Didn't he admit to not paying attention in the field to better concetrate on hitting, accounting for his lousy defense? Also, Berkman is maybe the third or fourth best 1B in his divison, so it's not like he's Gehrig quite yet.

Berkman is maybe the third or fourth best 1B in his divison

Behind who? Pujols certainly, but criticizing him for not measuring up to one of the greatest right-handed hitters ever is a little absurd. Then who? Derrek Lee? His offensive numbers aren't even close. Prince Fielder is only in his third full year, and only has one year that even measures up to Berkman's best. Then who else? Votto? Or is there something I'm missing?

Behind who? Pujols certainly, but criticizing him for not measuring up to one of the greatest right-handed hitters ever is a little absurd. Then who? Derrek Lee? His offensive numbers aren't even close. Prince Fielder is only in his third full year, and only has one year that even measures up to Berkman's best. Then who else? Votto? Or is there something I'm missing?

Adam LaRoche is way behind on batting, but when you consider the swimsuit and and poise categories, it's awfully close between them.

Berkman: 148 OPS+, lousy D
Lee: 125 OPS+, great D
Fielder: 129 OPS+, lousy D
Votto: rookie, looks promising
LaRoche: bringing up the rear

Hm, ok, I was wrong - Berkman is a clear two.

Pujols
Berkman
Lee
Fielder
Votto? Too early to tell?
LaRoche

Kind of crazy that Prince hits 50 HRs and can't crack the top 3 in his own division.

And yes, I know Dunn is not actually the 1B for the Reds, but he should be.

What would it take for Berkman to actually made the HOF? I've given up even pretending to know how the voters' minds work.

Didn't he admit to not paying attention in the field to better concetrate on hitting, accounting for his lousy defense?

No, and his defense if not spectacular is hardly "lousy". He's not a liability at all in the field.

So far in 2008, Berkman leads all NL 1st basemen in Revised Zone Rating, RZR, with .925. Based on watching him, his defense has been good this season.

I continue to ask: Is Berkman the 21st Century version of a Harmon Killibrew? A guy who looks like he spends his day managing the local garage, eating donuts, smoking some cigarettes, and then at 5 closes up to get to the ballpark.

I like Berkman. Heckuva player. But c'mon. He looks, well, puffy out there.

He's definitely on the All-Time Oddbody team of great players. At least in the mix as the designated utility guy.

I have a hard time believing Berkman is lousy defensively. He never has appeared to be a liability in the field, even in his CF days. I thought it was very silly that Neyer didn't list Berkman as one of his 1B in his "next five years" analysis, based on falling .004 points shy of his OPS cut-off last year.

As for his appearance, he's hurt by his round face. He doesn't have a gut to speak of, and he runs pretty well. (Is he still 10th in the league in steals?)

He's 12th in career OPS. He's an awfully, awfully good player that represents himself well in just about every way. You can't say he's that unappreciated, since he's made 4 All-Star teams and had 4 top 10 MVP finishes, but he's seldom mentioned with the great players in the game right now, which he certainly is.