Heller: Senators’ Vernon deserves induction

L’amour for Mickey Vernon. I doubt even Heller with a gun gets him into the HOF.

Does he belong in Cooperstown? Well, Vernon is one of very few whose career spanned four decades (1939-1960), he won two American League batting titles (1946, 1953) while spraying 2,495 hits and his work around the bag was so exemplary it was said he could have played the position in a tuxedo.

As with any candidate for anything, there are negatives, too. For much of his career, Vernon performed for mediocre Washington teams that avoided both winning and commanding national attention. Plus, his .286 lifetime batting average and 172 home runs do not exactly sparkle by Cooperstown standards, particularly for a guy who played a power position.

“I think it’s even money,” baseball analyst and broadcaster Phil Wood said. “Mickey’s career stats compare very favorably to several Hall of Famers, but there’s always the fact that players seem to get punished for playing with bad teams.”