Adam Dunn listed on 2020 Hall of Fame ballot

He hit more career dingers than Carl Yastrzemski, Jeff Bagwell, and Vlad Guerrero.

He drove in more runs than Tony Gwynn, Roberto Alomar, and the inimitable Joe Morgan.

His career OPS was better than those of Eddie Collins, Jim Rice, and Reggie Jackson.

He walked more in his career than Ken Griffey, Jr., who went into the Hall of Fame with the rest of the names listed here with some 99.3% of votes in his first year on the ballot.

On defense, he...well, he had a glove on most of the time.

His name: Adam Dunn.

In what can only be described as an incredibly polite gesture honoring what truly was a one of a kind career, the 2020 Hall of Fame ballot was released today, and on it is the name of Cincinnati Reds legend Adam Dunn. Hall of Fame ballot-tracker extraordinaire Ryan Thibodaux relayed that wonderful news earlier Monday.

Dunner played in just over 2000 career games in the big leagues, blasting 462 dingers in the process. He also ranks as one of the single most lumbering lumberers defensively in the history of baseball, something that became almost as big of a calling card in his career as his proclivity for belting tape-measure dingers.

On the one hand, he ranks as the 4th worst defender in the history of baseball among the 683 MLB players who received at least 6,000 career plate appearances, a feat that’s probably worth of ballot-inclusion in itself.

On the other hand, he did things to baseballs like this, which have rarely - if ever - been replicated by human beings:

“That’s gonna be long gone...Dunn and gone! That’s long-time outta here!”

Indeed, George. Indeed.

Adam Dunn is not going to be elected to the Hall of Fame this year, or likely ever. Watching him play, though, was fun as all hell, which is what this post was hoping to capture in even the most minor way.

Congrats on a flawed, yet completely brilliant career, Adam from Milwaukee.