A plaque for Omar

When the San Francisco Giants visit Cleveland on Tuesday, it will mark Omar Vizquel's first visit to the Jake in four years. Vizquel is certainly in the latter stages of a very good career, but how good is the question.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer welcomes Omar back to town with a poll asking whether Vizquel is Hall of Fame worthy. As of right now, that poll is a 95% 'yes' vote. Add your vote here.

Vizquel's consideration for the Hall of Fame is based almost entirely on defense. He's hit just .273 with 73 career homers. His range factor of 4.40 is above average (4.10) for a shortstop during his era, and his .984 fielding clip is .012 better than the average player from 1989 through 2008. By comparison, Ozzie Smith fielded with a range factor of 5.05, markedly better than the 4.10 of his day. Smith's fielding percentage is .978 -- that's worse than Vizquel -- but also .012 better than the shortstops of his day. Vizquel has won 11 Gold Gloves and made three All-Star appearances in 20 MLB seasons. Smith won 13 Gold Gloves and made 15 All-Star teams, even with a career batting average of just .262 in his 19 seasons.

Not many shortstops can compare favorably with Smith defensively over their career, and although Vizquel comes up short against the Wizard statistically, it would appear he has a good shot at the HOF.