Omar Vizquel: a Personal Agony
I love Omar. He was the last of our 1990s core to depart the team, leaving in 2004 and arguably left on the best terms. When Jim Thome signed with Philadelphia many revolted against him, and Thome frequently returned to Cleveland to a chorus of boos (which eventually became cheers in 2011). Vizquel, however, never received the same treatment and always found a fond welcome back home in Cleveland. This year, Little O finds himself on the Hall of Fame ballot and early returns indicate he will receive a large slice of support from the Hall of Fame electorate. I share their joy.
I cannot, in good conscience, stay silent about his candidacy.
Many feel Omar Vizquel will reignite a debate between traditional and modern voters. I am less convinced of this particular line of argument as I find Vizquel a far different candidate than Jack Morris (as he is frequently compared). The circumstances are also different. However: Vizquel will find he perhaps overstayed his welcome in Major League Baseball to earn the Hall of Fame induction he craves.
The Skills
Omar Vizquel's case begins and ends with defense. By Baseball Reference he contributed 152 fielding runs in his career, mostly at shortstop (but also third base later in his career). He also won 11 Gold Gloves during his career: every player with 12 Gold Gloves has been elected to the Hall of Fame. The highlight reals still roll with plays from Omar Vizquel's heyday, along with his famous barehanded plays. Overall: if defense were the only qualification Omar Vizquel would waltz into the Hall of Fame easily.
Instead of speaking more, I'll let Vizquel do the talking:
in short: nobody debates Omar Vizquel's defense, and it truly was elite by nearly any reasonable standard either traditionally or via defensive metrics.
The Career
Omar Vizquel played for a lengthy period of time. Omar accumulated 12,000 plate appearances, over 24 seasons, in his career, good for 19th all time. Vizquel started his career in Seattle, and was immediately a defensive sensation. Omar posted positive defensive numbers for 4 seasons before finally winning a Gold Glove in 1993, which also turned out to be his final year as a Mariner.
In 1994 Vizquel joined a Cleveland team loaded with offensive potential, and slotted perfectly as the defensive maestro up the middle; pairing with Kenny Lofton & Sandy Alomar Jr. to form a potent defensive alignment at the most crucial defensive positions. Vizquel would go on to win 8 Gold Gloves in a row in Cleveland, and those years formed the major peace of Vizquel's potentially Hall of Fame career. In Cleveland during those years he hit a modest .285/.355/.375 with almost no power: 'good' for an 88 OPS+. He also stole his fair share of bases swiping 234 bases, while getting caught 76 times. Vizquel's best year probably came in 1999, the only year he earned MVP votes, by batting a shiny .333/.397/.436 with a career high 36 doubles and 42 stolen bases. It was one of only two years in his career his OPS+ sneaked above 100, and his best WAR at 6.0.
Vizquel continued to perform at a modest pace. He made the All-Star team in 2002 despite not winning a Gold Glove, and left Cleveland via free agency signing with San Francisco. In the Bay Area he would win his final two Gold Glove awards in the National League, at ages 38 and 39. By 40 Omar's already weak offense slipped even further. Through his age 39 season he had hit a middling 86 OPS+, with only a .276 batting average and an anemic .360 SLG. At 40 Omar's batting average dropped to .246, his worst showing since 1991 nearly two decades before; while still providing some value due to strong defense.
After 40, Vizquel became a part time player and managed to contribute as a part time player, playing multiple positions, while also notching his career totals several notches. After spending four years: two in Chicago, and one each in Texas & Toronto he retired at the age of 45. From age 40 to 45 he hit a terrible: .250/.305/.310 OPS+ 63, but still contributed 28 fielding runs.
The Case
Well, the case is murky. As a fielder he falls short of Ozzie Smith, and sits around the lines of Luis Aparicio. Certainly over a lengthy career Little O contributed significant results in the field, and does hold the shortstop record for most double plays turned. His .985 fielding percentage, yes, is the best in baseball history. Few played the field with as sure handedly as Omar. He also contributed strong range, and was an excellent fielder until 45, which is mostly unheard of in baseball history. By many traditional metrics he compares well to Luis Aparicio, Ozzie Smith, along with several less savory shortstops: Rabbit Marranville, Phil Rizzuto and others. You can even say Omar and Smith were about the same offensively. Ozzie probably peaked higher, but Vizquel was more consistent. Here's their numbers, with Omar's only through age 40
Look: Ozzie Smith and Omar Vizquel have superficially similar offensive numbers through their first 10,000 plate appearances:
Smith: .262/.337/.328 2,460 H, 402 2B, 28 HR, 1,257 R, OPS+ 87
Omar: .274/.340/.357 2.598 H, 416 2B, 77 HR, 1,337 R, OPS+ 86
Frankly one area where I will disagree with the consensus is on Omar's offense: I actually think when you take out Omar's last 4 years he truly does compare pretty well to both Luis Aparicio & Smith. In this way: Vizquel is definitively HURT by hanging around, and while I give him little credit for the Hall of Fame: he truly is a marvel on maintaining the ability to play defense for so long. In fact, using Baseball Reference's fielding runs: Omar was a BETTER fielder at 40 than Smith was (16 v 4). Now I am not saying that Smith was a worse older fielder (we don't know that), but Omar did maintain a similar batting line, than Smith.
The problems arise when you consider baserunning. Again by fielding runs: Ozzie Smith provided over 100 runs via baserunning, while Omar Vizquel is reckoned as roughly a neutral baserunner (which is true even if you remove Omar's last four years). Ozzie also stole 180 MORE bases than Omar (580 to 404), while getting caught fewer times (147 to 168). Thus: Ozzie Smith's overall value dwarfs VIzquel's: 76.5 to 45.3. It also does not help Vizquel that his glove was not in the same class as Ozzie Smith's: 239 fielding runs to 128 fielding runs. In the end, Omar may be the best fielder at shortstop since Ozzie, but that is not enough to bring him near his statistical level of value.
The Prediction
Well, I actually think Omar will get into the Hall of Fame some day, and personally I will be happy since Omar is a huge part of my childhood. My first autograph ever was him in 2002, when I visited the Roger's Centre in Toronto. However, by the stats he's nowhere near where his supporters claim. Granted: it's possible we don't know enough about defense, and it's also possible that Vizquel's defensive achievements are under calculated according compared to Smith and Aparicio. If you want to make that claim, and further argue that offensively he rates similarly to Aparicio and Smith: the evidence is there to support you.
I also believe the electorate will treat Omar better than expected. Aparicio debuted with 27.8% of the vote: I expect Vizquel to top that.
Prediction: 35-40% of the vote