Phillies Wall of Fame candidate: Placido Polanco

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PHOENIX, AZ – APRIL 25: Infielder Placido Polanco #27 of the Philadelphia Phillies in action during the Major League Baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on April 25, 2011 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks defeated the Phillies 4-0. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

Polanco was better than we remember

Polanco had 776 hits in 688 games over parts of seven seasons with the Phillies, and his 2,000 career hit was a two-run home run as a member of the Phillies. He falls short of the top-50 in career hits for the Phillies, but his 15.9 WAR is higher than Mike Lieberthal and Ryan Howard’s.

Among the six Wall of Fame candidates who are hitters, Polanco has more hits than two of them and more home runs than half of them. Unlike Bake McBride and Doug Glanville, Polanco won hardware with the Phillies, receiving an All-Star selection and winning a Gold Glove.

A 7.0 dWAR, the 14th best in franchise history, will help Polanco’s case. As a member of the Phillies Polanco became the first player in baseball history to win a Gold Glove at multiple infield positions in his career and the second to win a Gold Glove at multiple positions.

In his career, Polanco is the all-time leader in fielding percentage at both second base (.993) and third base (.983) among qualified fielders (players with at least 500 games at a position), according to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Unlike Rolen Polanco has remained in good standing with the team and fanbase, a critical requirement for the Wall of Fame. There was never any issue between Polanco, the organization nor the fans thanks to Polly being an all-around good guy who “played the game the right way.”

As he wrapped up his career, Polanco retired as a member of the Phillies in 2016 during Alumni Weekend.

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