On December 3, the Baseball Hall of Fame Contemporary ERA Committee will announce selections, (if any) to the HOF in the category of managers, executives and umpires. One of the 8 candidates has a strong Mets connection, that would be Davey Johnson, skipper of the world Champion 1986 Mets.
The candidates are managers Johnson, Cito Gaston, Jim Leyland, and Lou Pinella, umpires Ed Montague and Joe West, and executives Hank Peters and Bill White. Successful candidates must earn at least 75% of the vote, and the committee members can vote for up to three candidates each.
In this article we will look at the candidacy of Johnson and the other managers. Comparing the contributions to baseball of a manager to an umpire or GM would be fairly tricky in my estimation.
One measure of comparison would be winning percentage. Its not perfect, but no single stat will be in this kind of examination. Johnson compiled a .562 percentage in his 17 years of managing (several seasons were partial), with Gaston at .516, Leyland at .506, and Pinella at .517. That is a clear advantage for Johnson. In addition, Johnson’s percentage figure is higher than a good many managers already in the HOF, including Walter Alston, Sparky Anderson, Tony LaRussa, Tommy Lasorda, Joe Torre and Dick Williams, among others.
Johnson made the postseason 6 times, the same as Gaston did in his 12 years of managing.. Pinella managed 7 teams into the postseason in his 23 years as a skipper, with Leyland at 8 postseason appearances in his 22 years of managing. Gaston had two WS wins, with the others each having one.
Johnson managed five different teams in the majors, the Mets, Reds, Orioles, Dodgers and Nationals. Three times he was Manager of the Year, inexpllicably he did not win it as a Mets manager despite the historic WS winning 108 game winner 1986 team. Pinella and Leyland each were three time winners as well, Gaston never won that award.
One aspect that stands out for Johnson is his ability to improve teams. The 1983 Mets, for example, had a record of 68-94. The following year, with Johnson at the helm, the team improved to 90-72. He provided big improvement in the other teams he managed as well except the Dodgers, where the won-loss record was slightly worse.
We should note that Johnson was also a pretty good player, probably the best of the four. Playing for Baltimore mostly, with a couple of years at Atlanta, Johnson won three Gold Gloves at second base, and made four All-Star teams. Never a power hitter with the Orioles, he apparently adjusted his swing and pounded 43 homers when traded to Atlanta for the 1973 season.
The playing career does matter in the vote, by the way. The criteria the committee follows is : “Those whose career entails involvements in multiple categories will be considered for their overall contribution to the game of baseball.” That would be a plus for Johnson.
Johnson was also an innovator, he was a pioneer in the use of advanced statistics in baseball. He earned a degree in mathematics during the offseason, and he developed a fascination with computers. While still active with the Orioles he was able to get some time on a mainframe computer, and used it to develop optimal lineups for Earl Weaver to use, although apparently Weaver preferred using his own smarts to construct the lineup.
Johnson continued using computers during his managing in the minors and the majors, he was one of the first if not the first to use a laptop in the dugout. Among other things he gleaned from the data was the relative importance of OBP, and he would often bat high OBP player Wally Backman leadoff instead of the faster Mookie Wilson in the Mets batting order..
The competition is tough to earn that ticket to the Hall of Fame, but there is at least a decent chance that Johnson makes the grade. I watched the Hall of Fame selections on television two years ago when Gil Hodges was announced, and I’d love to see Johnson join him in the Hall.
John, once again the debate is brought up of comparing the Hall of Fame with the Hall of the Very Good. I don’t see any other these managers or front office types being Hall of Fame worthy. Just my opinion.
Johnson won one time… once with such a good team, and even then, thee Mets needed divine intervention when the Mets had no one on and two outs in the tenth inning of Game 6, down two runs.
Agreed Gus. Much as there is to like about Davey, he aint Hall worthy no matter how much we love him. I wish he were though!
It seems that all of the HOF candidates of the future will be measured by stats other than what many of us grew up with. Essentially gone are the days of 20 game winners, let alone someone reaching 500 HR for a career. Who will ever again strikeout 3,000 batters or have a career batting average at or over .300? Baseball is steeped in statistics more than any other sport and all the milestones are coming down in value. Pitchers these days are lucky to throw 6 “quality” innings for their multi million dollar contracts, and all will record less compete games in a career than a Gibson or Seaver had in one season. That reality gave birth to the multi million dollar contracts for someone to be your 7th or 8th inning relief specialist.
So by today’s renewed values Davey gets in. Without injuries in ‘87 and ‘88, we might have had a three peat but you can’t hold that against him. Gil Hodges having to wait until someone gifted him entry was a crime considering the strong playing career he had and the leadership role he played on the Dodgers. Does all this cheapen the HOF? Maybe. The next controversy will be when there is enough of a changeover in HOF voters from the old timers, and we will see Rose, Bonds, Arod and Clemens get the nod.