It would be reasonable to ask – why do we need yet another catcher in the Hall of Fame? However, while Eddie Helms is a guy who may not have the flashy home run totals of Jones and Stanton, he was clearly a dominant force in his day, at his position and he has a World Series ring to show for it. On top of that, his career average of .320 is far and away better than Jones .280 and Stanton’s .267. Helms’ OPS of .937 is clearly superior to Jones’ and Stanton’s .906 and .862, respectively. Oh, and there’s this little thing called defense, fairly important for a catcher apparently. Helms has a superior CERA to either Stanton or Jones and threw out a higher percentage of baserunners than Stanton. It’s no coincidence that at the “helm” of the Anaheim Sharks, Eddie led the charge to playoff appearances in 10 of 13 seasons, but the Sharks have only done better than 3rd in their division once since his departure in S16. For serious students of the game, this really shouldn’t be a question.
Eddie Helms isn't a name that most people in Cobb are familiar with, and there is a good reason why. It's because he wasn't one of the best catchers to ever play the game, merely one of the good ones. If Patrick Stanton and Vernon Jones saw that Helms was elected to join their number in the Hall, I am pretty sure they would have to send a beatdown committee to visit the voters who put him there. Simply look at the awards, 6 AS appearances to Jones and Stantons 8; 3 Silver Sluggers to Jones and Stantons 4, less runs, hits, RBI, and HR's in similar games played. Quite simply, Helms just doesn't measure up to Jones and Stanton, who are the gauge by which all catchers in Cobb should be measured when being considered for the Hall of Fame.
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