Happy Birthday to Keith Hernandez. Hernandez played 17 seasons, mainly for the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets, and the Cleveland Indians. During his playing career, Hernandez established himself as the greatest defensive First Baseman ever to play the game. Besides his defense, Hernandez accomplished a lot, being considered a clubhouse leader wherever he played, and is regarded as a winning ballplayer. 

Career Statistics/Accolades (1974-1990):

.296 BA 2,182 HITS 162 HR 1,071 RBI .384 OBP 1,124 RUNS

  • 5x All-Star
  • 11x Gold Glove
  •  2x Silver Slugger
  •  NL MVP (1979)
  •  Batting Title (1979)
  •  2x World Series Champion (1982 & 1986)

As a Left-Handed Hitter, Hernandez was always a contact hitter with excellent plate discipline. Hernandez batted over .300 seven times in his career and drew more Walks (1,070) than Strikeouts (1,012). In his prime, Hernandez found himself as a leadoff hitter, which made sense for him in terms of contact and plate discipline. In 1979, he and Willie Stargell were named the co-MVPs in the NL; Keith had a career year that year. Leading the majors with a .344 BA and 48 Doubles, leading the NL in RUNS with 116, driving in over 100 RBIs, recording 210 Hits and a .417 OBP. 

Defensively, there is nothing else you can say other than Hernandez is the best defensive First Baseman of all time. Keith won 11 Gold Gloves, all consecutively, which is the most at the position. Hernandez spent 17,279 Innings at First Base, putting up a .994 lifetime Fielding Percentage. As a guy who had many years of playing 150 or more games at First Base consistently had a Fielding Percentage above the league average at the position.

Hernandez was a winning ballplayer. In 1982, he was a crucial part of the Cardinals winning the World Series, hitting .282 and driving in 9 runs during that World Series run. The following year, he was traded to the Mets and would later be named the team’s co-captain, which shows how much respect he garnered in the clubhouse. In 1986, one of the most memorable teams ever, he and the Mets would win the World Series. While the Mets had some noteworthy players, no one can argue that the Mets wouldn’t have won without the leadership and production of Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter.

After his career ended, Hernandez has since been inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Cardinals and the Mets. In 2022, the Mets, who historically don’t retire many numbers, retired his #17 jersey. Since his retirement in 1990, there have been debates on whether Keith Hernandez is worthy of the Hall of Fame; who has yet to be inducted. I don’t think Keith is a Hall of Fame-worthy player when you look at his offensive numbers. Guys who played his position in the Hall of Fame were Sluggers like Eddie Murray, Willie McCovey, Harmon Killebrew, Lou Gehrig, and Jimmie Foxx, to name a few. Now, Keith wasn’t a slugger, but he wasn’t a Rod Carew or a George Sisler, who are .328 and .340 lifetime hitters, respectively. Some will say, well, factor in his defense; I say that First Base isn’t a position where you should get into the Hall of Fame without your offense. Not to say he didn’t have a great career, but at First Base, his numbers aren’t good enough when you factor in all the other great Hall of Famer at First Base that are in the Hall of Fame. 

References:

  1. Keith Hernandez via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Hernandez#
  2. Keith Hernandez Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hernake01.shtml