MLB: Top 25 Players Not in Baseball Hall of Fame
By David Hill
Gavvy Cravath: .287/.380/.478, 119 home runs, 719 RBI, 1.2% vote (1947)
A look at Gavvy Cravath’s overall numbers would make him appear to be a rather weak candidate for the Hall of Fame, but considering that he finally got a chance in the MLB at age 31, his eleven year career was quite impressive.
Cravath was a stellar hitter in the Pacific Coast League, routinely leading the league in batting average and home runs. However, with the Boston Red Sox having a tremendous outfield, he only had brief appearances in the Majors until he was sold to the Philadelhia Phillies by the Minneapolis Millers in the American Association.
Finally given the opportunity to showcase his skills, Cravath turned into a star. The premier slugger of the National League in the 1910’s, he led the league in homers six times. Cravath also led the NL in RBI, on base percentage and slugging twice. His career 151 OPS+ ranks 32th all time, ahead of players like Mike Schmidt, Willie McCovey and Eddie Mathews.
The greatest slugger in what was the true Dead Ball Era, one has to wonder what type of career Cravath would have had if he reached the Majors sooner. Given his prodigious power, it may have been Cravath, and not Roger Connor, that Babe Ruth would have passed for the home run record.
One of the forgotten stars in the early part of baseball history, Gavvy Cravath was a slugger without peer, at least until Ruth came along and changed the game.
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