During his peak with Houston (2001-2008), Berkman hit .303 to go along with 263 home runs and 879 runs batted in. With the Astros, he was named an All-Star five times and finished in the top five in MVP for voting four times (2001, 2002, 2006, 2008). In 2005, he was a vital part of the Astros magical postseason run and hit .385 against the White Sox in the World Series. Berkman followed that up with his 2006 season, which was just statistically absurd. That season he slammed 45 HRs, 136 RBIs, while having a .315 batting average and OPS of 1.041. Berkman’s 2006 season was overshadowed by other mammoth seasons from Albert Pujols and Ryan Howard, which seemed to be the story of his career. He was constantly a victim of someone else’s spotlight – he never generated the same recognition that Barry Bonds or Albert Pujols or Ryan Howard or David Ortiz did. He may have never had the gaudy power to smack 55+ home runs, but he produced at similar levels to those superstar players and never garnered the same attention. https://climbingtalshill.com/2020/12/03/astros-berkmans-career-underappreciated/
The fact he was eliminated from HOF contention after his very first year on the ballot shows exactly how moronic the baseball writers are.
If you have a career .943 OPS, never mind it being as a switch hitter, you should stay on the ballot a bit longer.
The BBWAA is pretty pathetic. A lot of voters need to have their qualifications revoked, that’s just the truth of the matter. There’s no transparency...it’s just a bunch of old hacks with larger than life egos. Several axed applicants have had firmly better careers than some players who’ve already been admitted to the Hall. Stats don’t lie. Its just dumb. That said, Lance is not a HOF player. He was a great player and a truly fantastic hitter, but he does fall short on the HOF mark in my opinion. He deserved a hell of a lot more than one year on the ballot, again the BBWAA is just so dumb, but had he been more motivated he could’ve been a legitimate front-line candidate. I seem to recall hearing about his general malaise and not having a great work ethic.
You never mentioned his most famous accomplishment which was winning the WS for the Cardinals with clutch at bats.
Berkman should have won the MVP for the 2011 series. I might be a little biased here . Berkman played in two WS, Astros 2005 and Cardinals 2011. In both series, he posted a 1.0+ OPS. Definitionally, clutch.
Wait... I thought Beltran's aunt reported on MySpace that Berkman stashed a pager in his jock strap during the 2005 playoffs. One buzz for curve, two for slider.
LOL No, I will never take away his numbers... those are the numbers he put up. I will only say that he should/could have been better if he worked harder. The effort was just not on par with others on the team.... but he still was a hell of a player and I would agree he is underrated.
The day Harold Baines became a Hall of Famer meant Lance Berkman is one as well. Berkman OPS .943 Baines OPS .820 Baines had over 3,000 more ABs than Berkman and only hit 18 more HRs than Lance.
Some people produce better relaxed. If he worked harder, it may have caused him to perform worse. Maybe if Bagwell and Biggio were as chill as Berkman, maybe they hit in the playoffs.
I don't think I understand the problem with "too many retired numbers""? He was arguably the best Astros hitter for decade.
