Hall of Fame Ballot

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.

I hear you, but somehow -- and I don't why -- he just doesn't get my vote. I can't even imagine what the Giant clubhouse was like with both Kent and Bonds in the same room. I'm not sure which one of them I would inflict my worst enemy with...

Bill

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

Johnny, I'm fine with your list except for lumping Bagwell with McGwire and Sosa. As far as I know, there is no proof or reasonable implications that Bagwell used any PEDs. Furthermore, if your issue with steroids includes morals and personal character as part of the mix, Jeff Bagwell had the reputation with players, fans, and reporters throughout his career as one of the really good guys. Personally, I worked with Jeff at the end of his career trying to help him deal with an injury and get back on the field. I certainly was not in the loop with his innermost thoughts and secrets, but I saw a guy who respected the game and respected other people.

"Johnny, I'm fine with your list except for lumping Bagwell with McGwire and Sosa. As far as I know, there is no proof or reasonable implications that Bagwell used any PEDs. Furthermore, if your issue with steroids includes morals and personal character as part of the mix, Jeff Bagwell had the reputation with players, fans, and reporters throughout his career as one of the really good guys."

My 2 cents... While I don't have any proof at all, I'm guessing MOST players used during the "Steroid Era" I'm gonna also guess that A LOT of guys still use today. I have no problems voting in players because it still takes skill and hard work to hit a ball. I think the guys that didn't get caught were more discreet in their use. They were "good" guys. They didn't piss off anybody. They kept their "training" to themselves. On the other hand, the ones that got caught, weren't discreet enough or missed a payment on their "supplements" or got too talkative to the wrong person one night etc...
Maybe they got a bit too big for their britches.

That being said, I have no problems with Bagpipes entering the Hall.

Re Bagwell: in my opinion, and this is only my opinion, the guy juiced big time. The guy was massive in his playing days-he was definitely pumped on something. He started his career looking looking like Mark Grace and by the end of it looked like Giambi. If you look at his career splits, the numbers are really impressive-too impressive. I thought maybe it was a product of Minute Maid/Enron but he played more than half his career in the Astrodome and put up numbers that no one can touch. He started his career looking looking like Mark Grace and by the end of it looked like Giambi. In dealing with the steroid era, guys who routinely put up 300-30-100 were nothing special (contrast that with Andrew McCutchen who was NL MVP this year and didn;t hit 25 hrs nor drive in 100) it was par for the course in that high scoring era so really, when judging about who should get in or out, there are certain qualifiers that I use. Piazza, who put up monster numbers as a catcher (and has steroid rumors attached to him) gets the benefit of the doubt from me because he did it as a catcher which is something rare and extraordinary whereas Bagwell had 7-8 contemporaries who put up big numbers as a IB. If Bagwell gets in, then Palmiero who has 3000 hits, 500hrs, should he get in also? (steroids) McGriff? I listed my 10 who I think are most deserving. Bagwell, to me, is border line. This is what sucks about that whole era because no one knows who did what - all we can go by is our own personal judgments. What we do know is that offense and HR's have dropped considerably since that era. My 2 cents

Greg Maddux
Frank Thomas
Alan Trammell (How can he not be a Hall of Famer?)
Larry Walker
Craig Biggio
Tim Raines
Jack Morris
Tom Glavine
....also,

Buddy Bell .... SIX Gold Gloves and better offensive number than Brooks Robinson
Bobby Grich
Lou Whitaker
Bill Madlock (Four Batting Titles)

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

Jeff Bagwell
Craig Biggio
Barry Bonds
Roger Clemens
Tom Glavine
Greg Maddux
Edgar Martinez
Mark McGwire
Mike Mussina
Rafael Palmeiro
Mike Piazza
Tim Raines
Curt Schilling
Sammy Sosa
Frank Thomas
Alan Trammell
Luis Tiant
Dwight Evans

Wow! What a list!

Jeff Bagwell
Craig Biggio
Barry Bonds
Roger Clemens
Tom Glavine
Jeff Kent
Greg Maddux
Edgar Martinez
Don Mattingly
Fred McGriff
Mark McGwire
Mike Mussina
Rafael Palmeiro
Mike Piazza
Tim Raines
Curt Schilling
Sammy Sosa
Frank Thomas
Alan Trammell
Larry Walker

if you are eligible to vote, how many players on the ballot can you vote for?

Jaque Jones of Course!

Bonds has gotta go in! Right?

Wow!

Granted the ballot is really good this year but the HOF would be the size of Alaska if the voters were as lenient as some of the posters here are. I'm seeing a lot of very good and just good players named instead of actual hall of famers. There is a difference folks!