ANALYSIS : Hall of Fame No Cinch for Sandberg

Ryne Sandberg’s stunning announcement Monday that he was retiring at the age of 34 and in his 14th major league season begs the question: How does his early bowing out affect his chance to make the Hall of Fame?

Five years from now, when Sandberg’s name will go on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot, the reasons for his exit will have little bearing on the electorate. That Sandberg no longer thought he was capable of maintaining the high standards he set for himself or that he refused to be the Tony Gwynn of the Chicago Cubs -- an exemplary veteran figure on a franchise in ruins -- won’t enter into the equation.

“I know a lot of clubs who would like to have him on their roster right now,” said St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Rick Sutcliffe, a former teammate. “Sometimes baseball tells you when you’ve had enough. This time, he told baseball.”

The five-year waiting period before a player with 10 or more major league seasons is placed on the ballot helps distance emotion from the process of determing Hall of Fame credentials. In the end, it will come down to numbers, which Sandberg’s retirement has petrified. Will they be sufficient for him to gain entry?

“I don’t know what credentials are needed,” Colorado Rockies third base coach Don Zimmer, who was around Sandberg as a coach and manager of the Cubs in 1984-91, told the Newark Star-Ledger’s Dan Castellano. “In another three or four years, he would have been a cinch. Now, I don’t know.”

Then there’s this view from Hall of Famer Joe Morgan, now an ESPN analyst. “He’s a great player, but not a cinch for the Hall of Fame,” Morgan told BBWAA executive secretary Jack Lang. “He was kind of quiet, and his teams never won anything. He never showed me that kind of leadership. When things are going bad, you don’t just walk away, do you?”

“Sounds to me like Joe doesn’t want another second baseman in the Hall,” said Mets special assistant Ed Lynch, a former teammate and opponent of Sandberg. “Why should Ryno be penalized because he didn’t play with Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, Tony Perez and Dave Concepcion?”

Actually, few Cubs can boast what Sandberg can -- two shots at postseason play -- although boasting never has been part of his nature. Sandberg didn’t get to the World Series as the Cubs were ousted in the National League Championship Series of 1984 and ‘89, but he hit .385 with one home run and six RBI in 10 playoff games, so his postseason credentials are solid.

By cutting his career short, Sandberg has wounded his resume. For example, of his 245 home runs, 240 have come as a second baseman. Had he played out the remainder of his contract -- the rest of this season and two more -- he likely would have broken Morgan’s record for home runs by a second baseman (266). Sandberg, with 905 RBI, would surely have surpassed 1,000 and added to his 10 All-Star Game appearances and nine Gold Gloves, the most at his position.

A short career may not necessarily affect a player’s candidacy for the Hall of Fame. Among players elected by the BBWAA, eight played fewer seasons than Sandberg -- Joe DiMaggio, Hank Greenberg and Mickey Cochrane (13 each), Dizzy Dean and Sandy Koufax (12 each), Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella and Ralph Kiner (10 each). Factors in those shortened careers include health (Cochrane, Dean, Koufax, Kiner, Campanella), war (DiMaggio, Greenberg) and civics (Robinson, the majors’ first black player, was a rookie at 28).

In cases of those who lost significant time in their careers because of military service in World War II, the Veterans Committee elected who the BBWAA overlooked: Johnny Mize, Enos Slaughter, Bobby Doerr, Pee Wee Reese, Billy Herman and Phil Rizzuto. But the Veterans Committee has continued to dismiss Joe Gordon, whose career was reduced to 11 seasons yet featured an MVP season (1942), five World Series championships (1938-39-41-43 with the Yankees, ’48 with the Indians) and 253 home runs, of which 246 were as a second baseman, the American League record for the position as is his single-season total of 32 in ’48.

Will Sandberg be the Joe Gordon of his generation?

“He was a Hall of Famer for me,” Zimmer said. “He never missed infield or went into a game unprepared. When he made an error, it was like the sky was falling. He was the best second baseman I’ve ever been around.”

That’s quite a testament from a man who has worked in Major League Baseball for 40 years and played alongside Robinson. No Hall of Fame second baseman can match the career .990 fielding percentage of Sandberg, but if defense was that great a factor, then Bill Mazeroski, Nellie Fox and Bobby Grich would have plaques in Cooperstown, N.Y.

No more accurrate assessment of Sandberg’s career can be presented than that of Jim Frey, whose hiring to manage the Cubs in 1984 proved a enormous influence on Sandberg.

“I remember one day in batting practice I was hitting fungoes near the cage and Jimmy was talking to Ryno,” Zimmer said. “I heard Jimmy say, ‘Ryno, I’m not going to tell you to be a slugger, but I know what will help Jim Frey win ballgames for the Chicago Cubs. When the count is 2-and-0 or 3-and-1, look for the fastball inside and turn on it.’ Ryno nodded, and Jimmy just walked away.”

After totaling 15 home runs in three seasons and 1,274 at-bats, Sandberg had 19 home runs in 636 at-bats in his MVP season of 1984 and would have five 25-plus homer seasons, including a career-high 40 in 1990.

“No doubt that after Morgan retired, Sandberg was the best second baseman in the National League,” said Frey, now retired and living in Virginia. “He was the best player possible for a manager. He was not a self-promoter. He’s a very private guy. I’ve been around a lot of great players who were (censored). Sandberg was different. He was a great player who is one of the greatest guys I ever met. I fought with ownership to get him that contract. I told them the money would have no adverse affect on him. He set high standards for himself. As a manager, you pray to have a player like that.”

As a voter, you pray to reward such a player.