I've made the case for him before, but Tom Verducci (one of my favorite writers) really drives the point home with his article "Appreciating Carlos Delgado, the lost slugger of the Steroid Era."Delgado, who leads the majors in home runs by a player from Puerto Rico, was in danger of getting run out of New York only 9 months ago. Due to his historic second half, he was embraced by the team and fans, also getting his option picked up by the Mets.
Verducci writes:
That's just on the field. In 2000, he was award the Major League Player of the Year award and the Hank Aaron Award. He also won the Roberto Clemente Award, in 2006, given to the player who best exemplifies humanitarianism and sportsmanship.Delgado has maintained a very reasoned position on what happened in the best years of his career. He doesn't want a do-over on the MVP award he didn't win. He is a happy man, content with his family, his decisions and his career. If he retired today, he would rank among the top 30 hitters all time in home runs, slugging, at-bats per home run and intentional walks. But he has plenty of baseball left in him. Last year, while turning 36, he played in 159 games, smashed 38 homers and racked up 310 total bases, his most since 2003. How much longer will he play?
"For sure, this year and another year," he said. "Then after that, I'll see where I am at. Then figure out what you want to do and take it from there."
He would like 1,700 RBIs, which would move him into the top 25. Already, he stands 50th on the RBI list. Already, he has Hall of Fame numbers.
He's a two-time All Star, and now famously came in second place in the MVP voting to Alex Rodriguez in 2003.
According to Baseball-Reference, Delgado is similar to a few big bats, two of which are already in the Hall. Here's the list...
1. Willie Stargell *As it stands now, Delgado might not be Cooperstown bound, but with a few more strong years of baseball, I have no doubt he's heading that way.
2. Jose Canseco
3. Jim Thome
4. Jeff Bagwell
5. Jason Giambi
6. Fred McGriff
7. Andres Galarraga
8. Willie McCovey *
9. Juan Gonzalez
10. Jim Edmonds
* denotes HoF