Happy Birthday to Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar. In a 17-year career with the San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, New York Mets, Chicago White Sox, and the Arizona Diamondbacks, Alomar established himself as one of the greatest Second Baseman offensively and defensively who ever played.

Career Statistics/Accolades (1988-2004):

.300 BA 2,724 HITS 210 HR 1,134 RBI 1,508 RUNS .371 OBP

  • 12x All-Star
  • 10x Gold Glove
  •  4x Silver Slugger
  •  2x World Series Champion (1992-93)

As a Hitter

   Being a Switch Hitter, Alomar was built to be a leadoff or top-of-the-lineup hitter. While he did display some power at times, he was better suited at making contact and baserunning. Averaging 185 Hits a year, Alomar batted .300 or higher nine times in his career. It’s a little more scarce in baseball today, but not once did Alomar strike out in the triple digits; he had seven seasons in which he walked more than he struck out. In terms of stealing bases, Alomar stole 30 or more in eight seasons and 474 lifetime, while scoring 100 or more Runs six times.

As a Defender

   Spending a total of 2,320 Games and 19,876 Innings at Second Base, Alomar had a lifetime Fielding Percentage of .984, which was .003 above the league average at that position throughout his career. His ten Gold Gloves are the most by any Second Baseman. Among all-time Second Baseman, he ranks 9th in Double Plays (1,407), 7th in Assists (6,524), and 15th in Putouts (4,458).

Best Years

   Alomar had four seasons in which he appeared in the All-Star Game, winning the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger at Second Base. In 1999 & 2001, Alomar finished top-5 in the MVP voting. Now, since he’s doing it at Second Base, putting up “Black-Bold Face Type” offensive numbers is trickier, so he only has one. However, he had some great years, and for my money, 1999 was his best year, as he finished 3rd in the MVP voting.

1992: .310 BA 177 HITS 8 HR 76 RBI .405 OBP 105 RUNS (152 Games)

1993: .326 BA 192 HITS 17 HR 93 RBI .408 OBP 109 RUNS (153 Games)

1996: .328 BA 193 HITS 22 HR 94 RBI .411 OBP 132 RUNS (153 Games)

1999: .323 BA 182 HITS 24 HR 120 RBI .422 OBP 138 RUNS (159 Games)

2000: .310 BA 189 HITS 19 HR 89 RBI .378 OBP 111 RUNS (155 Games)

2001: .336 BA 193 HITS 20 HR 100 RBI .415 OBP 113 RUNS (157 Games)

Legacy

   Just above are Alomars’ six years that I consider Hall of Fame representative, now for a Hall of Famer, I expect at least eight. However, in the case of Alomar being a lifetime .300 hitter over the span of 9,000+ At Bats, as well as having All-Star Selections and Gold Glove Awards in the double digits, Alomar is a Hall of Famer, and rightfully so. When you factor in that his offensive numbers are comparable to other Hall of Fame Second Baseman and his defensive numbers, Alomar is undoubtedly among the top 10 Second Baseman of all time. While he won the World Series in Toronto and wore a Jays cap into the Hall of Fame, his best statistical years occurred in Cleveland.

References:

  1. Roberto Alomar Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/alomaro01.shtml