[VanillaGorilla]

Adrian Gonzalez joins Duke Snider and Jose Reyes as the third player to be inducted in this HOF and the one from the previous league.

Gonzalez was selected in the 2nd rd (pick 29) of the inaugural draft by the Cardinals, at age 25. He retired following the 1991 season at age 43.

For his career, Gonzalez collected 2409 hits (15th), 465 HRs (17th), and drove in 1487 runs (12th). His career slash line of 292/378/516 yielded a npa OPS+ of 151.

A two time MVP, Gonzalez appeared in 8 ASGs and won one GG. 4 times he led the league in OPS.

He won his second MVP award in 1982 as an Expo. Playing home games in the cavernous restricted flight zone of Olympic Stadium, he belted 34 HRs in only 121 games. A slash line of 333/404/627 produced a npa OPS+ of 190! To put that in RL context, in 1982, Gary Carter had his best OPS+ season, a 142. Playing in 154 games for the Expos, he was the team leader in HRs with 29.

Gonzalez played on the WS Champion Brewers of 1980 with Count Campau. I said there would be more HOFers from that team in Campau's write up. That still holds true, there will be more.

In that 1980 post season, Gonzalez hit 4 HRs in 42 ABs slashing a nasty 333/463/643.

Gonzalez joins Ed McKean as the second player to enter on the Veteran Standard.

Black Ink: 13
Gray Ink: 119
HOFm: 104
HOFs: 46

Gorilla Composite: 2.9

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Bill Melton was taken in the third rd of the Inaugural Draft by...who?...the St Louis Cardinals. Yep, HOFers picked back to back in the inaugural draft by the same team. Will wait and see if their first rd pick finds his way in...it is a toss up, on that one.

Melton, selected as a 22 y/o, played until the age of 44 before retiring in 1995. In those years he he rapped 2659 base hits and belted 478 HRs while slashing 263/350/447 for a npa OPS+ of 124.

Melton was named to the All-Star team 11 times. In 1984, playing for the Padres in the year they moved in the fences (that Game 5 NLCS HR would have been a long out in 1983, Steve Garvey!), he hit 42 HRs in 139 games. In comparison, in 1983, Melton hit 25 HRs in 131 games.

Melton is this world's Ernie Banks, as he has the most HRs for anyone who never played in the post season. To play 19 years in the divisional era and to contribute as much as he did, and not get one whiff of the post season is really amazing. Then again, in 10 big league seasons during the divison era, the real Bill Melton never saw a post season game, either. This sim can be amazing.....

Melton enters the HOF by virtue of his HOFs number being above the Hall average.

Black Ink: 6 (4)
Gray Ink: 101 (24)
HOFm: 90.5 (11)
HOFs: 53 (15)

Gorilla Composite: 2.6

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Steve Evans rounds out this mega-class. The final inductee of 2011 enters the HOF as the career leader in doubles with 636. No player is within 50 of this mark, and no active player is within 100.

Evans was taken by the Brewers with the 4th overall pick in 1985. He did not come to terms with them and found him self drafted by the Ragers as the second pick in the following draft.

Evans hit .362 with 19 HRs in 106 games for Texas and took home the ROY trophy in 1987.

After 7 years in Texas, went to the Braves and played 12 seasons there. In 2006 he finished his career with a stop in Oakland.

Evans had 2824 hits for his career, 4th all time. The top 5 players in career hits are all in the HOF. He scored 1590 runs, 3rd all time. The top 5 players in career runs are also all in the HOF. He hit 341 career HRs...that is 52nd best. His 1432 RBIs does place him 17th on that career ledger.

Six times an All Star, Evans appeared in 2 WS, but fell short of victory.

Black Ink: 8 (6)
Gray Ink: 90 (55)
HOFm: 114.5 (8)
HOFs: 61 (11)

Gorilla Composite: 2.9