Dreaming of Darrell Evans and the Hall of Fame

Dreams are funny. Why do we dream about steak when we had ice cream at 10 PM? Why do thoughts of Winter during a 2 AM snooze in the Summer suddenly arrive in our craniums? And why is it that Sunday night/Monday morning was I having an argument with a faceless individual, insisting that Darrell Evans belongs in the Hall of Fame?

Oh man, I was flipping out. I was insisting that it was a sham that Evans, who had retired with over 60o home runs was getting shafted out of his rightful place in Cooperstown!

Wait, over 600 home runs?

Awake me knows that Darrell Evans didn’t have over 600 dingers. But dreaming me knew darn well he was only one of ten players to ever eclipse that magical number. I was so convinced of this in my dream that when I temporarily opened my eyes in the middle of the night, I just knew Evans had a great case for the Hall of Fame based on his power numbers. I went right back to sleep and right back to my one sided argument. There really wasn’t a lot of dialogue, just me doing all of the talking and gesturing, pleading with this unnamed person to hear me out about Evans’ candidacy.

When I woke up for good, I had to figure out how many home runs Darrell Evans actually hit. I knew it was over 400 so I guessed 450. The number was actually 414. I knew about some of his other accomplishments. For instance, in 1973, he, Hank Aaron and Davey Johnson all hit 40 or more home runs for the Atlanta Braves, the first time three teammates hit at least 40 or more homers in one season. He was the first player to hit 40 home runs in one season in both leagues. He was a World Series Champion as a member of the 1984 Detroit Tigers. Perhaps most importantly, he is my go to guy for a Braves-Giants-Tigers spot in Immaculate Grid.

Upon researching further, I realized Evans was more than just a power hitter. He twice led the National League in walks, while striking out more than 100 times in a season only three times over the course of his 21 year career. He finished with a .361 on-base percentage and at the time of his retirement after the 1989 season, he was only the 22nd player to hit 400 or more home runs. When Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s career home run record, it was Evans who was on first base.

It only took up about 1% of my overall sleep that night but it felt like an all-night jam session. I woke up kind of tired because of the energy I put into my argument. No, Darrell Evans did not hit 600 home runs. But he was an even better player than what I remember.