MLB HOF 2011 Thread

[The Brain]

We are about a month away from one of my favorite sports days of the year. Every January I look forward to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame announcement. The ballot was released two weeks ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_Hall_of_Fame_balloting,_2011

This thread is just for some general HOF discussion. Who will get in? Who deserves to get in but won’t? Who are you on the fence about?

I think it’s safe to say that Bert Byleven will finally get in this year. He received 74.2% of the vote last year so it’s hard to imagine he won’t achieve the need .8% this year. The voters have been kind to guys who have spent many years on the ballot recently. Dawson, Rice, Gossage, and Sutter all had to wait quite a while before getting the call. I think Blyeven’s time has finally come. I’ve been on the fence about him for years. He has some great numbers but there are some that say he only accumulated those numbers by staying around so long. There’s something to be said about longevity and if the guy had the talent to stick around for many years so be it. I haven’t always been a supporter of his, and quite honestly I’m not sure I would vote for him, but I wouldn’t be disappointed to see Bert finally get the call.

Roberto Alomar is another safe bet. I’m surprised he didn’t get in last year, but with 73.7% of the vote last year I don’t think he has anything to worry about this year. He was the best 2B in the game for a long time and had a hall of fame worthy career. I think he’ll go in as a Blue Jay and if I’m not mistaken he will be the first in with the Toronto cap.

Normally I would say Rafael Palmeiro and Jeff Bagwell are slam dunk hall of famers, but we all know the steroid era is going to hurt them. The numbers are there, especially for Palmeiro, but I wouldn’t be surprised if neither of them made it. Bagwell is much more likely to get in and I think he will make it eventually. Considering Palmeiro actually tested positive after so vehemently denying ever using steroids I’m afraid he may never make it. I hope he gets some decent support. I’d hate to see him fall off the ballot after one year. He’s always been a favorite of mine and I think the steroid era will be forgiven in time. I just hope Palmeiro is still on the ballot when that time comes.

Larry Walker is an interesting case. I love Larry Walker, but when I hear his name I don’t think hall of famer. A closer look at his numbers may say otherwise. He has a career .313 batting average and three batting titles. In fact he finished either first or second in batting average every year from 1997-2002 except for his injury plagued 2000 season. His 1997 MVP season was one of the best I’ve ever seen. He hit for power, hit for average, played great defense, and could even steal some bases. I don’t think he’ll get much support but he deserves consideration.

Juan Gonzalez is another interesting case. He had some monster seasons in the 90s and twice won the AL MVP. The steroid era is going to hurt him too. I’m not sure he’d get in anyway so factoring in the era I’d say Gonzo is an extremely long shot.

I’m a little surprised Fred McGriff didn’t get more support last year. I thought he had a good chance of getting in. Maybe some day, but he’s going to need a major jump in votes and that’s just not going to happen.

I like Barry Larkin and Edgar Martinez a lot, but I don’t see either as a hall of famer.

Mark McGwire hasn’t gained any votes in his four years on the ballot and I doubt this year will be any different.

There will be others like Jack Morris and Lee Smith who get their usual support but are likely to come up well short.

None of the other first year guys are worth mentioning and aren’t likely to be on the ballot next year.

I’m really looking forward to the announcement. Share your opinions here.

 

[The Brain]

Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Eddie Murray. Three iconic names in MLB history. They are all in the Hall of Fame and rightfully so. There are only four players in the entire history of MLB with over 3000 hits and 500 home runs and they are three of them. The other was on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time this year and received only 11% of the vote. I knew Rafael Palmeiro wouldn’t get elected to the hall this year, and honestly I’m please he didn’t get dropped off the ballot, but the low vote total is still disappointing to me.

I don’t want to get into another steroid era debate. We know why Palmeiro didn’t get in. The main criteria for election to the hall has always been dominating your era. Palmeiro’s era was the steroid era. Many people believe that an overwhelming majority of the players were using some sort of PED during this era. Since that is the case the ones who dominated should still get in the hall.

11% is a small number but the number 15 leaves room for optimism. That’s how many years a player can remain on the ballot provided he achieves at least 5% of the vote every year. I truly feel that the whole steroid era controversy will blow over some day and guys like Palmeiro will get in. For as much as Palmeiro deserves to be in the hall he is relatively easy to ignore. In a couple years Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens will be eligible. It’s bad enough the all time hits leader isn’t in, but if they’re not going to allow the home run king in they may as well shut the place down.

The Hall of Fame is a baseball museum and for any museum to ignore an era of time because of their own feelings about it is irresponsible.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

Mark McGwire's numbers might go up just a little, by no means a lot, on the sheer fact that he finally came out and admitted it. But like you said I think eventually the whole era will blow over and they will start letting people from the Steroid Era in. Seems like the kind of thing they would even create a little section for in the Hall of Fame when they finally elected enough people. Because the saddest thing about the whole era is that many of the guys who are criticized for using PED's would've gotten in anyways. But I digress.

And as far as McGriff, I just don't think he had good enough numbers for a long enough period of time to make him get in quite yet.

EDIT: Just now looked at the numbers and realized McGwire went down in percentage Oh well. I guess that's not too surprising he admitted it and lost votes. Should eventually rise in the upcoming years maybe...

 

[Mr. Truth]

What bothered me was how low Jeff Bagwell finished. He was a hair under a .300 lifetime hitter and 1 away from 449 home runs, had 1529 RBIs and had a career OPS of .948. He was the rookie of the year, has won an MVP and was a 4 time All Star. Statistically, he's one of the top offensive first basemen of all time. Not only that, but he never tested positive to anything, nor was there ever any specific allegations of him using. The man has a clean slate. Simply because he was productive and muscular during the steroid era, people didn't vote for him.

 

[CelticCorey]

It is official Alomar will go in as a Jay and Blyleven a Twin. Congrats to both as I was very happy and posted a live reactiosn vid on youtube. I was so ecstatic that Jack Morris did not get in you wouldn't believe it.