Johnny Damon came close to getting to the 3,000 Hit mark in his career (2,769) and did have other decent career numbers with 235 Home Runs, 1,139 Runs Batted in, and 408 Stolen Bases. Damon was also a very popular figure who won two World Series (one in Boston and one in New York), but a look at his individual campaigns shows that of a statistical compiler, as he never had a top ten MVP season, only made two All-Stars, and only was in the top ten in WAR for Position Players once. Throw in his sub .800 career OPS and sub-par defense, do we have a more popular Vada Pinson on our hands?  His vote tally of 1.9% in his first year of eligibility was interesting and told the tale of his Hall of Fame chance.

For a seven-year period, Johan Santana was regarded as one of the top Pitchers in Baseball, where he won the American League Cy Young Award Twice, winning the ERA Title three times and leading his league in WHIP four years in a row. 

As great as Santana was, his career was relatively short for a Hall of Fame Pitcher (12 Seasons), and those who look for statistical accumulation (and many voters do), won’t find it with Santana, whose 139 Wins and 1,988 Strikeouts do not measure up to a lot of those already in Cooperstown. 

Still, his career bWAR of 50.7 is excellent, and since he led the National League in that category three times, how can he not be at least considered by even those who worship traditional statistics?  One thing is for sure: the results of Santana’s votes have been fascinating!