Baseball Ink’s Second Annual Hall of Fame Vote
November 28, 2009 4:44 PM
This is a discussion on how I would vote if in fact I was a member of the esteemed community of The Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA). Just a reminder about voting eligibility:
Voters are instructed to cast votes for up to 10 candidates; any candidate who receives votes on at least 75% of the ballots will be honored with induction to the Hall. Those candidates who receive less than 5% of the vote will not appear on future BBWAA ballots, but may eventually be considered by the Veterans Committee
For my methodology – check out last year’s blog Baseball Ink Hall of Fame Vote
I kept the 11 remaining from last year and my totals from last year (just because the BBWAA seems to change its mind doesn’t mean that I should) and then added the new players who made the all-star team at least once. I figure if the player had never been one of the top 30 or so players in their league at least once in their career then they shouldn’t be on this list.
Here’s my list with my evaluation numbers filled in.
| Eligible Player from Last Year | Score | Comment |
| Allen Trammell | 5 | Good, but not great. |
| Andre Dawson | 10 | Great player, should already be in. |
| Bert Blyleven | 6 | Are we voting for Don Sutton again? |
| Dale Murphy | 6 | 2 MVPs, fan favorite. Quick demise. |
| Dave Parker | 7 | Coked and ate his way out of the HOF. |
| Don Mattingly | 5 | Close, but no ceegar. |
| Harold Baines | 5 | Good, but not great, DHing hurts his case. |
| Jack Morris | 6 | Best clutch pitcher of his generation. |
| Lee Smith | 6 | For a while, the all-time saves leader. |
| Mark McGwire | 7 | Baseball ignored the steroid issue for too long. |
| Tim Raines | 5 | Good, but not great. |
| First Year Eligible Player | Score | Comment |
| Andrés Galarraga | 6 | Good, but the numbers don’t cut it. |
| Andy Ashby | 1 | Losing record? Less than 100 wins? |
| Barry Larkin | 9 | Oft-injured is only knock. |
| Edgar Martinez | 7 | First DH in? |
| Fernando Viña | 1 | Um..no. |
| Fred McGriff | 5 | Great numbers, but… |
| Kevin Appier | 1 | No. |
| Pat Hentgen | 5 | Good player. Not great though. |
| Ray Lankford | 1 | Nope. One all-star game is about it. |
| Roberto Alomar | 9 | Had to gig him on that sportsmanship thing. |
| Robin Ventura | 1 | Charging the mound against Nolan Ryan is his only claim to fame. |
| Shane Reynolds | 1 | No. |
As a member of the BBWAA I would get up to 10 votes and here is how I’d vote in order:
| Andre Dawson | Very feared hitter. Was one of the best OFs of his generation. |
| Roberto Alomar | Best player at his position. Could be the best 2B of all-time. |
| Barry Larkin | MVP, ROY, multiple gold gloves, 12 All Star games, multiple silver slugger awards. Roberto Clemente and Lou Gehrig award winner. |
| Edgar Martinez | Best DH of all time. Hitting machine, especially in the clutch. Had MVP consideration even though he was a DH. Silver Slugger at 3B one year. |
| Mark McGwire | Yes. I believe this now more than last year. It was at a time when apparently everyone was using. Baseball turned a blind eye to this illegal drug use, just like it did with amphetamine usage in the days of Mickey and Whitey. |
| Dave Parker | I was surprised at his numbers. He was the best at his position for a while, has an MVP and was the most feared batter in the NL for a time. |
