Yankees and the Hall of Fame: Kenny Lofton
- James Vlietstra
- Apr 22
- 2 min read
by James Vlietstra
***
Over the next many months, I am going to review the credentials of several former Yankees.
With all that being said, I am going to review the credentials of several former Yankees. Together, we can discuss if we believe that they are deserving of being included in the Hall Of Fame or not. I hope you read along and give me your opinions over the next several weeks.
Note - Some people currently in the Hall Of Fame are not specifically in for their merits as a player alone. For instance, Joe Torre didn't get in until after his success as a manager. Phil Rizzuto made it after a career as an announcer. Overall, their careers were definitely deserving. Similarly, Bill Mazeroski was generally considered a light hitting middle infielder, however, one iconic moment got him enshrined. I am including some of these type players too for us to discuss.
Today we are going to be discussing:
Kenny Lofton
Lofton played for 11 different teams during his 17 year career. One was with the Yankees.
His 68.4 career WAR ranks 81st among position players. It is more than Ernie Banks and Duke Snider.
He had seven seasons with 5.0+ WAR.
He was a six time all star and four time Gold Glove winner.
His 2,428 hits ranks 122nd all time and is higher than Pie Traynor and Ryne Sandberg.
His 622 SBs rank 15th all time.
He was one and done on the ballot, getting 3.2% in 2013. That was one of several years that the ballot was logjammed with deserving candidates that were tainted by steroids which would have affected down ballot guys such as Lofton.
I just checked out baseball reference. I don't see how he isnt in the HOF. What i also dont understant is how he had frquent OPS+ around league average in years that he had on base percentages of .350 or better and sometimes .300 batting averages along with 20-40 stolen bases.
For some reason I don't remember LOFTON was a New York Yankee 🤔
Lofton was a fine player,
and much like Roy White,
of more value to his team than statistics suggest.
also not quite a HOF player
Kenny Lofton, unlike Harold Baines, Alan Trammell, and others who were elected under this new Veterans Committee setup, deserves it more than any of them and its not close. We had in the 1980s & 90s four true dynamic leadoff hitters, along with Lofton in Rickey, Rock Raines, & Brett Butler. I have zero issue if he is elected. Remember, Lofton could also go get it on the OF too. That's why he deserves it as just named HOF in Jeff Kent (Do the Yankees let Kaeden go to see it?)
Excellent player and belongs! What a great leadoff hitter Lofton was. A .299 bavg and a .372 obp speak volumes over 9200 PA's. Premier defender and base stealer. He would do so much damage batting leadoff for the '26 NYY's and hitting in front of Judge, much as he did during the 90's Indians' run. The only thing he didn't do was hit for power, but his defense and base running more than made up for it. In my book, he belongs in the same grouping as Ichiro and Tim Raines. Both trail Rickey Henderson as the greatest leadoff hitter of the modern era, but both are in the conversation. Lofton should be right in the middle of that conversat…