MLB Hall of Fame: Breaking down the 2019 ballot

Travis Hafner – 1st year on ballot

When he was healthy, Travis Hafner was one of the most fearsome power hitters in the game. The problem was that he could not stay healthy.

Nicknamed Pronk and Donkey for his strength, Hafner was an impressive power hitting designated hitter for the Indians. Once he established himself as a major league player, he had four consecutive seasons where he hit over 20 homers, with a career high of 42 home runs in 2006. Hafner finished in the top ten of the MVP vote twice, an impressive total for a player who only had 72 career games in the field over his career.

That potentially solid career was cut short by injuries to his knees and back. The powerful slugger was a shadow of himself in the latter stage of his career, but he still produced decent numbers. Hafner had a .273/.376/.498 batting line, hitting 213 homers and 250 doubles. One has to wonder what those numbers could have been if his back and knees held out.

On the list of designated hitters who have not been inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame, we find the likes of Edgar Martinez (possibly changing this year), Harold Baines, Don Baylor, and Hal McRae, amongst others, have not been inducted. Hafner, while a productive hitter in the four years he was healthy, just did not have the type of career that measures up to those other players.

Travis Hafner was an excellent designated hitter for four years, and probably should have been an All Star in at least one of those seasons. He just was not healthy long enough to have a real case for the Hall.