Don't see him making the HoM in his first year of eligibility, but you never know.

Yeah, this is going to be a tough one. It's one thing to deal with unproven steroid accusations along with the very much undecided effect that steroids actually had. It's another to see three superballs come bouncing out of ol' Corky. - Brock Hanke

It's another to see three superballs come bouncing out

After testing at a lab the superballs were found to actually be roids-double whammy for Sammy.

It's another to see three superballs come bouncing out


After testing at a lab the superballs were found to actually be roids-double whammy for Sammy.

And that doesn't even get into the fraudulence and the pants-pooping.

By career PAs and OPS+, the most similar players to Sosa are Bobby Abreu and Dwight Evans (the latter already in the HOM). It seems to me that it's hard to keep Sosa out of any Hall unless you object absolutely to steroids suspicion (more the province of the HOF) or have a steep discount for steroids and/or cork (as HOM voters might, and the last few posts jestingly allude to).

At face value, though, Sosa belongs in both Halls. I wonder if some of the looking-askance he gets is due to the off-the-charts effect. Guy hit 60 home runs three times, come on, that can't really have happened :) His 5-year peak, though, is really extremely good.

bump

How skilled was Sosa as a defensive OF early in his career, before his hitting peak? For me, this is crucial in how I evaluate him.

DRA suggests he was very good: http://seamheads.com/baseballgauge/player.php?ID=122544&tab=4

BBREF WAR concurs.

Thank you, good Doctor. I'm going to bump Sosa up two spots, just behind Ben Taylor, for 2014.

Dwight Evans is an interesting comp. He was consistently better for longer than Sosa, but Sosa has the monstrous hitting peak that Dewey can't touch (1981-82 aside).

After testing at a lab the superballs were found to actually be roids-double whammy for Sammy.

The steroids were only used to shrink the superballs so they'd fit in the bat barrel.