Is Brandon Crawford Hall of Fame-worthy?

Sports dynasties are often followed by several Hall of Fame ceremonies.

The 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers, 1980s Showtime Los Angeles Lakers, 1990s New York Yankees are teaming with stars from those eras who were immortalized in their respective sport’s Hall of Fames.

I’ve often thought about how the 2010, 2012 and 2014 San Francisco Giants will be remembered when it comes to election into the Baseball Hall of Fame. I usually conclude that those special Giants teams will be less represented than we all hope, which is no surprise, since this dynasty has never truly gotten its due credit for what it accomplished in that glorious five-year stretch.

Honestly, I think the Giants’ representation in the Cooperstown, New York, museum will be small: Buster and Boch.

There is much need to talk about the merits of catcher Buster Posey and manager Bruce Bochy. They will very likely be deservedly elected.

Madison Bumgarner could get in, but his overall resume may not impress voters despite what he did in those postseasons, including the legendary Game 7 display in 2014.

Tim Lincecum? He just didn’t have the prolonged success Hall of Fame voters look for.

If it were up to me, I’d put both MadBum and Timmy in. But of course, it’s not up to me.

This week, though, I have not been able to stop thinking about another Giants’ dynasty possible Hall of Fame candidate: Brandon Crawford. You know, the heart and soul of this fun 2021 team.

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Of course, Crawford has been so much more to the Giants than being a hero this season and that’s why he should be in the Hall of Fame conversation. The great shortstop has quietly built a case for Cooperstown.

The Bay Area native and lifelong Giants fan who was drafted in the fourth round our of UCLA in 2008 has been a mainstay in San Francisco’s infield since 2011. Of course, on Tuesday, Crawford set the Giants’ all-time franchise (they’ve been in business since 1883) record for games played by a shortstop.

Crawford is a two-time World Series winner, a two-time All-Star, a three-time Gold Glove winner and a Silver Slugger winner. He also has a ton of awesome single game memories, including a grand slam in his first MLB game, the huge grand salami in Pittsburgh to start the 2014 World Series run and has been an author of countless breathe-taking defensive gems, including this somewhat important one.

Plus, he is playing arguably the best baseball of his life at the age of 34.

All of this merits Hall of Fame discussion. Perhaps nationally, that faction will catch on because as we know, HoF candidates need media support as lame as that may be.

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The problem may be that Crawford, a career .250 hitter with 120 home runs, may not have enough All-Star games and Gold Gloves under his belt for Hall of Fame election or prolonged offensive sizzle. Here are the offensive stats of all of the shortstops in the Hall of Fame. As you can see, not all of them were offensive wizards.

If you put the whole picture in mind and realize this has been a golden era of shortstop play, Crawford has been a standard bearer of excellent baseball for more than a decade for a premier franchise.

To me, that makes Crawford a borderline HoFer, at the very least.