Sure-fire Hall of Famers

[supertyphoon]

Tom Seaver holds the record with 98.8% in his first year of eligibility.

[paige91]

I voted for Rivera.

He is, without question, the best ever at his position / specialty. It also helps that by the time he becomes eligible for election, most of the old guard BBWAA members who refuse to acknowledge closers as worthy candidates will be retired or dead.

He holds the all-time record for saves, was at the top of his profession for more than a decade with little or no drop-off in performance as he got older. I think the Hall voters place very high value on a consistent level of excellence.

He was very good in the regular season, and nearly untouchable (on national TV) in the postseason. He was an integral part of a team that went to the playoffs every year, played on some the best teams ever assembled, and won multiple world series titles.

Bonus points for staying with the same team his entire career.

Because he plays in New York for the Yankees, his stature was probably exaggerated somewhat because of east coast media bias. If anything works against him, it will be Yankee haters. I just don't see that happening because along with Jeter, it's almost impossible not to admire the player, even if you hate the team he plays for.

[RICHARDMILTER]

I voted for Maddux but I don't see how anyone could not vote for all those guys.

I would really like to see Barry Larkin and Alan Trammell get into the Hall of Fame.

[FRANKMANSUETO]

Mariano Rivera. In our lives we have watched the GREATEST Closer of All-time. His body of work is unmatched as a Closer and in the playoffs were the pressure is greater, he is off the charts unbelievable. How ANY ONE could NOT vote for him would be ludicrous and they should have their voting rights revolted.

[Valen]

I simply cannot vote at all here. How anyone could leave any of these 4 off their ballots is beyond my comprehension. The only reason to leave any of these off a ballot would be the stubborn old nobody gets in on first try nonsense.

I mean in the group you have selected they were among the best at what they did from beginning to end of career. If any one of these do not make it first ballot the entire HOF should be packed in a rocket and launched in to space.

[andycummings65]

I think since the question is which of those players have the best chance at the highest percentage, the answer is Maddux. Rivera will have a few die hards say that closers are not worthy. The two hitters are great players with fabulous physical tools, who dont appear to be mere mortals.......
So........since I think a lot of the voting against steroids is by sportwriters who never played the game and think if THEY would have taken steroids that THEY would have been great baseball players, and since MAddux looks like an accountant or Clark Kent-sportswriter........THEREFORE, I think MAddux has the best chance to break Seaver's record :D

[PotKettleBlack]

Okay, let's look at this like a hall of fame voter, which is, wanting to be interesting by finding minute flaws and seeing myself as a guardian of a meaningless tradition (the sanctity of the first ballot being strictly for the immortals died around 1990).

I'm not voting for Rivera on the first ballot because he's a short inning guy. How many complete games did he pitch? If he was so great, why didn't he start? Where are the wins?

Pujols: I would have voted for him on the first ballot, except that he left St. Louis for more money. I am the holdout baseball writer, so I can hold that against him.

Griffey Jr: He wore his hat backwards and his shirt untucked. No respect for the history of the game. Never hit for average, lost a ton of time to injury, pitched for Pepsi. Oh, and the way he engineered his way out of Seattle, and the way that Seattle got instantly better... then the way he got himself out of Cincy, and they got better.

Maddux: Well, this one's hard, but stick with me. Can't keep him out on wins. Or Cy Youngs. Or Gold Gloves. I know, not enough strikeouts. Not nearly dominant enough. I can't put a guy with an 88 MPH fastball on the first ballot, no matter how fine his control. Oh, and he wears glasses and probably weighs 150 lbs soaking wet.

Collectively, I think the select BBWA hall of fame outlier voters lost their minds a bit when they put Seaver in with that high a number. It's like they collectively failed to be as picky and a-hole-ish as they are for everyone else.

For my money, Mo, Maddux and Pujols (depending on what happens next) would go in with 100% on the first ballot, but that would be exceedingly weird when Musial (93.2%), Ted Williams (93.4), Mays (94.7%), Aaron (97.8%), Bench (96.4%), Yaz (94.6%) Schmidt (96.5%) Brett (98.2%) etc did not get that.

It is also weird for Seaver and Nolan Ryan to be tied with 98.8%. Or for Ripken to have the position player record for 98.5%.

[Mean Dean]

Rivera is a reliever. That by definition means there is a case to be made against him. I would vote for him myself, but it would be an injustice if he were the first unanimous selection.

I voted for Maddux... but I forgot about Jeter, who is probably the correct answer. I suppose you could have a renegade stathead who thinks Jeter's defense costs 50 runs a year. But that's probably less likely than having a clown who "won't vote for anyone" from Maddux/Griffey's era, or thinks Pujols is on steroids, or what have you.

[MICHAELTARBELL]

I posted Maddux as having the best chance, but do not think he will surpass 98.8%.

Pujols, if continues to put up numbers at anywhere near his current pace, will probably have the best chance...but did not see him when I cast my vote!! LOL...

[TRW]

Maddux and Rivera are absolute locks for the HOF.

Someone said Maddux was not a dominant pitcher. I totally disagree with that. You don't have to be Randy Johnson to be dominant. The guy had 355 wins in his career and (18) 15-win seasons.

Rivera - arguably the best reliever of all time. Even if you want to argue about it, you still have to give him credit and say he's in the top 5 all-time.

Pujols - maybe the best 10 year consecutive season stretch of all time. No reason for me to believe he is not going into the HOF by the time his career is over.

Griffey - I have to agree with what some guys said earlier. Injuries, and attitude make this a tough call. He has the bottom line numbers, but that's only because he's been around forever. I think he's had maybe 5 great years.