Brendan Marks, Thu, 07 Aug 2014 22:36:00 GMT

former cardinal jim edmonds retired after the 2010 season, meaning he’ll be first eligible for the baseball hall of fame in 2016.

And while that’s still about two years away, it doesn’t stop fans and media from talking about his candidacy, especially when it’s on his own show.
Hall-of-Fame baseball writer Peter Gammons touched on the very topic on The Edmonds and McKernan Show Thursday. And in his opinion, the former star outfielder is surely headed to Cooperstown.

“I think it’s extremely legitimate,” he said. I actually have a lot of pages filed away on this subject.”

Gammons says are some factors, though, he thinks can screw up the vote-in process.

“So much of the Hall of Fame is when you’re there and who else is up, this idea I think we can only vote for four people and I think it’s a lot bologna. If you’re a Hall-of-Famer, you’re a Hall-of-Famer.”

Peter Gammons discusses Edmonds’ Hall-of-Fame credentials and more

It’s hard to argue with Gammons. According to stats gathered by Baseball-Reference.com, Edmonds had a career OPS+ of 132, a very good number considering he was a centerfielder.

Upon Edmonds’ retirement there were only 64 players since 1901 with more plate appearances and at least a 132 OPS+. Out of those 64, 35 are Hall-of-Famers and several others are in the discussion. Another 18 Hall-Of-Famers had less plate appearances.

His 393 career home runs are 56th on the all-time list and he’s 50th in slugging percentage.

And let’s be honest, Edmonds was known just as much, if not more, for his glove than he was his bat. In that respect, Edmonds won eight gold gloves in 17 seasons. Not too shabby, eh?

The detractors, however, will say his other ancillary batting numbers aren’t Hall-of-Fame material. His RBI total is good for 148th all time, while his walk total is 121st.
So what do you think? Is Jim Edmonds a Hall-of-Famer in your book? Vote in our handy dandy poll below.