Like a million other bloggers in this world, I'll never sniff a baseball job, let alone a chance to select which players are worthy of a Cooperstown induction. But that doesn't stop everyone from criticizing the writers' decision making, and won't stop me this year. So here is my ballot (a little late, I've been a little busy) ...
Barry Larkin - How long do you think it will be until another "Barry" makes the Hall? When healthy, this Barry was probably the best all around shortstop in the game (until a kid named Alex came around). How can someone be underrated and still make 12 All-Star games? Glad to see him elected.
Jeff Bagwell - No brainer. He's unfairly associated with the Steroids Era, despite no shred of evidence or even innuendo. Absolute travesty that a guy who averaged .297/.408/.540, 34HR and 15SB a year, and has a higher career OPS+ than Alex Rodriguez only sniffed 56% of the vote. He should have been a first ballot guy, and hopefully will make it in next year with his teammate Craig Biggio.
Tim Raines - For a decade, Rock was basically a poor man's Rickey Henderson, but because he was hiding in Montreal for so long, is not getting the respect he deserves. The only knock on him might be he hung around too long, after his best years were way behind him.
Larry Walker - Yes his stats look gaudy because of his years in Colorado, but so what? He still had an OPS+ of 128 before coming to The Humidor. Babe Ruth hit a lot of home runs with a right field porch only 314 feet away, and who dares say his home runs aren't authentic? Walker was a beast at the plate, could steal bases, and won 7 Gold Gloves. Vote him in.
Alan Trammell - Growing up in the 80's, we was one of my favorite ball players. He was always unfairly in Cal Ripken's shadow, who made 19 straight All-Star games. He also lost a bit of thunder being half of one of the greatest DP combos of all time. Sweet Lou Whitaker didn't quite have Hall numbers, but I sure would love to see the two somehow immortalized together. I used to think Trammell wasn't good enough, but this post by DesigNate Robinson changed my mind.
Fred McGriff - The Crime Dog simply had staying power. Just shy of 500 home runs, a .284/.377/.509 lifetime line is good enough for me.
The guys I can't quite bring myself to vote for are Jack Morris (I used to think he belonged, but I keep flip-flopping), Lee Smith (racking saves up is nice, but averaging 85 innings a year just doesn't seem hall worthy to me), Edgar Martinez (I'll probably change my mind on him someday, but for now a full time DH needs more than 2200 hits or 300 home runs to make it in my book), Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy (they just didn't excel long enough), and Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro (should be first ballot no doubters, but when you know they used steroids, you can discriminate. I hope they're veterans committee selections, I think that would be a good course for the druggies that should be in).
Looking ahead to next year, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Roger Clemens fall into my steroiders discrimination, while Craig Biggio and Mike Piazza should make it in easy. I'll have to explore Curt Schilling and Kenny Lofton further.
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