14 January 2015

The Odd Case of the Cornhusker Punter

The 2015 Hall of Fame voting results are in and Darin Erstad failed to convince a single voter to check his box. The reason is obvious: he wasn't anything like a Famer.

But for one season, and one season only, Darin Erstad was chocolate cake with fudge topping.

Erstad, then 26, was coming off a .253/.308/.374 season in 1999 for the Anaheim Angels. The former Nebraska punter, Erstad had been selected by the then California Angels with the first pick of the '95 draft.

And then, in 2000, he justified his selection. Already an outstanding outfield glove man, Erstad busted out in a nearly unprecedented way. He set career highs in AB, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, runs scored, runs batted in, total bases, walks, stolen bases, batting average, on base, slugging and little old ladies helped across the street. He hit .355/.409/.541, gaining 270 points of OPS.

The 2000 performance wasn't just better than any other Erstad season; it was like he was a different guy. In a 12-year career, he hit a fifth of his homers (25) in 2000. He scored 121 runs, the only 100+ run season of the 12. He hit for a higher average than his lifetime OBP. He got on base at a higher rate than his lifetime slugging percentage. He earned a third of his lifetime offensive wins against replacement that one year.

For his career, Erstad was a below-average hitter in a corner outfield spot. He flashed the defensive web gems, six .280+ batting averages and 179 career steals, but little power, on base skills or durability.

And certainly not that. That was Albert Pujols. The rest of his career he was Omar Infante.

Erstad crashed right back to earth the following year, posting a .258/.331/.360 line in 2001 that was nearly identical to his 1999 season. And after a better 2002 campaign, in which he helped the Angels win their only World Series, Erstad's wall-crashing ways caught up to him. In the seven years after '02, he averaged four homers, an 80 OPS+ and less than a win against replacement per season.

But for that one year, the Cornhuskers' punter was a Hall of Famer.



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