Hall of Fame Standards: Middle Infielders

Continuing our look at league history in terms of potential Hall of Famers, we'll now look at middle infielders.*

There are 27 middle infielders who have played in ten or more seasons.  Here's a rundown of how they stack up:

Ricky Peppers	67	RETIRED
Ronald Quijada	52	ACTIVE
John Grondin	51	ACTIVE
George Labarre	48	ACTIVE
Timothy Mendiola	41	ACTIVE
Lincoln Rossetti	41	RETIRED
Carmelo Deleon	39	RETIRED
Richard Bender	37	ACTIVE
Winston Satterlee	36	RETIRED
Fred Smith	33	ACTIVE
Bill Turek	33	RETIRED
Chester Cohen	32	RETIRED
Derrick Raglin	32	RETIRED
Chet Edwards	32	RETIRED
Francis Armendariz	30	RETIRED
Jeff Wardlaw	26	ACTIVE
Royal Wilson	23	ACTIVE
William Midkiff	22	ACTIVE
Robert Camarena	19	RETIRED
Carlos Mccrea	19	RETIRED
Reggie Perez	19	RETIRED
Jeffery Drewry	19	RETIRED
Bill Mastrangelo	19	RETIRED
Danny Lorenzen	17	RETIRED
Roberto Ferrer	17	ACTIVE
James Franklin	16	RETIRED
Carlos Gomez	15	RETIRED

As you can see, Peppers, Quijada and Grondin are clearly in Hall of Fame territory.  A strong case could also be made for Labarre.

The median HOFS for this group is 32 and the standard deviation is 13.19.  That puts Peppers at  +2.65 SD, followed by Quijada (1.51), Grondin (1.44) and Labarre (1.21).

Peppers and Quijada both had a combination of speed and power.  Peppers had 455 HR and 338 SB.  Quijada (who is still active) has 396 HR and 372 SB.  Grondin scores high on the list as well, but he's only had 11 seasons.  A few more seasons could easily push his numbers even higher.

When looking at players with three or more years who have not yet retired, there are several young players who look like they may make an impact in the future.  Among them are:

Katsuhiko Jouda (3 yrs / 41 HOFS)
Norman Kuhn (3 yrs/ 41 HOFS)
Gene Reynolds (4 yrs / 39 HOFS)
Rick Bryant (4 yrs/38 HOFS).

Next time:  Outfielders.

* I did not make any corrections for positional changes over the courses of player's careers.  Position is determined according to the last primary position of the player.