For 139 years, the Phillies have called the “City of Brotherly Love” their home. Since the infancy of the team, us fans have felt endless emotions as we rooted for the Phillies, whether that be with fiery, fierce cheers or loud, treacherous boos since most of those 139 years have been… well… horrific.
In 139 years, the Fightins have made the postseason fourteen times. Yes, FOURTEEN. Five of those were in consecutive years (2007-2011), while seeing the World Series 7 times with the same amount of NL Pennants. That means the Phillies are 7 for 14 when they make the playoffs to reach the World Series. 50% is not bad… Just getting to the playoffs is the hard part. I know, the old timers are going to hit me with the “back in my day, only 4 teams made the playoffs!” the same way they hit me with the “we walked 15 miles in the snow, barefoot, carrying 60 pounds on our back and didn’t complain 1 time in our whole lives!” The idea of there being fewer teams to make the playoffs years ago would be a legit argument if we were talking about the Phillies birth being 50 or even 75 years ago. But we’re talking about 139 years here.
Ok, it hasn’t all been bad. Most people reading this have seen the Phillies win a World Series, some have seen two (1980, 2008) and we’ve been lucky to house some of the game’s best players: Mike Schmidt, Pete Rose (am I allowed to count him?), Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Roy Halladay, Steve Carlton, Robin Roberts, Richie Ashburn, Bryce Harper, Dick Allen, and Harry Kalas, just to name a few. Okay, maybe it is that bad that I had to name the Phillies legendary commentator. Two if you count Whitey! At the same time, we don’t talk about the Los Angeles/Brooklynn Dodgers without talking about the legendary commentator Vin Scully. Announcers and commentators are fair game! They’re the peanutbutter to our jelly as fans – grape jelly, preferably.
There is one name that I did not mention when talking about legendary Phillies. That is the best Phillie of my lifetime. The all-time hits leader… Leading off… Shortstop… Number 11… Jimmy Rollins! (I’m doing my best Dan Baker impression in your head right now). Being that I was born in 1996, I grew up with Jimmy as the face of the Phillies franchise. During the early 2000’s, there wasn’t much to be excited about when turning on Comcast SportsNet (now called NBC Sports Philadelphia, but they don’t pay me so that’s where I draw the line talking about them).
I know, I know, I was born in 1996, most of my childhood was spent seeing the most successful postseason runs and the all around best Phillies rosters ever. Sorry 1980 and 1993 Phillies fans, but it’s true.
This is not to reminisce about the 2007-2011 Phillies. This is to talk about why Jimmy Rollins should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame. 2021 was Jimmy’s first crack at making into the elite class of superstar players and legendary figures. Jimmy was granted enough votes to make it to next year’s voting process with 9.4%. Needing 75% of the votes in order to make it into the Hall, Jimmy has a ways to go. It’s not impossible by a long shot though. You get 10 years to climb the ladder before you are wiped from the ballot altogether.
Let’s take a look at Jimmy Rollins’ career numbers:
(17 yrs.)
- 2,455 hits
- 511 (doubles) 2B
- 115 (triples) 3B
- 231 HR’s
- 936 RBI’s
- 470 SB
- .264 BA
- .324 OBP
- .418 SLG
He’s a 3x All-Star, 4x Gold Glover, and 1x Silver Slugger, and the Phillies All Time Hits Leader. Oh, and don’t forget that he has something that Derek Jeter, who you could argue is one of the best shortstops of all time, if not the best, doesn’t have: an MVP award.
If these numbers don’t pop out at you when you think of a Baseball Hall of Famer, keep in mind that Jimmy Rollins was a shortstop. We shouldn’t compare Jimmy Rollins’ numbers to Ted Williams’ numbers or to Babe Ruth’s numbers. Different positions call for different things. So, let’s compare him to other shortstops who are in the Hall. I’m excluding Derek Jeter and Cal Ripken Jr. because, well, their numbers are flat out gross as shortstops (gross in a good way, of course).
We’ll start with Barry Larkin:
(19 yrs.)
- 2,349 hits
- 441 (doubles) 2B
- 76 (triples) 3B
- 198 HR’s
- 960 RBI’s
- 379 SB
- .295 BA
- .371 OBP
- .444 SLG
Larkin and Rollins are actually comparable to each other. Jimmy beats Larkin in doubles, triples, hits, and HRs while Larkin beats Jimmy in the rest of the categories. 12x All-Star, 3x Gold Glove, 9x Silver Slugger. Larkin also has an MVP. Like I said, they are comparable. Rollins beats Larkin in some areas while Larkin beats Rollins in the others.
Ozzie Smith is next on the list.
(19 yrs.)
- 2,460 hits
- 402 (doubles) 2B
- 69 (triples) 3B
- 28 HR’s
- 793 RBI’s
- 580 SB
- .262 BA
- .337 OBP
- .328 SLG
Ozzie being the defensive wizard he is, is a 15x All-Star, 13x Gold Glove winner, 1x Silver Slugger winner, and a 1x NLCS MVP winner. Ozzie, who is more well known for his defensive efforts, is crushed by Jimmy in the offensive categories. Jimmy beats Ozzie in doubles, triples, HR’s, RBI’s, stolen bases, and slugging percentage. Their batting average and OBP are too close to each other to say one has the upper hand then the other.
Our next stop is in Chicago with Ernie Banks:
- 2,583 hits
- 407 (doubles) 2B
- 90 (triples) 3B
- 512 HR’s
- 1,636 RBI’s
- 50 SB
- .274 BA
- .330 OBP
- .500 SLG
Banks is a 14x All-Star, 2x MVP, 1x Gold Glove winner. Banks stomps Rollins in HR’s, RBI’s, and SLG, but they’re comparable in hits, BA and OBP. Rollins beats the HOFer in doubles, triples, and SB.
These are just a few comparisons that prove that Jimmy Rollins is in and around these legends in numbers and stats, as well as being better in some categories than Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, and Reberto Alomar who are all in the Hall. I left them out because we don’t have all day to read baseball stats (Let me know if there is a job that pays someone to look at baseball stats all day, I’m interested). If Jimmy has similar numbers to these Hall of Famers, then why shouldn’t J-Roll get in?
Here are some other interesting facts that back up why Rollins should make the Hall. Jimmy led the Phillies to winning 5 consecutive division titles, 2 World Series appearances while also winning a World Series in 2008, winning the 2007 MVP while having 212 hits, 38 doubles, 20 triples, 30 HR’s, 94 RBI’s, 139 runs, and 41 SB. Those numbers are STUPID, espically for a lead-off hitter.
ALERT: MORE STATS – 2001-2014 was prime J-Roll. He ranked 1st in WAR, runs, and doubles for all MLB shortstops, while ranking 1st in WAR, runs, hits, doubles, HRs, RBI’s, and SB in the NL for shortstops. 1995-2009 he ranked 1st in all of the same categories for NL shortstops except triples where he ranked second… and he didn’t make his MLB debut until 2000. That’s FIVE years he wasn’t in the majors and he still led in those categories.
Rollins is one of only four players in the history of baseball to have 30 doubles, 20 HRs, and 30 SB in four different seasons while also being one of four players ever to be in the 20/20/20/20 club.
I’m not sitting here telling you Jimmy Rollins is the best shortstop to ever play the game. I’m not sitting here telling you he should have gotten in his first year of eligibility. I’m here to tell you that I think that if Rollins has equivalent or better numbers than the slew of shortstops I named (all Hall of Famers), then the Hall should get the bust ready because Jimmy Rollins eventually belongs in Cooperstown.
Maybe we should start talking about how Jimmy Rollins is one of the best shortstops ever? If he’s comparable to others who are ranked as top 10 (Larkin, Ozzie), why do we leave him off of the list? I’ll tell you why people don’t consider him as a top shortstop:
It’s because of the era he played in, but I don’t think that’s fair. Alex Rodriguez played the position from 1994-2003 before heading to New York. When A-Rod switched zip codes, he also moved to third base in 2004 and played there until 2016 when he retired from the game. You can argue that A-Rod will be remembered as a third baseman more than a shortstop because he played that position longer.
Derek Jeter is also an issue for Rollins during this era. Jeter’s greatness out shadowed Rollins’ greatness. But why can’t two players from the same era be recognized for their greatness? Many people believe Jeter wouldn’t be Jeter without a Yankees cap. Maybe they aren’t wrong. But to me, baseball is too much of a single person sport to say that Jeter wouldn’t have been great even if he played in a small market like Kansas City or Cleveland. You need runners on base to hit in, you need good pitchers to pitch games, I understand that. But only one person is responsible for the amount of HR’s and hits Jeter and Rollins had. Themselves.
I have never been to Cooperstown, but best believe I will be making the trip up north the day Jimmy Rollins gets in! 12 year old me will be coming out of my soul the same way it did in 2008 when I saw Jimmy Rollins help lead this team to my first world championship as a Philadelphia sports fan.
