[VanillaGorilla]

Ralph Kiner was taken with the 7th pick by...ME! (running the Columbus Prairie Thunder) in the 2059 draft.

Though I received my walking papers in 2060, Kiner was my legacy and it is great to see him inducted here as a First Ballot entrant.

Kiner hit 35 HR as a rookie, in 101 games.

He won the MVP in 2061:

G: 154, R: 135, H: 174, HR: 68, RBI: 144, BB: 118, BA: .303, OBP: .425, SLG: .704, npa OPS+: 199

He won the MVP in 2062:

G: 106, R: 96, H: 128, HR: 58, RBI: 115, BB: 83, BA: .327, OBP: .444, SLG: .814, npa OPS+ 227

He won the MVP in 2063:

G: 118, R: 137, H: 147, HR: 67, RBI: 130, BB: 72, BA: .316, OBP: .408, SLG: .794, npa OPS+ 207

With Steve Carlton as the ace of the staff, Kiner helped power the Thunder to a WS in 2063.

Considering the number of games he played, Kiner's 2062 and 2063 totals are off the charts incredible. What would happen if he had played a full season at such a rate?

In 2064 he did just that. He rewrote the record books (and stretched conventional credulity) several times over and won his fourth consecutive MVP:

G: 159, R: 170 H: 209, HR: 96, RBI: 182, BB: 107, BA: .351, OBP: .451, SLG: .877, npa OPS+: 234, OPS 1.329

Bold indicates career high. Bold italics indicates league record.

Kiner also set the marks, still standing, for seasonal VORP 164.3 and WAR 16.5.

The Columbus ball park does have a HR adjustment of 1.030 for RH. A slight plus, yes. However, it also has a BA adjustment for RH of 0.870, as well.

For the 2068 season he left Columbus for St Louis. There he had what would be a fantastic tenure, by normal standards, 150 HR over 5 seasons.

As part of a rehab in 2068, he hit 2 HR in his only game appearance in the AAA Championships, and has that on his resume, also.

He retired following the 2076 season with 1950 ML hits. 662 HR place him 17th on the career list (between Duke Snider and Jose Canseco). 1561 RBI place him 52nd, one spot ahead of Jim Gentile. 1313 R place him in a tie at #87 with George Burns. His 1081 BB place him 42nd on that career list, three fewer than Manny Ramirez.

His career slash line of 303/403/659 (*/33rd/9th, between Frank Robinson and Kevin Mitchell) places him 8th on the career OPS list, 0.0003 ahead of Johnny Mize.

Kiner won one GG in the OF and appeared in 9 AS Games. He enters the HOF at the age of 44.

Black Ink: 34 (52)
Gray Ink: 112 (145)
HOFm: 261 (136)
HOFs: 58 (34)

Gorilla Composite: 5.0 (4.5)

----------------------------------------------

George Hendrick was an amazing talent, IRL. Watching some footage from the 70s he reminds me a bit of both Daryl Strawberry and Milton Bradley in his grace on the field and the seeming ease with which he played the game.

I will admit to heckling Mr Hendrick on more than one occasion from the RF bleachers when he came to town, in the 80s. I perceived him as a guy that went through the motions and put more effort in breaking bats over his knee than patrolling his position. In fairness, this was my youthful perception and I had no knowledge of his persisting pains that he played through as an older player. I am much more understanding of that sort of thing, now.

With all of that said, I am happy to welcome George to my little HOF in the imaginary cornfield where he can play with the greats since the beginning of the sport, for the rest of time. Easy on the bats, though, George. I am on a budget.

As he was IRL, Hendrick was highly regarded here, too. He was taken with the second pick of the 2054 draft by the Phillies. He was named the #1 prospect, immediately after the draft.

He batted .302 in 40 games, his rookie season. He would bat above that in each of his next 10 seasons.

IRL Hendrick was a legitimate 20 HR guy for many years, back when 20 HR meant something.

Here, Hendrick was a legitimate 35 HR guy, which means about the same thing as 20 HR meant back in his day. From 2057 through 2067, Hendrick hit at least 32 HR each year.

In 2060 he posted career highs in HR (45) and RBI (136) while batting .327.

During this stretch of excellent productivity, he was on 3 WS winning Phillie squads.

He is the only player inducted from the 2061 and 2064 Phillie teams that won it all. This will change.

In 2065, helping the Phillies to a repeat, he was joined by HOFer Harmon Killebrew.

Hendrick had a Hallworthy career slash line of 316/365/567 (66th, one spot behind Jackie Robinson/*/79th).

He picked up 2294 hits (90th), stroked 394 doubles, and clubbed 459 HR(82nd, two more than Alex Rodriguez). He scored 1209 times and tallied 1492 RBI (63rd), even though he never played for Columbus.....

Twice an All Star, Hendrick enters the HOF at the age of 47, as a CFer.

Black Ink: 1 (0)
Gray Ink: 123 (68)
HOFm: 136.5 (30)
HOFs: 61 (23)

Gorilla Composite: 3.0 (1.1)

-------------------------------------

George Hendrick enters his first OOTP HOF.
Ralph Kiner enters his second OOTP HOF.

Kiner is the 40th RL HOFer to be inducted, here.