Hall of Fame Ballot

The Hall of Fame Ballot has been announced. Which of the nominees would you vote for and why (or why not)?

Moises Alou
Jeff Bagwell
Armando Benitez
Craig Biggio
Barry Bonds
Sean Casey
Roger Clemens
Ray Durham
Eric Gagne
Tom Glavine
Luis Gonzalez
Jacque Jones
Todd Jones
Jeff Kent
Paul Lo Duca
Greg Maddux
Edgar Martinez
Don Mattingly
Fred McGriff
Mark McGwire
Jack Morris
Mike Mussina
Hideo Nomo
Rafael Palmeiro
Mike Piazza
Tim Raines
Kenny Rogers
Curt Schilling
Richie Sexson
Lee Smith
J.T. Snow
Sammy Sosa
Frank Thomas
Mike Timlin
Alan Trammell
Larry Walker

Okay, I'll bite.

I tend to be forgiving about steroid use (though I know I shouldn't be, given how it trickles down to high school -- and even junior high school -- sports and I know about the integrity clause, but I have long given up on sports and integrity) so my list will be large:

Bagwell
Bonds
Clemens
Glavine
Maddux
Martinez
Mussina
Palmeiro
Piazza
Raines
Schilling
Thomas
Trammell
Walker

What about some justice for Bobby Grich and Lou Whitaker?

Bill

All-Star ballot?

Did you intend to write "Hall of Fame" ballot?

I picked these players based on my own subjective evaluation of statistical performance plus various SABR measures such as Bill James' Hall of Career Standards and Hall of Fame Monitor, as well as the Jaffe WAR score system (JAWS) which I don't even understand but sounds impressive; all tempered by the general buzz on likely steroids enhancement in achieving these measures.

Maddux 5008 IP; 355 Wins; 3.16 ERA, 1.143 WHIP, 104.6 WAR
Thomas 1494 runs; .301 BA; 521 HR; 1704 RBI's; .555 SLG
Biggio - 3060 hits; 1844 runs; 414 SB
Bagwell - 449 HR; 1529 RBI's; OBP .408;
Piazza - 427 HR; 1335 RBI's .545 SLG

Bonds and Clemens would be obvious shoe-ins, but the steroid issue leaves them off my ballot for at least a few more years

All-Star ballot?

Did you intend to write "Hall of Fame" ballot?

Yes, I did. Boy, do I need something from BALCO to get me through the day.

Thanks for catching that.

Bill

We will see moralizing and hand-wringing from the self-ordained "protectors of the Hall" but there really is no justification for a ballot like this not to have the maximum 10 names. Any knucklehead turning in a blank ballot "to make a statement" about the era these ballplayers were a part of should also turn in his membership card as well.

These are the most deserving 10 in my opinion.

Bagwell
Biggio
Bonds
Clemens
Glavine
Maddux
McGwire
Piazza
Raines
Thomas

I expect Maddux to sail in with at least 95% of the vote. And I wouldn't be surprised if only 2 or 3 are elected in 2014. The sheer number of greats will result of many deserving players being left off a full ballot, and the controversy surrounding suspicions of PED use will make 75% of the ballots very hard to reach this time.

Maddux
Biggio
Thomas
Raines
Morris
Glavine
Kent
Schilling
Piazza (no real proof of steroid use)
Bonds (pre juice head Bonds would have been a HOF)


Bagwell, McGwire & Sosa are purely the creation of Steroids

Here is my ballot

Bagwell
Bonds
Biggio 3,000 hits, 4th all time with 668 doubles
Clemens
Glavine
Maddux
Mussina 270 wins 3.68 ERA
Piazza
Raines 5th all time with 808 SB's, .385 onbase, 170 HR, (Poor Man's Rickey)
Thomas

This is a list of guys I would not vote for- because they had a few great/really good seasons but not enough sustained greatness. (perception might be 9/10ths of the law in my brain)
All the other ones can make a fairly easy case for.

Moises Alou
Armando Benitez
Sean Casey
Ray Durham
Eric Gagne
Luis Gonzalez
Jacque Jones
Todd Jones
Paul Lo Duca
Hideo Nomo
Kenny Rogers
Richie Sexson
J.T. Snow
Mike Timlin

Maddux
Thomas
Biggio
Raines
Glavine
Bagwell

Here's a question for the board: What about Jeff Kent? His numbers relative to other HOF second basemen are excellent. I know he was mediocre defensively -- but 1500 ribbies, 550+ 2bs, 377 homers, MVP, multiple silver slugger awards ... tough to say no to those accomplishments.