Phillies Wall of Fame candidate: Placido Polanco

Good, but not great

Polanco fell short of the That Ball’s Outta Here top-50 players in franchise history, but he did receive a vote in that balloting. While his numbers are impressive, they fail to rank among the top-50 in several key categories in Phillies history such as games played, hits, and home runs.

Among current Wall of Famers Polanco has more hits than Jim Thome, but would otherwise have the fewest hits among hitters on the Wall of Fame. Every hitter on the Wall of Fame has either 1,000 hits or 100 home runs, and Polanco would be the first without either.

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While Polanco was liked overall as a player and keeps a good relationship with the organization, he’s not considered to be a beloved player. Someone like Carlos Ruiz who never reached 1,000 hits or 100 home runs will make the Wall of Fame as a beloved player who, like Polanco, was better served with a glove.

Polanco played on one of the greatest teams in franchise history, but he was never considered the best player on his own team. That’s a hard mountain to climb when playing with Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, and Roy Halladay, but it’s hard to find Polanco on the top-10 of any of his own teams.

On the 2011 team that set a club record with 101 wins Polanco probably ranks between 12-15 on the team despite being an All-Star. John Mayberry Jr. had a better oWAR than Polanco that season.

You can chalk Polanco up as a very good player who will be at Alumni Weekends for the rest of his life, but he, unfortunately, falls short of being a Wall of Famer.