In the Lou Brock (number 172) I wrote I would have voted for Jim Wynn as the National League MVP in 1974. At the time I wrote that I didn’t remember that Jim Wynn was next on my list. I might hove done things a little different if I had.
After 1974 Wynn started to fade. He had a decent season in 1975. He had a higher on base percentage as he drew more walks in 130 games in 1975 then in 150 games in 1974. He drew 108 walks in 1974. However, walks was the only area he went up. In 1976 he faded even more with Brave with even more (127) walks. He still had a decent hitting year with a .207 batting average. In 1977 he couldn’t even hit .200 and teams no longer had to be careful pitching to him, and his walks went down. It was time for Wynn to retire.
Wynn spent his prime years in the Houston Astrodome a very difficult place to hit. He was helped as he walked a lot to take away some of the park affects. In 1969 he walked 148 times with the new strike zone for an on base average of .436. He had only 133 hits that year walking quite a bit more than getting a hit. He was on base almost twice a game.
Wynn had a poor year in 1971 and I looked up why. He was injured mainly because his wife stabbed him during an argument. Not only was he physically hurt, but Wynn also said he was mentally unable to perform that year. Who could blame him? There was a lot on his mind. A lot of it might have been his fault, but the Astros should have gotten him some help at the time. Of course, that wasn’t what was happening at the time.
One thing that is happening was in the beginning of Sabermetrics Jim Wynn was one of our golden children. We pointed out that Wynn was hurt by his ball park and he was a lot better player then he was given credit. However, now that sabermetrics is more accepted Wynn has been cast aside. One thing his 55.8, which is below their hall of fame threshold of 60. That is why I think you need to look at more than one formula and at more than formulas. In my opinion Jim Wynn is a hall of famer and I hope a group gets together to support him.
