sweaver]

As a singles hitter, Lofton would have to get to 2500 hits to make the Hall.

I don't think he can do it.

[SmedIndy]

He needs to get to 3,000 hits, or finish over Cobbs stolen base mark while hitting over .300 for his career. Since he'll be 35 soon, I don't see him coming anywhere near close.

[Slippery Pedro]

I'd rather see Congress take over control of MLB and have the Mets sign Canseco than have Lofton be in the HOF - but, that's just me.

[Craig S.]

Originally posted by Slippery Pedro
I'd rather see Congress take over control of MLB and have the Mets sign Canseco than have Lofton be in the HOF - but, that's just me.

No, it's not just you. I think Lofton had some great talent and great years, but his career just isn't HOF-caliber.

But let's hope Congress doesn't take over MLB - that might increase George W's chance of making the Hall himself!

[KCBOOMER]

Lofton has certainly been a good player over his career. He has had a noticeable drop in his OBP the last two seasons. He was only in the top ten in OBP three times in his career and just once in OPS. When you you review his resume he is clearly a good hitter with great speed who can field. You see lots of stolen bases, a respectable number of triples and four Gold Gloves. Surprisingly he has been in the top ten in runs scored only three times for all that.

I guess I put him in the 0% chance group unless John Hart becomes the head of the Veteran's Committee.

[WiredTiger]

Kenny is a good player but he started too late and didn't put up enough good seasons to merit induction. His speed helps but he also doesn't have any power.

[gyb13]

To be more precise: 0.000 % chance