If Don Mattingly deserves Hall of Fame, then what about Charlie Keller? Who?

Charlie Keller

Position: Leftfielder

Bats: Left  •  Throws: Right

5-10, 185lb (178cm, 83kg)

Born: September 12, 1916 in Middletown, MD us

Died: May 23, 1990 (Aged 73-253d) in Frederick, MD

Charlie Keller. He shared the outfield with Joe DiMaggio 1939-1946, hitting almost the same as Joe D.

Yankee career OPS+ Sunday, April 14, 2024

OPS +: On Base Average + Slugging Average adjusted for league and ballparks. 100 is league average. 150 is 50% above league average.

For combined seasons, Playing for NYY, in the regular season, requiring Adjusted OPS+ >= 125 and Plate Appearances >= 4400, sorted by descending Adjusted OPS+.

Originally I ran it for OPS+ 150 and PA >= 5,000. I got the expected big four Mt. Rushmore result. I then ran it for OPS+ 125, which produced 14 Yankees. I dropped PA to 4,400 to include Charlie Keller and that also added Bobby Murcer. Here are those 16 Yankees...

4. Joe DiMaggio 155

5. Charlie Keller 153

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Brian Kenny and others of that ilk on MLB Network drone on about Don Mattingly among others. They deserve to be elected to the Hall of Fame. The Mattingly logic:

For his first six seasons Mattingly hit like a Hall of Famer. Ignore the next six because he was hurt.

They never mention Keller because he died in 1990, the first of the Mattingly seasons we should ignore.

Keller and Mattingly had six Hall of Fame caliber seasons but Keller's were better. Keller did not have down seasons. Keller was hurt and did not have anymore full seasons. Here are their cumulative OPS+ peaks and finish:

Keller: 158  152

Mattingly: 151  127

We'll get into the details.

For some additional perspective:

For combined seasons, since 1903, Playing in the AL or NL, Played at 1B (75%), in the regular season, requiring Adjusted OPS+ >= 120 and Plate Appearances >= 5000, sorted by descending Adjusted OPS+.

https://stathead.com/tiny/7n1Pq

1. Lou Gehrig  179  Duh

31. Don Mattingly  127

47. Gil Hodges  120

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K	K	K	K	K	K	K		M	M	M	M	M	M	M
Year	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	PA		Year	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	PA
1939	.334	.447	.500	.947	143	490		1984	.343	.381	.537	.918	156	662
1940	.286	.411	.508	.919	141	609		1985	.324	.371	.567	.939	156	727
1941	.298	.416	.580	.996	162	610		1986	.352	.394	.573	.967	161	742
1942	.292	.417	.513	.930	163	661		1987	.327	.378	.559	.937	146	630
1943	.271	.396	.525	.922	168	620		1988	.311	.353	.462	.816	128	651
1946	.275	.405	.533	.938	159	655		1989	.303	.351	.477	.828	133	693

	OPS+
Keller	168
Keller	163
Keller	162
Mattingly	161
Keller	159
Mattingly	156
Mattingly	156
Mattingly	146
Keller	143
Keller	141
Mattingly	128
Mattingly	133

Keller was in the military service in 1944 and had only 194 PA in 1945. And Mattingly started with two short seasons of 13 and 305 PA.

So their cumulative seasons don't match up but there is still some additional perspective. The big six seasons for each are in bold. Mattingly's are consecutive.

K	K	K	K	K	K	K		M	M	M	M	M	M	M
Year	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	PA		Year	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	PA
								1982	.167	.154	.167	.321	-11	13
								1983	.278	.326	.399	.725	102	318
1939	.334	.447	.500	.947	143	490		1984	.322	.363	.492	.855	139	980
1940	.307	.427	.504	.931	142	1,099		1985	.323	.366	.524	.890	146	1,707
1941	.304	.423	.532	.955	149	1,709		1986	.332	.375	.539	.914	151	2,449
1942	.301	.421	.526	.948	153	2,370		1987	.331	.376	.543	.919	150	3,079
1943	.295	.416	.526	.942	155	2,990		1988	.327	.372	.529	.900	146	3,730
1944	.295	.416	.526	.942	155	2,990		1989	.323	.368	.521	.889	144	4,423
1945	.295	.416	.529	.945	157	3,184		1990	.317	.363	.504	.867	138	4,851
1946	.292	.414	.530	.944	157	3,839		1991	.314	.360	.491	.851	134	5,497
1947	.289	.413	.531	.944	158	4,032		1992	.311	.356	.483	.839	131	6,183
1948	.288	.411	.523	.934	154	4,321		1993	.309	.357	.479	.836	130	6,779
1949	.286	.410	.518	.929	153	4,465		1994	.309	.360	.475	.835	129	7,215
1950	.287	.411	.519	.930	153	4,529		1995	.307	.358	.471	.830	127	7,722
1951	.286	.410	.518	.928	152	4,603
1952	.286	.410	.518	.928	152	4,604

Cumulative OPS+ in 6th big year:

Keller 157

Mattingly 144.

Career: Keller OBP .410 is higher than Mattingly's best season .394 in 1986. SLG: Keller .518, Mattingly .471.

The conventional case for Mattingly in the Hall of Fame is weak.