Is Taro Now a Hall-of-Fame Player?

[Gustav 6,469]

Up until later on last season, I always thought (and always wrote) that Taro would end up in the "Hall of Pretty Good". He wouldn't be seen as one of the main figures of the late-70s-early-80s, but if someone mentioned him in an article, someone who had been around during this time would think, "oh yeah, I remember that guy". I won (okay, I half-won) MVP in S80, but just one Campbell and nothing else isn't really enough for award wins to count in HoF discussions. But then I won it again in my last season.

 

So, the question becomes: does the second MVP win push Taro over the line and into the HoF?

 

I'll try to remain neutral, and break down some of the reasons why I might make it (or might not).

 

Reasons For:

-MVP 1.5 times (officially 2). One MVP is a bonus, two MVPs is something that could be seen as significant. Taro was at least a good career player in addition to this, so that alone might be enough supporting performance for some to vote him in.

-Name recognition and value to a franchise. I entered a rebuild as Davos GM in (I think) late S75 or S76. For the vast majority of Taro's career, he was the highest-TPE player Davos had and probably the first player anyone would think of in connection to Davos. If we want to emphasize the "Fame" part of "Hall of Fame", I think Taro had more of that off-the-ice recognition than many others on his level.

-Two-way play. I never won a Boulet and was never even in contention for one. But aside from goals and assists, Taro put up over 1,600 hits. That's something that could be seen as a bit of a bonus (though it's a minor one).

-Comparison with the rest of S75. I don't know this for certain, but after a brief skim through the league's largest-ever draft class, Taro is the only player I saw who exceeded 700 career points. A big part of HoF voting is taking a player in the context of their era and comparing them to their peers, and Taro may be the best player to come out of one hell of a draft. This is (in my opinion) an even stronger point than award wins.

 

Reasons Against:

-Zero placement on the leaderboards. I've never led the league in goals, points, or assists. I've never been the best at anything, and both of my MVP wins happened based on arguments that Taro did more for his team than the others, relative to the rest of each candidate's team, rather than that he put up more things in total. There was always someone better!

-Meta and statistical BS. In S81, a season where who-knows-how-many players broke the 100-point mark, Taro did not. When the meta boosted everyone's stats, Taro was, at least once, not as affected. It's going to be interesting to see who gets into the HoF over the next decade or so, and why--will players like Jerome Reinhart see their achievements fully recognized, or will their insane statistical performances be written off as meta doing what meta does? If it's decided that players like those, who blew Taro away in points for a bit, shouldn't come with asterisks, he might be in trouble.

-The "bad team" factor. It's common (and reasonable) to hold off on voting for someone in awards because the team they played for wasn't great. This happens pretty consistently with awards like the Wylde, where a player might have a ton of blocked shots...because the other team is constantly shooting the puck. A good chunk of Taro's career was spent on mid-tier (or worse) Davos rosters, which could take away from the final numbers.

-Zero cups. I personally disagree with this being a factor at all, as championships are a reflection of the team as a whole rather than a player, but it's been a consideration in the past and might continue to be one in the future.

-Dilution. Yes, Taro recorded more points than anyone else (that I know of) from S75. That said, not everyone from S75 got to play all 8 seasons at the big level. My career numbers should be higher than many others. But my 1.26 points per game is a lot closer to someone like Robert Bouchard (1.16) than my 724 points are to his 584. Granted, Taro still comes out on top in this regard, but the difference may be less than it seems.

 

 

My conclusion is that Taro should at the very least make the ballot. I've never voted for myself for anything and would continue not to do so if I made it, but I believe legitimate reasons exist to vote him in...and I no longer think that he will never make it.

 

What do you think?

[Dil 1,763]

no.

[FrostBeard 2,061]

Yes - Taro is a HoF player. 

[BOOM 8,818]

I'd give him a vote