Tonight in Arlington, Texas, the Rangers will retire the uniform #10, worn for 13 years with distinction by infielder Michael Young. The longtime Ranger, who moved from second base to shortstop to third base to designated hitter to accommodate other players, retired after the 2013 season. Young was on the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot this January and, on a crowded ballot, received 2.1% of the vote, 2.9% shy of the 5% that would be required for him to remain on future ballots for Cooperstown.
Although he wasn’t quite a Hall of Fame caliber player, Michael Young had an excellent Major League Baseball career.
“Michael was one of the greatest teammates I’ve ever had. A competitor at heart but also a superb leader and the kind of person you want your children to look up to as a role model. He was a defining part of my time in Texas and I join all his fans in saluting his career on and off the field.”
— Alex Rodriguez (email to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
Cooperstown Cred: Michael Young (IF)
Received 2.1% on the 2019 Hall of Fame ballot
- Career: .300 BA, 185 HR, 1,030 RBI, 1,137 Runs, 2,375 Hits
- Career: 104 OPS+, 24.6 WAR (Wins Above Replacement)
- 7-time All-Star
- Over 200 Hits in 6 different seasons (2003-07 & 2011)
(cover photo: Fort Worth Telegram)
In a different era, an era before the mainstream acceptance of sabermetrics, Michael Young would have had a legitimate chance to make the Hall of Fame. Young, who spent 13 of his 14 MLB seasons with the Texas Rangers, did a lot of things that Hall of Fame voters like.
Besides collecting 200 hits 6 times and being a career .300 hitter at (mostly) middle infield positions, Young made seven All-Star squads and played a significant role in two A.L. All-Star wins.
Michael Young: All-Star Hero
In the 2006 All-Star Game, Michael Young earned MVP honors. With the American League trailing 2-1 in the top of the 9th inning, Young hit a two-run triple to score the tying and go-ahead runs off future Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman.
In 2008, Young hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 15th inning off the Phillies’ Brad Lidge to deliver a 4-3 win to the A.L.
Michael Young’s Positional Carousel
In Michael Young’s rookie year (2001), he was a second baseman. With Alex Rodriguez having been signed to play shortstop, Young was entrenched at the position. After the 2003 season, A-Rod was traded to the New York Yankees. In exchange the Rangers received second baseman Alfonso Soriano so Young was moved to shortstop. By the metrics, Young was a decent second sacker but a pretty awful shortstop. Defensively, he and Soriano did not make anybody forget Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker.
Anyway, Young spent 5 seasons as the Rangers’ shortstop and finished his career with more games played there than at any other position.
In 2009, in order to make room for Elvis Andrus, Young was moved to third base. He played full time at the hot corner until 2011, when the signing of Adrian Beltre turned him into a utility-man.
The point to the positional saga of Michael Young is that he can safely be classified as an infielder.
Michael Young: a Member of Two Exclusive Clubs
Fun Fact #1: there are 10 players in Major League Baseball history who played at least 40% of their games at either second base, third base, or shortstop who finished their careers with at least…
- .300 batting average
- 150 Home Runs
- 1,000 RBI
- 2,000 Hits
The 10 players? Rogers Hornsby, Charlie Gehringer, Derek Jeter, George Brett, Chipper Jones, Paul Molitor, Robinson Cano, Roberto Alomar, Joe Cronin and, drum roll please, Michael Brian Young. All of these players except for the not-yet-eligible Jeter and the still-active Cano are Hall of Famers.
Before we get hysterical about this and immediately confer a Cooperstown plaque to Young, please remember this is a “fun” fact and it’s gerrymandered to Young’s benefit.
If you lower the standards to a .285 average, 125 HR, 900 RBI and 1,800 hits, you would add 17 more names to the list, including Julio Franco, Hanley Ramirez, Edgar Renteria, Vern Stephens, and Pinky Higgins.
Fun Fact #2: In six different seasons in his MLB career, Young collected 200 or more hits. There are only 10 players in baseball history who have more than Young’s six 200-hit seasons: Ichiro Suzuki, Pete Rose, Ty Cobb, Jeter, Paul Waner, Lou Gehrig, Willie Keeler, Wade Boggs, Gehringer and Hornsby. All of these except for Jeter, the gambling-tainted Rose and the recently-retired Ichiro are in the Hall of Fame.
This fun fact is a little more mirthful but Steve Garvey (not in the Hall) also had six 200-hit seasons. Just behind, with 4 such campaigns, is Juan Pierre and many others.
With all the good news, is Michael Young’s 24.6 WAR disqualifying?
In a word, yes, it’s disqualifying. It’s true that some really brutal defensive metrics are depressing Young’s WAR number and one should look at those with some suspicion, bu Young’s offensive profile is not Cooperstown-worthy. He never walked more than 58 times in a season and struck out and struck out 90 or more times in 9 different seasons.
In the last 30 years, for infielders (not first basemen), Young’s offensive WAR is just 25th best, behind obvious non-Hall of Famers like Jose Reyes, Ray Durham, Chuck Knoblauch, Aramis Ramirez and others.
Michael Young was a very good player and a philanthropist, one of just four two-time winners of the Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award. But he’s not a Hall of Famer.
Thanks for reading. Please follow Cooperstown Cred on Twitter @cooperstowncred.
My favorite Ranger, and he was on track for the Hall, until he hit a major wall in his mid-30’s. I’ll always be grateful to him because the first ballgame I ever took my girls to Young hit a walk-off 427 ft homer to be KC. They don’t remember, but I do. April 19, 2009.
I would consider this to be a good article but in reality if we lower the standards then all articles will be better and hence this article is not worth reading. Also there are infielders in the Hall of Fame that did not even came close to the mentioned Michael Young stats. There is a reason why Michael Young had so many All-Star appearances. Also remember (steroid era). We should not be excluding players from the Hall of Fame because they have not taken steroids.