OT: Former Blue Jay Carlos Delgado retires

[LittleOzzy]

Carlos Delgado has given up on coming back from a hip injury, announcing his retirement from baseball two years after he was sidelined.

The former New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays first baseman announced his decision at a news conference in his native Puerto Rico on Wednesday. The 38-year-old Delgado was in good spirits, laughing as friends presented him with a rocking chair as a retirement gift.

The two-time All-Star first baseman played 17 major league seasons, finishing with 473 home runs and a .280 batting average.

Delgado played for the Blue Jays from 1993-2004, went to the Florida Marlins for a season and finished out his career with the Mets from 2006-09.

He said he hasn't decided his next step.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/story ... z1JQVj7HJS

[neddamb]

I would love to see Delgado brought to the Rogers Stadium to celebrate what he did for the Blue Jays. What a class act.

[evilRyu]

this man needs to be honored.

[Randle McMurphy]

Greatest hitter in Jays history.

[evilRyu]

it's too bad he only had one playoff run in his career (Mets in 06)

[Brinbe]

I would love to see Delgado brought to the Rogers Stadium to celebrate what he did for the Blue Jays. What a class act.

Definitely, agreed 100%

[Kid Vicious]

There is absolutely no doubt this guy is going into the ring of honour.

Hall of Fame? Probably not...but he was still one of the greatest Jays of all time. Wish he could have played at least 1 damn playoff game in a Toronto uniform.

[Avenger]

greatest Jay ever and was outrageously under appreciated during his time in Toronto

[5DOM]

It really is crazy that Delgado and Halladay didn't play a single playoffs game for us. Anyway, I'll be clapping when he's honoured at Rogers Centre.

[Hoopstarr]

Best Jays hitter ever. He should go in the HOF but he won't.

[360windmill]

Hands down my favorite Blue Jay of all time! classy guy too. It sucks we never made the playoffs with him, we were close in 2000. But wasn't he a part of the '93 champion team? he didn't play in the playoffs but was still part of the team right?

And the only video of Carlos I could find on youtube:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQvWGkGU0O[/youtube]

we always fail to deliver a good team around our stars Raptors or Jays

[Homer Jay]

He stands out from his era as one of the top sluggers NOT implicated with steroids. He should go in the hall of fame on that alone. His 2000 was the best season ever for a Jays hitter.

[Schad]

Best Jays hitter ever. He should go in the HOF but he won't.

Agreed...compare the cases of Delgado and Chipper Jones, who is rightfully considered a shoo-in:


Jones - 9697 career PAs, .306/.405/.536, OPS+ of 142. 436 HRs, 1499 RBI.

Delgado - 8657 career PAs, .280/.383/.546, OPS+ of 138. 473 HRs, 1512 RBI.


Not much to choose between them...Chipper's career batting average is better (in large part because of the beginning/end of Delgado's career), Delgado hit for more power, Chipper has a slight edge in longevity. If Chipper goes in easily, Delgado should have a shot. Unfortunately, HOF logic doesn't work that way.

[Modern_epic]

You are leaving out one pretty darned important factor in that comparison Schad: Chipper played 3B and Delgado 1B. That and his longevity have Chipper 35 WAR ahead of Delgado. I love Carlos, but he is a borderline case, while Chipper is rightfully a shoe-in.

(I actually started this post intending to call Carlos a fairly poor defensive 1B, but UZR/150 ranks him out better then I thought it would. He's a worse at 1st than Chipper is at 3rd, but only a bit.)

[Schad]

You are leaving out one pretty darned important factor in that comparison Schad: Chipper played 3B and Delgado 1B. That and his longevity have Chipper 35 WAR ahead of Delgado. I love Carlos, but he is a borderline case, while Chipper is rightfully a shoe-in.

Not arguing that Delgado is Chipper's equal...however, the issue is that Delgado will get overlooked both if you're looking at the 'traditional' HOF signifiers (ie., the raw counting stats, where Delgado measures up well against a guy like Chipper), and if you're looking at the advanced stats (where Delgado's peak was similar to the likes of Jim Rice, though a couple years shorter owing to injury).

He's definitely a borderline case, but the reality is that he won't even stick on the ballot beyond his first year, which is silly.

[Modern_epic]

You are leaving out one pretty darned important factor in that comparison Schad: Chipper played 3B and Delgado 1B. That and his longevity have Chipper 35 WAR ahead of Delgado. I love Carlos, but he is a borderline case, while Chipper is rightfully a shoe-in.

Not arguing that Delgado is Chipper's equal...however, the issue is that Delgado will get overlooked both if you're looking at the 'traditional' HOF signifiers (ie., the raw counting stats, where Delgado measures up well against a guy like Chipper), and if you're looking at the advanced stats (where Delgado's peak was similar to the likes of Jim Rice, though a couple years shorter owing to injury).

He's definitely a borderline case, but the reality is that he won't even stick on the ballot beyond his first year, which is silly.

Fair enough. Though he strikes me as the 10% sort of guy, who people in TO and NYC will vote for one year out of tribute, but then drop off the next year.

And Jim Rice sucks (as a HOFer).

[Hoopstarr]

For some reason I always assumed Chipper had a gold glove or two.

There's pretty much a 0% chance Carlos gets in because he didn't win anything (damn Mets choke-a-thons), the era he played in, and the lack of insane longevity the voters love. But I'm a Big Hall guy and I think McGriff should be in too. I mean, Jim Rice and Andre Dawson are in the HOF.

[evilRyu]

Carlos Delgado was on the Jeff Blair show

http://www.fan590.com/ondemand/media.js ... 12720_8524

[Evermore]

I'll remember Delgado for his swing...

He could crush with the best of them


I'm surprised he was only a 2 time all-star

[CanadianKnicksFan]

All time great Blue Jay.

He was great.