How Much is Not Enough?

The rules for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame require that a "player must have played in each of ten (10) Major League championship seasons". Nowhere, however, does it set a minimum requirement for how much a player must play ... only that he played. In other words, a player making a single plate appearance per season for ten seasons would be eligible for induction to the Hall of Fame. Ludicrous example, right? Well, yes and no. A player who appeared in only ten career games would never be elected into the Hall of Fame. However, it does raise the question of just how much a player must play in order to be considered for inclusion in the Hall of Fame.

For example, what's your initial impression of a player who:

* appeared in less than one-third of his team's games over his career

* appeared in the equivalent of 116 complete (nine-inning) games over the course of his career ... or less than three-quarters of one complete (162 game) season

* was on the bench for over 94% of the innings played by his team during his active career

Sound like a Hall of Famer ... or a part-time, role-player? Well, guess what? It’s both. The Hall of Fame player is Bruce Sutter and the part-time role was as a relief specialist -– a closer. Sutter was – without a doubt – excellent at what he did. That's not the question. The question is:

How great do you have to be to gain induction into the Hall of Fame when you’re on the field less than 6% of the time?

During Sutter’s 13-years in the majors (he missed one entire season due to injury), he appeared in 661 games and pitched a total of 1,042.3 innings. Sutter’s innings pitched total is the lowest among all Hall of Famers inducted primarily as pitchers. In fact, even Babe Ruth pitched more innings -– and he only pitched in 163 games during his entire 22-year career.

To put the brevity of Sutter’s career in a more contemporary perspective, consider the following:

Mark Buehrle, Barry Zito, Freddy Garcia, Jeff Weaver, Javier Vazquez, Mark Mulder and Roy Halladay are all under 30-years-of-age ... yet each of these young hurlers has already surpassed Sutter’s career total for innings pitched.

Granted, the role of a closer is very specialized ... and continues to evolve. Closers today do not pitch as many innings per appearance as Bruce Sutter and Goose Gossage did in the late 70s and early 80s. So where does this trend end? Mariano Rivera has averaged under 75 innings per season over his first 11 years and he's the greatest closer in baseball history -– a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Again, where does it end?

The closer role has already been reduced to protecting a lead for only three outs. Would a great closer still be Hall of Fame-worthy if the role is further reduced to getting just the final out of the game ... or only 25-30 innings pitched per season (75-90 appearances on one out each)?

Sounds crazy ... but no more crazy than it would have sounded to a baseball fan 50 years ago if you told him that changes in baseball strategy would eventually lead to some of the most dominant pitchers in the game pitching the fewest innings ... or that a player who spent over 94% of his career on the bench would be voted into the Hall of Fame.