Today is the day...1 PM Central. I am not sure why, but every year I look forward to the announcement of the new MLB Hall of Fame class. Part of it is likely that many of the players who are on the ballot or are coming onto the ballot are the guys that I grew up idolizing. Seriously, anyone who can say that they never pretended to be Gary Sheffield (with his crazy stance and pre-pitch hand movement) during a game of backyard wiffle ball probably isnt a real baseball fan, and may in fact be a Communist. The other part of the excitement is in seeing who History views as being included in the capitol A, All-Time Greats of the game. This year though, I am struggling to come to grips with the fact that many of the guys who are going to be considered All Time Greats (regardless of whether or not they get into the Hall) are getting snubbed by a group of people who make their living writing stories about baseball players, but sat back and watched as complicit accomplices while the players they are now morally skewering took substances that, while not illegal at the time, are now looked upon as a new brand of Lepresy.
I simply cannot understand how or why the Hall of Fame would want to pretend that players like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa (and in a simliar vein, Pete Rose)never played the game. If anything, their non-inclusion makes them a bigger story than were they to be included. Shoeless Joe Jackson was a great hitter in an era that was full of great hitters. But how many casual baseball fans know names like Harry Heilmann (who hit over .393 4 different times in a 7 year period and finished with a 342/410/520 career slash line over 17 years) or John's somehow relative George Sisler (who hit over .407 twice including a 420/467/594 line in 1922, and hit 340/379/468 over 15 years)? They are both Hall of Famers by any measure, yet they are relatively anonymous in comparision to non HOFer Jackson. Banning Jackson, and Rose, merely makes certain that they will be brought up every year at this time. The same will likely be true with Bonds (the game's single season and career home run leader) and Clemens (and his 354 victories and 7 Cy Young awards), even long after their 10 year inclusion clock expires.
Were it up to me, I would induct players based on their stats, regardless of their suspected or verified use of roids. If there were verified use, slap a big ole scarlet S on their plaque for all the world to see for all time...don't block it out, embrace it as a part of game's history...just like spitballs, greenies, betting on games. Hell, using a plane for travel could be considered a performance enhancer. Could you imagine someone like David Ortiz fitting into a train car bed for a trip from Boston to Chicago?
Anyways, there are 34 names on this year's ballot...and the rules say that writers can vote for up to 10. I would go through all 34 one at a time, but, as it turns out, I like my family and sleep, so thats not going to happen. So I will just hit the highlights on some of the misses and then hit the 10 I would vote for had I the chance. One note, I am a proponent of a big Hall - the more the merrier - so I feel that if someone can vote for 10, they should vote for 10 (as long as there are 10 worthy candidates).
First timers, AKA Not so near misses who wont be on the ballot again-
"Everyday" Eddie Guardado - If this were the Hall of Very Good Mexican Born Left Handed Relievers, Eddie would have a shot to get in someday...except that he wouldnt, because he was actually born in California...moving on.
Tom "Flash" Gordon - Gordon won 138 games, saved 158 more, called Fenway, Wrigley and Yankee Stadium home at different times in his career and fathered 2 MLB caliber sons. He certainly isnt Hall of Fame worthy, but he sure has lived a pretty good life.
Brian Giles - Somehow Giles has no nickname listed on BR...which is like, borderline impossible. While he didnt have the longevity that marks even a Hall of Very Good career, he was legitimately one of the most feared hitters in the NL from 1999 through 2003. For his career, he finished with 287 HRs, 1087 RBIs, an even .400 OBP over 15 seasons and walked 348 more times than he struck out.
Nomar Garciaparra - Mr. Mia Hamm was on the Hall path until 2003, then fell off and hit every brick on the way down. Something tells me that he will get over this snub with a little tenderness from his wife. For those of you who are too young to remember Mia Hamm, she was pretty much Alex Morgan before Alex Morgan could walk.
Others: Tony Clark, Aaron Frickin Boone, Troy Percival, Rich Aurilla, Jermaine Dye, Cliff Floyd, Jason Schmidt, Darin Erstad, Carlos Del-got it
First Timers who will eventually get in
John Smoltz - Smoltzy should stay on the ballot, and may well get in at some point, but not with a ballot this crowded with superstars. He won 213 games and saved 154, but his stats arent very much different from Mussina or Schilling's...and (spoiler alert) neither of them should be punching their ticket this year either.
Repeaters, but not-gonna-get-it-yet
Craig Biggio - If you play until you are 297 years old, it shouldnt matter that you got to 3000 hits. Biggio was a great player (and part of the awesomely named Killer Bs with Bagwell, Berkman and Derek Bell...for a year or two), but he wasnt in the same class as contemporary Robbie Alomar. If you can only pick 10, hes out...he isnt one of the best 10 players on the ballot this year.
Curt Schilling - He should get in eventually as well, just not this year. A trio of Smoltz, Mussina and Schilling would be a great class, in 2016 or 2017, after the ballot clears out a bit. They could actually probably give them a single plaque with the name Mihort Musilltz and combine all of their career accolades.
Edgar Martinez - This one pains me as he is one of the greatest hitters that I ever watched play baseball and he should have gone into the Hall with Frank Thomas in a hitter's extrordinaire pairing. He gets left off now because he didnt bring a glove to games for the majority of his career and the other guys did (even if it was a bad one). He absolutely should be included at some point.
Others: Donny Baseball, The Crime Dog, Jeff Kent, Mussina, Alan Trammell, Lee Smith, Tim "Aldo" Raines
The 10-
1 - Mark McGwire
2 - Sammy Sosa
Enough already. Who cares that McGwire "didnt want to talk about the past" or that Sosa likely used more juice than Snapple? Put them in and make sure that they are marked as admitted (Big Mac) or suspected (and bat corker - Sosa) Roiders. Not only did these guys single-handedly (dual-handedly?) bring baseball back into the national consciousness with their 1998 Home Run Derby Regular Season, but they are 8th (Sosa with 609) and 10th (McGwire with 583) on the career HR list. Beyond that, for a 4 or 5 year run, when McGwire or Sosa were at bat, you stopped what you were doing and watched the game because, if you didnt, you were going to miss something truely awe-inspiring.
3 - Roger Clemens
So Roger Clemens had stuff shot into his butt cheek on a regular basis (allegedly)...no one thought it was a problem that a man in his age 41 and 42 year old seasons threw a combined 425 innings, striking out 403 batters using mostly mid 90s fastballs while putting up some of the best ERA/WHIP numbers of his long and storied career? It is insane that the media continues to villify players after the fact when it is fairly clear that the evidence was readily available while the player was still playing and those same writers were doing articles commending them for their workout regimine and drive. So what if Clemens is a smug ass hole who is more concerned about his own image than about the game? Turns out...so are 90% of the other players in baseball and in the Hall.
4 - Barry Lamar Bonds
Speaking of smug ass holes.... The MLB career leader in Home Runs has to be in the Hall of Fame...even if his head grew 7 sizes during his MLB career and he earned the nickname Big Head Barry. Wait...the MLB career hit leader isnt in the Hall of Fame either? Dumbness. Anyways...Bonds was the prototype for the power-speed OFer when he came into the league winning 3 MVPs before he (supposedly) saw Big Mac and Sammy stealing the thunder with their HRs and decided he wanted in on that action. He had 10 season where he was 20HR-20SB or better, including a 40-40 season and finished his career with 514 stolen bases. He led MLB in OBP 10 times, including a 4 season stretch where his season OBP lines went .515, .582, .529 and .609. For 4 years (2443 plate appearances), he was on base roughly 55% of the time he batted. He even won 8 Gold Gloves (some of them were even deserved!) A Hall of Fame without him cannot be a baseball history museum.
5 - Gary Sheffield
Sheff didnt have the massive peak that defines some Hallf of Famers nor did he win any MVP awards, but he did have a 22 year career that finished with a 292/393/514 slash line, 509 HRs, and 253 SBs. In reality, he wont get in, and would be a lower teir Hall member, but, as I said earlier, I think more is better.
6 - Mike Piazza
Lets take a quick recap. The player with the most hits ever isnt in the Hall, and isnt going to be anytime soon. The player with the most HRs and MVPs ever isnt in the Hall and is struggling to gain momentum. The player with the most Cy Young awards ever isnt in the Hall and is struggling to gain momentum. Now add, the best hitting Catcher of all time isnt in the Hall and is struggling to gain momentum. Piazza hit 308/377/545 for his career and had over 30 HRs in a season 9 different times, while playing almost exclusively at the game's most demanding position. No one will ever confuse Piazza for Yadier Molina with the glove, but he wasnt as bad as many people remember and his defensive deficiencies were more than accounted for with his bat. Not bad for a guy who was drafted in the 62nd round (which no longer even exists) and was only taken as a favor to his father's friend, Tommy Lasorda.
7 - Jeff Bagwell
Before his age 35 season, Bagwell was at least 35% better than the league average in OPS every year of his career, topping out with an insane OPS+ of 213 with 1994s 368/451/750 slash in the strike year. He had 9 30 HR seasons and 10 double digit SB seasons. He even had a pair of 40 HR-30SB seasons. He was a monster hitter for over a decade, played solid defense and was key member of a solid run of Astros teams.
8 - Larry Walker
Larry Walker started his sports life as a goalie in Canada and his nickmane is Booger. That alone should be enough to put him in the Hall as a character story. Fortunately, he also was fairly decent at hitting baseballs. From 1994 through 2004, his worst season was a 284/422/476 slash line. In that stretch, he OPS'ed over 1.000 6 different times, including his MVP 1997 season 366/472/720 line with 46 2bs, 49 HRs, 33 SBs and a gold glove. For his career, he was an Escalator Club member at 313/400/565. Walker is unfairly judged for having played his home games at Coors Field, (he hit a completely insane 381/462/710 at Coors Field for his entire career...aka 597 games) but he was simply a great player who played great at home and benefited from his home being a park where balls flew. If Coors hitters are held to a different standard, will there never be a Rockies Hall of Famer?
9 - Pedro Martinez
10- Randy Johnson
The jheri c
url and the mullet. If you dont know why these guys should be first ballot, no brainer Hall of Famers, you probably dont watch baseball.
Warning...warning... the fantasy draft is a mere 43 days away.
