Wow, he last played in 2006? I would have guessed 2008 or so...

33rd all time among players who played 50%+ of their careers as Cs....
30th in batting runs

His 2003 season is the 8th best offensive season ever by a C (if you go by BBREF WAR batting runs)


2 of his BBREF comps are HOFers (Campanella and Lombardi)...

HOVG

I always thought he was quite underrated. Didn't help that for reasons never satisfactorily explained he didn't get to catch Maddux. Cox claimed it was all about rest, which might make sense in the regular season, but then he gave starts to the backups when Maddux pitched in the postseason.

Some comps:

Catchers and middle infielders with similar value and playing time as Javy

Sure a lot of second basemen on that list.

I remember making the argument (when they were both still active) that Bill Doran was every bit as good as Ryne Sandberg, and you'd see that if you only traded their home ballparks. Which turned out to not quite be true in the end.

And who's the 2nd baseman on the all-time Bay Area all-star team? Does Thompson have any shot at that?

On that list, Elston Howard remains a viable HoM candidate, mostly for reasons not captured by Dan's statistical listing. The others (except for the still-active Guillen) drew no HoM votes at all.

And who's the 2nd baseman on the all-time Bay Area all-star team? Does Thompson have any shot at that?

If you exclude Jeff Kent for what ever reason, then it's either him or Mark Ellis, I'd think. Thompson was the better hitter, Ellis the better fielder, so Thompson probably wins on extra playing time. I can't think of anyone else in the running. If it's players who grew up in the Bay Area, then, of course, it's Joe Morgan.

a lot of second basemen

? 4-C, 3-2B, 2-SS

I would guess Jeff Kent as the all-time Bay Area 2B.

The others drew no HoM votes at all.

Which is likely Javy's fate as well.

Ah, I forgot about Jeff Kent. Or rather, I was thinking about this so many years ago that Kent hadn't had much of a Giant career yet. I think that was a reaction of mine to a Ross Newhan column, back when Newhan still worked for the L.A. Times, naming an all-LA team (Dodgers and Angels). Let's just say that the Bay Area team has an advantage in the outfield.

Doran vs. Sandberg, selective endpoints: From 1983 to 1987, Doran totaled 20.7 bbref WAR, and in the same five years, (even with an outlier 1984 season) Sandberg totaled 20.7. Of course, for the next five years after that, Sandberg was great and Doran wasn't. I was probably trying to compare them in, oh, about 1987.