HALL OF FAME DEBATE: GRIFFEY JR. VS. THE BIG HURT
With Ken Griffey, Jr. closing in on 500 homeruns I thought it would be fun to open up the debate on the Hall of Fame credentials for two of the most dominating players in the 1990s, Ken Griffey, Jr. and Frank Thomas. I will say that I don't think 500 HRs is an automatic ticket to Cooperstown anymore, because in the next 5 to 10 years there are going to be a ton of players to pass up that mark. Frank Thomas should get extra points in this debate because of his nickname, "The Big Hurt" is a very good one.

(All numbers up until the start of the 2004 season)
Ken Griffey Jr.
15 seasons
Career .294/.379/.562
481 Homeruns
10 Gold Gloves
1997 AL MVP
4 AL Homerun titles
324 Career Win Shares
36 Win Shares (best season)
29.6 AVG Win Shares (best 5 consecutive seasons)
Black Ink = 26(AVG HOFer = 27)
Gray Ink = 153(AVG HOFer = 144)

Summary
Ken Griffey Jr., was a great players in the 1990s. The fact that his career has taken a nosedive in the past few years hurts him a lot in the Hall of Fame debate. If he would have started out injury plagued and then put together his best seasons afterwards he would have a much stronger case for the Hall in many other people's minds. His 10 Gold Gloves boost his stock immensely, in my opinion. With 4 Homerun titles and an MVP he has a strong case for the Hall, much stronger than most people probably realized.

Frank Thomas
14 Seasons
Career .310/.428/.568
418 Homeruns
1993, 1994 AL MVP
1997 Batting title
Lead league in OBP and OPS 4 times
347 Career Win Shares
39 Win Shares (best season)
29 AVG Win Shares (best 5 consecutive seasons)
Black Ink = 21 (AVG HOFer = 27)
Gray Ink = 189 (AVG HOFer = 144)

Summary
Frank Thomas is an OBP machine. His career OBP of .428 and career OPS of .996 are both 10th all-time in the history of baseball. He had some monster seasons in the 90's, hitting over .300 ten times in his career and posting OBPs above .400 nine times. Thomas seemed to have been on his way down at 31 but then had a few more good seasons. He really surprised people with his 2003 campaign as well.

Griffey Jr. vs. Frank Thomas
I have a feeling that the Hall of Fame is going to become very crowded in the next ten to fifteen years as people continue to evaluate players from the 90s and 00s the same way that they evaluated players from the 60s and 70s. Obviously what these two players do with the rest of their careers will have a big influence on their case for a Hall of Fame bid, but for the purpose of debate let's only take into account what they have done pre-2004. With that being said, which player has had a better career is a very intriguing debate. Does Griffey make up for his lower OPS because of his defense? That is basically the question when considering which player has the best case for the Hall of Fame.