Hall Watch Retrospective- Darrell Evans

Tuesday, August 15 2006 @ 07:59 AM EDT

Another underrated Evans gets the Hall Watch treatment. Darrell Evans was the 2nd best third baseman in the National League of the 1970s, behind the great Mike Schmidt. That in itself would not normally qualify him for the Hall of Fame. Let's take a closer look.

Darrell Evans was chosen by the Kansas City A's in the 7th round of the June (secondary) phase of the 1967 draft at age 20. It was a good draft year for the A's, as they also selected Vida Blue and Eric Soderholm. He reported to Rookie League that summer, and blew through it in 45 at-bats, and then hit .282 with not much pop in two high A stops. Notwithstanding his struggles, he was promoted to double A. He played under half a season there in 1968, and hit only .241 again without much pop. He was presumably injured.

He was apparently selected in the 1968 Rule 5 draft by the Braves. He would not have been eligible to be chosen under the current Rule, but it was apparently different in 1968. In 1969, the Braves were able to send him down to triple A, where he hit .360 with power in 211 at-bats. Apparently unsatisfied that he was ready, the Braves gave him another full season in triple A at age 23. He hit .300 with power, and that was enough.

Evans' career path in the major leagues is a most interesting one. The one constant feature was excellent plate discipline. He walked 39 times and struck out 54 in 305 plate appearances in his rookie year, improved it to 90 walks and 58 strikeouts in 512 plate appearances at age 25, and it remained superb throughout his long career. His power though came and went. He hit 41 homers in Atlanta at age 26 and then had medium range power for the remainder of his time there. He was traded to San Francisco, with Willie Montanez coming the other way, in the middle of his age 29 season, and continued to hit about .250 with excellent plate discipline and medium range power. In 1983  Evans apparently found the fountain of youth when he was moved to first base at age 36 and hit .277 with 30 homers. He was signed by the Tigers as a free agent after that season and gave them 34 and 40 homer seasons mixed in with 2 mediocre ones. He finished up his career at age 42 back with the Braves.

Evans had a fine glove, albeit that he was not quite as good as Schmidt, and had little speed. So, where does he stand? As of age 36, Darrell Evans was in a knot of very good, but not quite Hall of Fame caliber third baseman. His comparables include Graig Nettles, Sal Bando, Ron Cey, and Richie Hebner. He was a better fielder than Bando, Cey and Hebner, and maybe a touch behind them as a hitter. He was a better hitter than Nettles, but a touch behind him with the leather. Here's the comparison at age 36:

Player	AB	HR	W	K	BA	OBP	SLUG	OPS+
Evans	6348	262	1127	931	.253	.365	.427	120
Nettles	6660	295	784	875	.251	.331	.427	113
Bando	6995	249	1025	920	.254	.353	.406	119
Cey	6302	277	888	1031	.263	.355	.446	123
Hebner	6024	200	680	726	.277	.354	.440	121

However, the comparison ends at age 36 for everyone but Nettles, who we will come back to. Bando, Cey and Hebner were done, but Evans continued to hit at about the same rate for another 2600 at-bats, which included 152 homers.

So, who are the fair comparison points for Evans? He obviously was not of the caliber of the great third basemen Mike Schmidt, Eddie Mathews and George Brett. Third basemen prior to 1930 played a much more important defensive role, so a comparison with Jimmy Collins or Pie Traynor is not really helpful. This leaves us the following group of third baseman: Stan Hack, George Kell, Brooks Robinson, Ron Santo, Tony Perez, Graig Nettles, Paul Molitor and Wade Boggs. Shall we compare them all? Why not:

Player	AB	HR	W	K	BA	OBP	SLUG	OPS+
Evans	8973	414	1605	1410	.248	.361	.431	119
Hack	7278	57	1092	466	.301	.394	.397	119
Kell	6702	78	621	287	.306	.367	.414	111
Robinson	10654	268	860	990	.267	.322	.401	104
Santo	8143	342	1108	1343	.277	.362	.464	125
Perez	9778	379	925	1867	.279	.341	.463	122
Nettles	8986	390	1088	1209	.248	.329	.421	110
Molitor	10835	234	1094	1244	.306	.369	.448	122
Boggs	9180	118	1412	745	.328	.415	.443	130

Considering defence and career length, I make Evans to be better than Hack and Nettles, who are not in the Hall, and Kell and (narrowly) Perez, who are. He was not as good, in my view, as Santo, who is not in the Hall, and Robinson, Molitor and Boggs who are.

So, should Darrell Evans be in the Hall of Fame? Damned if I know. Same as with Dwight Evans. It's a flip of the coin. What do you know- also heads. He's in.

Next up: Tim Raines.

A belated Happy 40th birthday to Mick.

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