John Kruk Named 2011 Phillies Wall of Fame Inductee over Curt Schilling

In a surprising move, John Kruk will be this year’s inductee to the Phillies’ Wall of Fame.

Many remember Kruk as the charismatic, All-Star first baseman from the early 1990s teams, including the memorable 1993 World Series runner-up team.

Acquired from the San Diego Padres early in the 1989 season for Chris James, Kruk was an on-base machine throughout his six seasons in Philadelphia. His .400 on-base percentage is currently sixth all-time in team history. From 1991 through 1993, he was one of the best first basemen in the game, hitting .311/.407/.472 and making three All-Star game appearances.

However, does a three-year stretch of excellence really trump Curt Schilling? Kruk’s 19.7 WAR (per baseball-reference.com) is 30th in Phillies history among position players and far behind Schilling’s 34.6 WAR, which is fifth among pitchers in team history.

Schilling’s excellence lasted much longer than Kruk’s, spanning nine seasons from 1992 until being traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks midway through 2000. During this time, he posted a 3.35 ERA in 1,659.1 innings, with 61 complete games, 14 shutouts, 1,554 strikeouts and three All-Star selections. Only Pedro Martinez, Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson, Kevin Brown, Mike Mussina and Roger Clemens posted convincingly better WAR than Schilling from that period. 

I’m not sure if there’s still a grudge left over from his departure in 2000, when Ed Wade was in charge, but I do not believe the Phillies went solely with the best player available. In time Kruk was going to make it to the Wall of Fame anyway, and congratulations to him on it being this year.

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