Trivia

Name the 3 retired, non-Hall of Fame hitters with the most WAR though their first seven seasons:
1. Barry Bonds (I’ll give you #1)
2.
3.

WAR according to who? My guess is that fWAR and bWAR would be different answers.

Also, do cup of coffee seasons count?

bWAR

My guess is Knoblauch and Cesar Cedeno. Both of them came up on bad teams and never really struggled, and both careers went South early, Cedeno from knees and Knoblauch from throwing troubles. Joe Jackson would have them beat if his first 2 years (about 40 PA's) didn't count, since he had his two best years at ages 23 and 24. Fred Lynn is also a contender, since his injury problems arose in his 7th full season.

Vladimir Guerrero is likely on that list.
Shoeless Joe Jackson (but maybe his 3 seasons with virtually no playing time takes him off this list)

Maybe Pete Rose?
If no one signs Ichiro this off-season I would think he would be considered retired. If so he might be on the list.

I’ll answer the guesses by giving that player’s total bWAR in first seven seasons (whether full seasons or not):

First, Barry Bonds first 7 seasons combined bWAR is 50.1, over 10 higher than #2.

Knoblauch is an EXCELLENT guess. His first 7 bWAR is 37.7, only 0.8 off #3.

Cedeno is another excellent guess, 35.3

Dick Allen comes in just behind Cedeno at 35.2

Fred Lynn checks in at 32.0

Joe Jackson is at 31.9, but played sparingly his first 3 seasons, or he’d be #2 on this list.

Vlad Guerrero is at 31.2.

Pete Rose is at 30.2.

Fun comparison is Albert Pujols. He doesn’t fit these parameters because he’s not retired, and he will be a first ballot HOFer when he does retire. But his first 7 seasons of bWAR is 54.8.

Prince Fielder?
JD Drew
Juan Gonzalez

wait...gotta be ARod

A-Rod’s is 38.0, only 0.5 from #3

Ross Barnes?

Ross Barnes?

I've fallen and can't get up