My point is Ripkens year-by-year stats are okay but far from great. If you play 20 full seasons as he did the statistics pile up and get you into the HOF. All star games and HOF inductions are often done more on popularity than merit. All star games especially.
If you want to induct a guy into the HOF because he played a long time and was fairly consistent okay. I think only the great should get in. Here are some examples of his career:
He hit over .300 5 times. He hit .270 or under 11 times.
He only hit as many as 30 home runs 1 year.
In 20 years playing he got 100 RBIs 4 times.
His monster year was 1991 when he hit 34 homers, 114 RBI and hit .323.
Ripkens statistics per year are not much different from 10 time golden glove winner Andruw Jones.
Don't let the hype get into the way of the facts. I suspect Harper will have much the same career.
