One and done: Luis Gonzalez
Gonzalez’ career began slowly. Through 1997 — seven seasons into a 19-season career — he was on nobody’s Hall of Fame watch list.
But when the Detroit Tigers made Gonzalez a free agent signee prior to the 1998 season, things took off. He hit a career-high 23 home runs, and bettered that in each of the three succeeding seasons, peaking at 57 with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001.
You remember 2001, right. The Diamondbacks won the World Series with Gonzalez, their leader in most offensive categories, delivering the winning hit off Mariano Rivera in Game 7.
He hit .325 that season, one of four times he topped .300 between 1999 and 2003. Gonzalez had a career .845 OPS with 354 home runs and 1,439 RBI.
He is top 70 all-time in that category, one spot ahead of Yogi Berra.
Gonzalez made five All-Star teams, all of them between 1999 and 2005.
James rates Gonzalez at 103, on the good side of his personal Hall of Fame cutoff point. Jaffe Is not as generous, assessing his 51.6 career WAR to be low by comparison with the 65.2 average of 21 enshrined left fielders.
Voters evidently agreed with Jaffe. Up for consideration in 2014, he finished dead last among the 25 candidates who got at least one vote. Gonzalez only got five.