Cooperstown Choices: Steve Finley

With the Hall Of Fame election announcement coming on January 9, 2013, it is time to review the ballot, go over the names, and decide who belongs in the Hall Of Fame.

There are twenty four men on the ballot for the first time this year and we will take a look at each one individually prior to official announcements. You can find all of the profiles in the I-70 Baseball Exclusives: Cooperstown Choices 2013 menu at the top of the page.

In this article, we take a look at Steve Finley

Steve Finley
Finley’s career would lead him to eight teams over 19 seasons, with his most memorable coming in Arizona from 1999-early 2004. The outfielder would win five Gold Gloves during his career and be selected to two All Star rosters.

Year	Tm	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
1989	BAL	81	217	35	54	5	2	2	25	17	15	30	.249	.298	.318	.616	77
1990	BAL	142	464	46	119	16	4	3	37	22	32	53	.256	.304	.328	.632	80
1991	HOU	159	596	84	170	28	10	8	54	34	42	65	.285	.331	.406	.737	113
1992	HOU	*162*	607	84	177	29	13	5	55	44	58	63	.292	.355	.407	.762	121
1993	HOU	142	545	69	145	15	13	8	44	19	28	65	.266	.304	.385	.689	88
1994	HOU	94	373	64	103	16	5	11	33	13	28	52	.276	.329	.434	.764	102
1995	SDP	139	562	104	167	23	8	10	44	36	59	62	.297	.366	.420	.786	110
1996	SDP	161	655	126	195	45	9	30	95	22	56	87	.298	.354	.531	.885	136
1997	SDP	143	560	101	146	26	5	28	92	15	43	92	.261	.313	.475	.788	110
1998	SDP	159	619	92	154	40	6	14	67	12	45	103	.249	.301	.401	.702	90
1999	ARI	156	590	100	156	32	10	34	103	8	63	94	.264	.336	.525	.861	113
2000	ARI	152	539	100	151	27	5	35	96	12	65	87	.280	.361	.544	.904	121
2001	ARI	140	495	66	136	27	4	14	73	11	47	67	.275	.337	.430	.767	91
2002	ARI	150	505	82	145	24	4	25	89	16	65	73	.287	.370	.499	.869	117
2003	ARI	147	516	82	148	24	10	22	70	15	57	94	.287	.363	.500	.863	115
2004	TOT	*162*	628	92	170	28	1	36	94	9	61	82	.271	.333	.490	.823	109
2004	ARI	104	404	61	111	16	1	23	48	8	40	52	.275	.338	.490	.828	107
2004	LAD	58	224	31	59	12	0	13	46	1	21	30	.263	.324	.491	.815	112
2005	LAA	112	406	41	90	20	3	12	54	8	26	71	.222	.271	.374	.645	71
2006	SFG	139	426	66	105	21	12	6	40	7	46	55	.246	.320	.394	.714	83
2007	COL	43	94	9	17	3	0	1	2	0	8	4	.181	.245	.245	.490	24
19 Yrs		2583	9397	1443	2548	449	124	304	1167	320	844	1299	.271	.332	.442	.775	104
162 Game Avg.		162	589	91	160	28	8	19	73	20	53	81	.271	.332	.442	.775	104
		G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
ARI (6 yrs)		849	3049	491	847	150	34	153	479	70	337	467	.278	.351	.500	.851	111
SDP (4 yrs)		602	2396	423	662	134	28	82	298	85	203	344	.276	.334	.458	.792	112
HOU (4 yrs)		557	2121	301	595	88	41	32	186	110	156	245	.281	.331	.406	.737	107
BAL (2 yrs)		223	681	81	173	21	6	5	62	39	47	83	.254	.302	.325	.627	79
COL (1 yr)		43	94	9	17	3	0	1	2	0	8	4	.181	.245	.245	.490	24
SFG (1 yr)		139	426	66	105	21	12	6	40	7	46	55	.246	.320	.394	.714	83
LAD (1 yr)		58	224	31	59	12	0	13	46	1	21	30	.263	.324	.491	.815	112
LAA (1 yr)		112	406	41	90	20	3	12	54	8	26	71	.222	.271	.374	.645	71

NL (16 yrs)		2248	8310	1321	2285	408	115	287	1051	273	771	1145	.275	.338	.455	.793	108
AL (3 yrs)		335	1087	122	263	41	9	17	116	47	73	154	.242	.291	.343	.634	76

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/12/2012.

Why He Should Get In
A well-rounded player that stole more bases (320) than he hit home runs (304), Finley boasts a solid yet unremarkable career.

Why He Should Not Get In
The numbers, the awards, the iconic moments simply are not there. While he was a likeable player that put together a solid career, it is not Cooperstown worthy.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball
Follow him on Twitter here.

Categorized | Cooperstown Choices 2013, I-70 Baseball Exclusives