Yankees: 3 Hall of Fame Outfielders Who Weren't as Good as Bernie Williams

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These three Baseball Hall of Famers weren’t as good as Yankees OF Bernie Williams.

New York Yankees great Bernie Williams’ Hall of Fame chances appear to be next to nil, but we’re genuinely not sure why.

A powerful hitter, agile defender, and clutch performer, Williams seems to be falling victim to whatever’s been plaguing Andruw Jones’ Hall chances the past few years (except one small difference: Williams won rings).

Bernie went Boom off the ballot in his second year of eligibility in 2013, accruing just 3.3% of the vote, but we’d like to write some wrongs. While his case is a bit less airtight than Andy Pettitte’s, the Yankees’ dynastic center fielder was so clearly better than these Hall of Fame outfielders that we feel the need to point it out.

New York Yankees outfielders, feat. Earle Combs (Photo by Mark Rucker/Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images) /

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Bernie Williams was a better baseball player than New York Yankees Hall of Famer Earle Combs.

3. Earle Combs, Yankees CF

Long before Williams roamed center field at the old Yankee Stadium, there was a far older Yankee Stadium, with far odder dimensions, that belonged to Earle Combs.

Combs was a member of the 1927 Murderers’ Row Yankees, and was somewhat grandfathered into the Hall by the Veteran’s Committee in 1970, back when the Boys Club of former players left the door open for plenty of their friends who they remembered as being…pretty good!

The Kentucky Colonel, as he was known, hit .325 with 1,866 hits and 58 homers in just 12 years, winning three World Series in the process (though logging just a single at-bat in the 1928 affair due to a broken finger).

Very good player during a bygone era? Of course! But Bernie ranks eight spots ahead of him on the JAWS leaderboard all-time among center fielders, a solid metric for Hall of Fame induction. The more modern Yank also out-WARs Combs 49.6 to 43.9, via Baseball Reference.

The Waner Brothers, Lloyd and Paul, along with Freddie Lindstrom (Photo by Mark Rucker/Transcendental Graphics, Getty Images) /

Lloyd Waner of the Pittsburgh Pirates was no Bernie Williams.

2. Lloyd Waner, Pirates CF

It almost feels unfair to pick on Waner here, but we simply have to. Quite simply, Bernie Williams runs laps around his resume.

Waner’s more famous brother Paul was a Pittsburgh Pirate standout in the ’20s, ’30s, and ’40s, and is a member of the 3,000-hit club. But just because one brother is famous doesn’t mean the other deserves our accolades. We don’t induct Kevin Jonas into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame just because Nick Jonas exists (and if neither gets in, expect another article…).

The other Waner was worth a measly 27.9 WAR throughout his career (per BRef), and ranks 106th on the all-time center fielder JAWS list. That’s Rondell White and Marlon Byrd territory. He’s behind Kevin Kiermaier. Something’s gotta give.

Williams, meanwhile, ranks 28th all-time, won four World Series, and notched 2,336 hits — just 123 fewer than Waner and his slap-happy singles. This choice is clear.

It was much easier for veterans with established cabals of friends on the Hall’s committee to gain enshrinement back in the day. I guess we should work on transferring power on the Veterans Committee to Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera if we want Bernie to get a fair shot? Favoritism has always worked. It could work again.

Jim Rice of the Boston Red Sox (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) /

Jim Rice of the Boston Red Sox was not as good as Bernie Williams

1. Jim Rice, Red Sox LF

Point blank: Jim Rice’s career didn’t matter as much as Bernie Williams’ did, in the grand scheme of baseball history.

Oh, and the numbers weren’t there — yes, it’s a bit easier to accrue leadership statistics if you roam center field instead of left, but Rice’s ’70s and ’80s tenure on some Red Sox teams that ranged from near-champions to moribund saw him rack up 42.1 JAWS, 27th among all left fielders and just ahead of Roy White. Compared to his positional competitors, he’s in just about the same boat as Bernie.

But, of course, that doesn’t factor in the rings, the indelible moments, the personality, and the extracurriculars. Bernie Williams was front and center on the greatest dynasty in the sport’s modern era, but he somehow still gets forgotten, overshadowed by Jeter, the rest of the Core, and even Paul O’Neill. Rice had prodigious power, was at the forefront of the Red Sox for over a decade, and played his entire career in the sportswriter haven of Beantown. It was easy to see why the baseball world decided Rice had been wrongly forgotten, and but it’s confusing they haven’t remembered to stump for Williams yet, after covering him for so many consecutive World Series victories.

Fine. We’ll do it for them.

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Yankees: 3 Hall of Fame Outfielders Who Weren’t as Good as Bernie Williams