With a magical season, a pair of exceptional ones, and a few very good ones, Ron Guidry had an excellent career in Baseball all with the Yankees. Theoretically, “Louisiana Lightning” did everything you want to accomplish in a career as he won the Cy Young Award (and was in the hunt for a few others) and won the World Series, which he did twice. However, the knock on Guidry is that he was only a full-time player for nine seasons, and though he has one of the most impressive winning percentages in Baseball, his longevity is questioned in comparison to the immortals. Regarding the Hall of Fame, this generally doesn't matter!

Talk about being forgotten.  Darrell Evans is one of the few eligible players to hit more than 400 Home Runs and not get elected to the Hall of Fame.  He actually never made it past the first ballot.  He only made the All-Star Team twice.  He was a great fielder but Mike Schmidt won all the Gold Gloves at third.  He won a World Series with Detroit but was overshadowed by Whitaker, Trammell, Morris, and Hernandez.  A lot of this may have happened because he had a lifetime Batting Average of .248.

Darrell Evans did get a lot of notoriety for being the oldest player to ever win a Home Run crown when he belted 40 at the age of 38.  He was always a consistent power hitter, but received a lot of flak from amateur statisticians for his low Batting Average.  Those who saw that forgot to see how often Darrell Evans earned free passes as he walked an awful lot.  This was not due to pitchers intentionally walking him, but to a very keen and underappreciated batting eye.  Evans is currently twelfth all-time in the Bases on Balls category.

If Darrell Evans had a Batting Average just ten points higher, would it make a huge difference?  Probably, as the sub .250 career average really hampers what was a great and consistent career.  He has been called one of the most underrated players in baseball history.  It is hard to argue that statement.

Athletes are competitive by nature, but 99.9 percent of them paled to the competitive juices of Wes Ferrell.  He was known to get violent whenever he lost and take it out on himself and inanimate objects.  He may have been animated himself at times, but his teammates have always said they wanted him on their side.

Wes Ferrell’s first four years as a regular in the Indians’ rotation saw him win twenty games.  He would do so again on two more occasions, utilizing a brilliant fastball and an assortment of pitches.  He was one of the only pitchers to retire with a winning percentage over .600, and he did so as an innings-eating starter.  Ferrell also may be one of the game’s greatest hitting pitchers as he has decent power numbers and a lifetime .280 average.

His numbers began to decline sharply as his arm gave out, and he was not able to make the career numbers that would have ensured him a Cooperstown plaque.  If he had similar metrics in the last thirty years, he would likely not have to fight for that spot in Cooperstown

Playing with Alan Trammell for virtually his entire career, Lou Whitaker was one half of the longest-running double play combination in Baseball history.  Like Trammell, Whitaker was a great player with both bat and glove and a big part of Detroit’s World Series win in 1984.

Whitaker was one of the top Second Basemen of his era, yet he did not receive the same respect or notoriety as others.  He won the American League Rookie of the Year in 1978, and though he did not live up to the lofty expectations placed upon him, records show that he was a very consistent performer. Though he was not among the league leaders in offensive categories, he was a competent producer and easily among the top in his position.

The criticism of Lou Whitaker stems from the fact that it looked so easy for him.  Everything he did had such a beautiful flow; he often looked like he wasn’t giving it all on the field.  He was also quiet, unlike the boisterous athlete people would expect.  As such, he did not draw much attention to himself and preferred it that way.  When Whitaker didn't make it past the first year of Hall of Fame voting (which he should have), he didn’t complain.  He simply said that if he didn’t make it the first time, don’t bring his name back up”.  This type of humility just makes you like “Sweet Lou” even more.