Sports Reference Blog

15 Responses to “B-R: HoF Candidate – Brian Jordan”

1. Shoop Says: December 13th, 2011 at 8:08 pm

   I'm not sure I understand the point of these postings.

   It's even odd the way the stat tables are posted, with Minor League stats listed while (if the post titles are to be believed) we are to be considering these player's HOF candidacy.

2. Jeff J. Says: December 14th, 2011 at 12:11 pm

   He was the best post-1992 MLer that came from the NFL (way to squeeze you out, Deion & Bo)

3. Howard Says: December 14th, 2011 at 12:17 pm

   What amazes me about the stats is how darn good he was in the field. I was a big Cards fan, and he never really got a lot of attention for his capabilities in the outfield.

4. Jay Says: December 14th, 2011 at 7:39 pm

   Brian Jordan is similar to Edgardo Alfonzo. They were both good players who at their best were very good, but were not able to maintain their very good status long enough to merit consideration for the Hall.

5. Joe Garrison Says: December 14th, 2011 at 11:53 pm

   Lots of talent, not enough complete seasons...

6. Drew Weaver Says: December 15th, 2011 at 5:28 pm

   Butch Hobson? Jim Northrup? HoF? Darin Erstad? Darnell Coles? Fernando Vina? Let's discuss them all! Roger Repoz.....Chris Speier....Jim Hickman....Horace Clarke.....Bob Robertson......

7. Jeff J. Says: December 15th, 2011 at 5:30 pm

   @6

   Nobody gets in until Rafael Belliard gets his chance :-O

8. simarc Says: December 15th, 2011 at 9:46 pm

   He belongs in the Met Killer Hall of Fame, but that's about it.

9. John Says: December 16th, 2011 at 9:44 am

   On his way out the door, BR blogger Andy suggested that the BR blog was getting stale.

   Now, we're contemplating the Cooperstown merits of Jeromy Burnitz and Brian Jordan.
   :-|

10. Sal Says: December 17th, 2011 at 11:10 am

    I think a lot of people forget that he was pretty damn good for a few seasons, and he's certainly an underrated player... But yeah, nowhere near The Hall. Not even close.

11. Joe Kidd Says: December 17th, 2011 at 2:08 pm

    Brian Jordan arguably constituted the best defensive right fielder of his generation. As a Braves' fan, I was able to watch him defensively and he proved tremendous and underappreciated for a couple reasons: first, Andruw Jones' defense in center overshadowed Jordan's in right and second, the lack of sophisticated defensive metrics a decade ago caused many statistically-oriented fans to woefully underrate him. Indeed, the fact that he never received a Gold Glove is almost criminal because Jordan proved defensively superior to fellow National League right fielders like Larry Walker and I’m glad to see an advanced metric such as Defensive WAR support my observations from back then. As a former Pro Bowl alternate strong safety in the NFL, Jordan's athletic ability spoke for itself, but he also ran crisp routes and proved efficient. He probably played the most aggressive right field in the league and was willing to constantly take risks, yet he committed very few errors. Jordan charged balls well, threw with both strength and accuracy, and excelled both coming in and going out, on balls in the gap and down the line. And true to his status as a former football player, he gave up his body routinely to dive for balls and crash into walls, probably explaining many of his missed games.

    Offensively, Jordan lacked the plate discipline to post perennially strong on-base percentages and amount to an elite hitter. Still, he was the cleanup hitter for multiple playoff teams and multiple franchises, including the National League champion Braves in 1999. His ability to turn on fastballs and make contact allowed him to hit for solid batting averages, constitute a proverbial “RBI man,” and hit for commendable power, surpassing 20 home runs in four different seasons. He was liable to chase off-speed pitches out of the strike zone, but he crushed hangers and constituted a great competitor and emotional leader who often rose to the occasion late in games and in “clutch” situations. Just examine his statistical splits in some of his better seasons, such as 2001. Indeed, without inking Jordan as a high-priced free agent following the 1998 campaign, Atlanta’s historic streak of division titles probably would have ended at seven rather than reaching fourteen.

    Since Jordan’s prime wasn’t long enough in terms of games played, he isn’t a serious Hall of Fame candidate. However, he enjoyed a surprisingly strong career for a guy who constituted an NFL standout before becoming an MLB regular. Jordan is probably one of the best defensive right fielders in history and he recorded over 90 runs batted in four times, he scored 100 runs twice, he slammed over 20 home runs four times, he stole over 20 bases twice, he sports a career .282 batting average, he never fanned 90 times in a season, and he hit cleanup in at least 78 games for the 1996 Cardinals, the 1999 Braves, and the 2001 Braves, all of whom won their division and at least reached the National League Championship Series. Jordan also placed in the top twenty in NL MVP balloting in all three of those seasons. The steroids-aggrandized era in which he played and the reality that much of his value came via defense caused the public to overlook Jordan. However, he amounted to one of the National League’s best all-around or two-way right fielders from the mid-1990s to the early years of the twenty-first century.

12. Joe Kidd Says: December 17th, 2011 at 2:23 pm

    @11 ... re-polished version:

    Brian Jordan arguably constituted the best defensive right fielder of his generation. As a Braves' fan, I was able to watch him defensively and he proved underappreciated for a couple reasons: first, Andruw Jones' defense in center overshadowed Jordan's in right and second, the lack of sophisticated defensive metrics a decade ago caused many statistically-oriented fans to woefully underrate him. Indeed, the fact that he never received a Gold Glove is almost criminal because Jordan proved defensively superior to fellow National League right fielders like Larry Walker and I’m glad to see an advanced metric such as Defensive WAR support my observations from back then. As a former Pro Bowl alternate strong safety in the NFL, Jordan's athletic ability spoke for itself, but he also ran crisp routes and proved efficient. He probably played the most aggressive right field in the league and was willing to constantly take risks, yet he committed very few errors. Jordan charged balls well, threw with both strength and accuracy, and excelled both coming in and going out, on balls in the gap and down the line. And true to his status as a former football player, he gave up his body routinely to dive for balls and crash into walls, probably explaining many of his missed games.

    Offensively, Jordan lacked the plate discipline to post perennially strong on-base percentages and amount to an elite hitter. Still, he was the cleanup hitter for multiple playoff teams and multiple franchises, including the National League champion Braves in 1999. His ability to turn on fastballs and make contact allowed him to hit for solid batting averages, emerge as a proverbial “RBI man,” and slug for commendable power, surpassing 20 home runs in four different seasons. He was liable to chase off-speed pitches out of the strike zone, but he crushed hangers and constituted a great competitor and emotional leader who often rose to the occasion late in games and in “clutch” situations. Just examine his statistical splits in some of his better seasons, such as 2001. Indeed, without inking Jordan as a high-priced free agent following the 1998 campaign, Atlanta’s historic streak of division titles probably would have ended at seven rather than reaching fourteen.

    Since Jordan’s prime wasn’t long enough in terms of games played, he isn’t a serious Hall of Fame candidate. However, he enjoyed a surprisingly strong career for a guy who constituted an NFL standout before becoming an MLB regular. Jordan is probably one of the best defensive right fielders in history and he recorded over 90 runs batted in four times, he scored 100 runs twice, he slammed over 20 home runs four times, he stole over 20 bases twice, he sports a career .282 batting average, he never fanned 90 times in a season, and he hit cleanup in at least 78 games for the 1996 Cardinals, the 1999 Braves, and the 2001 Braves, all of whom won their division and at least reached the National League Championship Series. Jordan also placed in the top twenty in NL MVP balloting in all three of those seasons. The steroids-aggrandized era in which he played and the reality that much of his value came via defense caused the public to overlook Jordan. However, he amounted to one of the National League’s best all-around or two-way right fielders from the mid-1990s to the early years of the twenty-first century.

13. John Autin Says: December 18th, 2011 at 6:31 pm

    By WAR measures, Jordan was one of the all-time great defenders, regardless of position, as discussed in my blog post:

    http://highheatstats.blogspot.com/2011/12/brian-jordan-gold-gloves-biggest-snub.html

    The money quote:

    "Though we don't have complete data and can't say for sure how accurate are the data we have, the WAR fielding runs method puts Jordan in truly exclusive company. He ranks 15th all-time in fielding runs. The top 20, in order:
    -- Brooks Robinson, Andruw Jones, Mark Belanger, Ozzie Smith, Roberto Clemente, Carl Yastrzemski, Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, Joe Tinker, Cal Ripken, Buddy Bell, Paul Blair, Ivan Rodriguez, Robin Ventura, Brian Jordan, Jesse Barfield, Clete Boyer, Al Kaline, Jimmy Piersall, Joe Gordon."

14. Joe Kidd Says: December 19th, 2011 at 10:20 am

    @13 ... very intriguing, thanks for posting.

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