What O's HOF (provided they were in their prime) would you add to the current roster?

[Matt]

There's a difference between prime years and peak year. Cal's prime was between ages 22-30 when he aceraged an .822 OPS and a 131 OPS+. His age 30 year was his peak, when he put up a 162 OPS+. The rest of his career to age 40 he averged a 96 OPS +

If you are considering career averages, then you are having a different argument than me (or than the OP intended).

[Frobby]

In Cal's best years, he was better than Frank ever was. Over the course of their careers, Frank was the better player.

I can't make it any simpler than that.

I think this is a fair enough statement. Cal played the most demanding defensive position on the field, and was far above average at doing so in his best years. And, he was a very good hitter for his position.

I think there are several reasons a lot of Oriole fans regard Frank as the better player:

1. He was the better hitter by a wide margin.

2. He was a fiery, outspoken leader.

3. The Orioles won a ton of games while he was here.

I'd venture a guess that if Cal had played on the 1966-71 Orioles instead of Luis Aparicio and Mark Belanger, and the O's had a decent player in RF instead of Frank, the Orioles would have done very well. But we'll never know. Frank Robinson is associated with the Orioles winning; Cal, not so much, though he was MVP of a World Series-winning team and played on a couple other playoff teams.

[El Gordo]

If you are considering career averages, then you are having a different argument than me (or than the OP intended).

Depends on what you consider being in ones prime means. In most cases people take a players prime to be the years he has his peak consistency. Often ages 26-32 are regarded as prime. but in the case of Cal for example his best years came earlier in his career. His 162 OPS+season came at age 30, and was an outlier, after years of 105, 128,1 05, 114. After that he was in the 90's except for seasons at 107, 102 and a half year at 144. On the other hand Frank's prime could be regarded as virtually his whole career. He had 7 seasons at 160 OPS+ or better. In only 6 of his 21 seasons did he ever hit below a 140 OPS+, only below 130 in 4, and 3 of those were in his last years with CAL and CLE. But I'll take his peak season of 198 OPS+ if that's the game we want to play.

[luismatos4prez]

1. He was the better hitter by a wide margin.

2. He was a fiery, outspoken leader.

3. The Orioles won a ton of games while he was here.

That, and the old childhood effect. I think it's that more than anything, really.