I understand Phillies fans that many of you did not appreciate the way Scott Rolen forced his way out of town and he left a bad taste in your mouth, but face it – he should be voted into the Baseball Hall Of Fame.

Two weeks ago, the ballot to get into Cooperstown was released featuring a few former Phillies (Jimmy Rollins, Jayson Werth) but this isn’t about them, (and yes I do think Rollins should get in someday) but this is about one of the best 3rd basemen to play the position in the last 35 years. Rolen was a highly coveted prospect drafted in 1993. He was actually a basketball player for the University of Georgia who ultimately chose to instead focus on baseball before being called up to the big leagues just three years later.

In his first full season in 1997, Rolen won Rookie of the Year for the National League, but that was just the beginning. He would go on to win eight Gold Gloves at the hot corner which is third all time at the position (Brooks Robinson and Mike Schmidt each won more) and also made seven appearances in the All Star Game and won a World Series with the Cardinals during his career.

When you look at his overall offensive numbers you may scoff at the Hall of Fame argument. Over a 17-year career, Rolen had over 2,000 hits, 316 home runs, 122 OPS, with a career batting average of .281. but the number that may be more impressive was his Wins Above Replacement (WaR) is 70.1 which is good for ninth all-time among third basemen. The only player on that list that is not enshrined in Cooperstown is Adrian Beltre. It shows how important Rolen was for his team’s success when he was in the lineup and saving runs.

Rolen showing off one of his eight Gold Gloves

As we have done with players like Ryan Howard, if you take a look at his best years, Rolen was extremely productive between 1997 and 2004 And was considered one of the top players in the MLB who had the 3rd best WAR in the entire sport. He had hit over 25 homers in seven of those eight years and knocked in over 100 runs in five of those years.

I caught the tail end of Mike Schmidt’s career, so it’s unfair for me to say he was the best third baseman that I have seen. That honor goes to Rolen. He had a cannon for an arm, and his range was unreal. He would make plays on balls hit his way that many players wouldn’t have been able to get to. It’s not that Rolen was a speedster, but moreso that he was fundamentally sound, and a smart ball player.

When he forced his way out of Philadelphia after getting into arguments with them manager Larry Bowa and criticizing the brass that they weren’t doing enough to win, the fans turned on him. The thing is, Rolen wasn’t exactly wrong. The team had one season where they were in contention when Rolen was here (2001, they finished two games out of first place) but there were no signs of improvement on the horizon. Plus, he often complained about how his body was taking a beating on the Veterans Stadium turf. For a guy that fought his share of injuries during his career, that wasn’t an invalid concern either.

Perhaps Rolen leaving town opened the eyes of the front office to make changes which would later result in the success that the team would have, but at the time, I remember being more upset than angry when Rolen was dealt. He left town, went to two World Series and won one and continued to have some very production seasons while the Phillies signed guys like David Bell to try to fill the void left by Rolen.

He’s not the sexiest name with eye popping stats, but his importance on the field and the lineup should very much be considered when the voters make their decisions on this year’s ballot. His vote percentage has increased over the past two years so that is an encouraging sign as he was close to 20% below the 75% of votes required to get a plaque.

Cooperstown should get this one right.