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BaseballGeeks.com Home : BaseballGeeks : General Discussion : Reading "If I Voted for the Hall of Fame" Thread

Message #227 of 317  *NEW*
To:  All Hall of Famers
From:  
DodgerRefugee  
Subject:  If I Voted for the Hall of Fame
Date:  1/9/07, 9:48am
graphic
Consider this my baseball equivalent of putting on one of those "I voted" stickers on my lapel.

By the time this has been read, the newest Hall of Fame members would have been announced. Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn likely took the shoo-in, and rightful, first-ballot entries into Cooperstown, while Mark McGwire was deemed guilty until proven innocent by the same writers who used to look the other way when the big red head was downing pills in their presense 10 years ago.

I filled out my own Hall of Fame ballot. No, my vote doesn't count for any more than a vote for Al Gore did in Florida, but it does give an idea of what the writers were up with on what was one of the most potential hall-of-famer ballots in recent memory.

I preface this with the opinion that despite the omission of Pete Rose, baseball's hall of fame is by far the most credible. Picking football hall of famers is as subjective as they come, and lord knows basketball's hall of fame puts you in if you so much as sit on an NBA bench for two years.

Yet it's a good thing that its tough to get in baseball's hall of fame. It leaves little doubt - with the excemption of a Gaylord Perry here and there - that every plaque on the wall in Cooperstown truly personifies a hall of famer.

That said, the Hall of Fame should put a little more weight on single-season achievements that changed the game that just career numbers. Players like Orel Hersheiser and Roger Maris should be in for that reason.

Time to fill out that ballot.

2007 Hall of Fame Ballot
Harold Baines
No

Albert Belle
No

Dante Bichette
Colorado Hall of Fame, yes.. Otherwise, not a chance

Bert Blyleven
Fifth all-time in strikeouts, people.... Yes

Bobby Bonilla
No

Scott Brosius
How did he make the ballot?

Jay Buhner
No

Ken Caminiti
First of our steroid-enhanced candidates... Who I am only going to judge based on their era. Like the next guy, very borderline, but a slight no....

Jose Canseco
Being the first 40-40 guy almost gets him in for me... almost..... No

Dave Concepcion
Every year there's a major lobbying effort for this guy... And I think I've finally come around to the five-time gold glover... Yes

Eric Davis
It just makes me feel old to see Eric Davis on the ballot... but no

Andre Dawson
Yes.. Surprised he's not in already after six years on the ballot...

Tony Fernandez
No

Steve Garvey
One of three Dodgers I think have been robbed of getting in - the others being Maury Wills and Don Newcomb - and this year is his last chance by the press vote. Was definitely among the top three first basemen of the 1970s. No first baseman has played in more All-Star games than the Garv. Absolutely yes.

Rich Gossage
Just below the threshold for me.. And I'm not penalizing him because I had nightmares about him as a kid.

Tony Gwynn
One of the two sure things among the first-timers... Of course... In my opinion... probably the third-best contact hitter of all time, with only Dimaggio and Williams being above him.

Orel Hershiser
I'm a believer that sometimes you should get in for a single-year accomplishment as opposed to career numbers.. which goes back to the joke of Gaylord Perry being in. As far as I'm concerned, what the Bulldog did in 1988 gets him in.. Especially since the Hall of Fame already saw fit to put Drysdale in... Emphatic yes.

Tommy John
Surgery hall of fame, yes... Baseball Hall of Fame, no.

Wally Joyner
I loved Wally Joyner... But he is nowhere near a hall of famer.

Don Mattingly
Like Concepcion, I've also come around on the Mattingly bandwagon.... Seven seasons with .300-plus hitting in a non-hitters era, as well as MLB records for most grand slams in a year and most doubles in an inning get him in...

Mark McGwire
I don't care how he testified before Congress or what he had in his system - and as a sportswriter, I was one of the few who wrote a column critical of his use of andro in that magical 1998 - McGwire had a huge impact on the game, for better or worse. I would definitely vote him in, and sportswriters who say they aren't now are hypocrites because they knew what he was doing in 1998 but gushed about him all the same...

Jack Morris
I'm in the party that having at least two 20-plus win seasons gets you in... Morris had three. Yes

Dale Murphy
No...

Paul O'Neill
No

Dave Parker
Close, but no..

Jim Rice
He's the only guy in history with three straight seasons with 35-plus homers and 200 hits... 13 years on the ballot and he's still not in?

Cal Ripken Jr.
If he doesn't get in on the first try, they should close the Hall of Fame down.

Bret Saberhagen
Great pitcher, but no

Lee Smith
No. 2 all-time for saves... If Sutter is in, so should he.

Alan Trammell
Very close, but too few extra-base hits for my taste..

Devon White
No for Devo

Bobby Witt
No way

So my initial votes go to Blyleven, Concepcion, Dawson, Garvey, Gwynn, Hershiser, Mattingly, McGwire, Morris, Rice, Ripken and Smith

With a requirement for only 10 to be voted in, Blyleven and Concepcion go off my ballot.. leaving Dawson, Garvey, Gwynn, Hershiser, Mattingly, McGwire, Morris, Rice, Ripken, Smith. McGwire not getting in is a travesty, and its a shame Garvey will have to wait until the veteran's committiee to get in.

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