The time has come to fill out my unofficial (obviously, I don’t have a vote) Hall of Fame Ballot. Each entry is allowed to have up to ten names and mine will be completely full. Looking at the possible names, I’ll start with the no-brainers to me and that includes 5 names:
Barry Bonds
Barry Bonds
The case for Barry Bonds has been made a million times – he was the best player in the game over an extended period of time and was a first ballot, no doubt Hall-of-Famer before he ever touched steroids. If you’re one who will never vote for any one connected to PEDs then obviously Bonds won’t get your vote. For me, while it is a serious mark against a player, it is still just another consideration. When considering all of the reasons to vote for Bonds – especially going back to his career before the year 2000 when he started juicing – he still gets in easily. Pre-steroids, Bonds had over 400 home runs and 400 steals, three MVP’s, 8 All Star Selections, 8 Gold Gloves and was an absolute shoe-in for the Hall of Fame.
Roger Clemens
As for Clemens, it’s the same story – he was one of the best pitchers in the history of the game before he ended up with Toronto where by most accounts he started using PEDs. He was already a 3-time Cy Young Award Winner and won an MVP as a pitcher. He led the league multiple times in a variety of categories including strikeouts, wins, ERA, innings pitched and complete games. Clemens, like Bonds, was one of the best players of his generation even without steroids. For that reason, he is an absolute Hall-of-Famer and is on my ballot.
Billy Wagner
The next no-brainer may be a bit of a surprise in Billy Wagner. However, if you take a moment to look at his career numbers – he is clearly in. Billy Wagner absolutely dominated throughout his career all the way up until the end. He has a career 2.31 ERA (CAREER!). In 903 career innings, Wagner gave up a mere 601 hits yet struck out 1,196 batters. He is a seven-time all star and accumulated 422 career saves. His regular season numbers stack up well with any of the relievers in the Hall of Fame today including Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera. In fact, Wagner has more strikeouts than Rivera and an ERA just 0.1 higher – Wagner’s again is 2.31 and Rivera’s is 2.21. The only question mark for Wagner is his struggles in the postseason, but he only pitched 11.2 career postseason innings compared to Rivera’s 141. I don’t believe he should be kept out of the Hall of Fame over a bad postseason career when his opportunities where limited and he had a clear Hall of Fame regular season career. The regular season is the bulk of any player’s career and Wagner’s was more than great – he deserves to be a Hall of Famer.
Omar Vizquel
I’ve been on the Omar Vizquel Hall of Fame train since he retired. Vizquel had a stellar defensive career and won 11 Gold Gloves. Simply put, if Ozzie Smith is a first-ballot no-brainer Hall of Famer then Vizquel should at least certainly be in at some point. In fact, statistics show that Vizquel was better than Smith in many categories. Starting with his bat, Vizquel had a higher batting average, more home runs, more RBI’s, more runs scored, and more hits than Ozzie. Defensively, he had a .985 fielding percentage compared to Smith’s .978. Vizquel committed 183 errors in his 24 year career compared to 281 errors in Smith’s 19 year career. Admittedly, some advanced stats like WAR still indicate Ozzie Smith helped his team more than Vizquel, but again – when we compare the stats, it makes no sense that Ozzie Smith is a first time shoe-in candidate for the Hall of Fame and Vizquel can’t even sniff it. Omar Vizquel is an absolute Hall-of-Famer.
Andruw Jones
My final no-brainer is Andruw Jones. How Jones is not getting more Hall of Fame support is beyond me. He was 10 time gold glover and the premiere defensive outfielder in the league for a decade. That alone should get him consideration from the defensive end of the spectrum. However, when you consider that he hit 434 career home runs including 51 in 2005 when he was 2nd in the MVP voting, only losing to Albert Pujols in his prime and he was a five-time All Star, decision becomes obvious. Jones was a beast offensively and defensively in the league for a decade and is only being held out because he struggled with injuries and ineffectiveness during the final 5 years of his career. If he retired in 2007, Jones would probably get in. Jones also hit 10 postseason home runs, hitting .273. The bottom line is Jones was the best defender in the game for a long period of time and nearly hit 500 home runs – that is all that needs to be said.
Those are five names I write in immediately. After that, I have to decide who gets the remaining five spots. Some of the bigger names to consider are Curt Schilling, Scott Rolen, Gary Sheffield, Todd Helton, Jeff Kent, Sammy Sosa, Manny Ramirez, Bobby Abreu and Andy Pettite. I also looked into all the new candidates but unfortunately I don’t think any of them are Hall of Fame worthy although Tim Hudson is closer than I thought he would be and if there wasn’t a 10 player limit, I would consider him more heavily. Sosa, Ramirez and Sheffield all have PED connections like Bonds and Clemens and like Bonds and Clements, they have Hall of Fame career numbers. The problem is that it’s harder to determine whether they would have been Hall of Famers or not without the extra help. Additionally, I hesitate to vote for some one like Manny Ramirez because his character and integrity during his playing career – a big point I’ll get into shortly - come into question. So, since there’s only five slots left, I’ll start with 3 non-controversial guys who I feel deserve induction.
Todd Helton
Todd Helton played for the same franchise his entire 17 year big league career and ended up with .316 batting average and over 2,500 hits. He led the league in hitting in 2000 with a ridiculous .372 batting average to go along with a 147 RBI, 42 home runs and 59 doubles. Helton was a five time All Star, 4 time Silver Slugger and also brought elite defense to the field, winning 3 Gold Gloves. Injuries slowed him down his final 6 seasons, but Helton was clearly one of the best players in the game over an entire decade and consistently hit over .320 with power and great defense year after year. Not voting for Helton because he played in Denver means basically if you play your entire career with the Rockies and you’re an offensive player, you basically have no chance to get in the Hall unless you’re the next Babe Ruth. Also, if that’s’ the case that hitters are held out because they hit in Denver, then pitchers who’s career was just okay should get in. Ubaldo Jimenez should be a Hall of Famer since he pitched in Denver – so that’s why he has an ERA over 4 and a losing career record. David Nied? Sure, he had a 5.06 ERA and a career losing record but he mostly pitched in Colorado – that has to go into account. Hall of Famer all day. But seriously – Todd Helton should be in.
Jeff Kent
Jeff Kent is another interesting case, but for me, in addition to all the accolades I am about to discuss – it’s his 2000 MVP that puts it over the top for me. Kent was one of the best hitting second basemen of all time, ending up with 377 career home runs and a .290 average to go along with 5 All Star Selections and 4 Silver Sluggers. He not only has more home runs than Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg, he has more than any second baseman of all time. He has the 4th most career doubles in the history of baseball with 560 doubles – more than Babe Ruth himself. He also has 9 career postseason home runs including 3 during the 2002 World Series. If not judging based on position, it’s borderline, but when comparing him to his fellow second basemen, it’s a no-brainer – Jeff Kent is an absolute Hall of Famer, especially when you consider that MVP in 2000 that he won over his teammate Barry Bonds.
Scott Rolen
Scott Rolen
My final non-controversial selection unless you just think he simply wasn’t good enough to be a Hall of Famer will be Scott Rolen. During his 17 year career with the Phillies, Cardianls, Reds and Blue Jays, Rolen hit .281 with 2,077 hits, 316 home runs and a 70.1 WAR. These numbers are impressive but for Hall of Fame induction, he’ll need more – and he has it. Rolen was the 1997 Rookie of the Year and one of the best defensive third basemen in the game, winning seven Gold Gloves, a Silver Slugger and being selected to the All Star Game seven times. He hit .421 with three doubles and a big fly during the 2006 World Series where he won a ring with St. Louis. Rolen was also great offensively but was, like Fred McGriff and many others who stayed clean, overshadowed by so many juicers who were hitting home runs and driving in runs at a video-game level pace. Rolen should be awarded for staying clean and being an all around great player. Advanced stats show he stacks up well all around with most third basemen already in the Hall of Fame. For these reasons, Scott Rolen gets my vote.
So, now that I’ve filled my ballot with all my no-brainers and then three non-controversial selections that I feel are absolutely worthy, it’s time to evaluate the remaining names for the final two spots. After more research, I’ve narrowed it down to three possibilities – and of course, I don’t have to fill up the ballot, but I think I probably will. The three are Curt Schilling, Bobby Abreu and Andy Pettite. I am not voting for Sammy Sosa because a study of his career shows that before 1998 ,he was an average hitter with good pop who did not make consistent contact and didn’t walk enough. And even though he became an absolute beast for several years once he got a little help, his career WAR is still lower than many of the players I’ve talked about here such as Todd Helton and Andruw Jones. Believe it or not, on Baseball Reference, newcomer to the ballot Mark Buehrle has a higher career WAR than Sosa. At the end of the day, I think without Steroids Sosa would not be anywhere near the Hall of Fame and therefore, he won’t make it onto my ballot.
Curt Schilling
Of my remaining names, Curt Schilling is the most obvious Hall of Famer and is currently trending close to that magic 75% requirement. The problem with Schilling, however, is not steroids, rather his controversial tweets and political views. Now, to not vote for a candidate because he supports a political candidate that you don’t is absolutely absurd. Supporting a political candidate, regardless of how polarizing or controversial that candidate might be, should have no bearing on whether a player is voted on. The hall of fame does mention character and integrity in its explanation of how voters should consider each player. However, political views are always going to differ from person to person and that should have absolutely no impact on his Hall of Fame standing. As far as controversial tweets, including this most recent one that seems to support those who invaded the capitol building, I personally still would not not vote for him over tweets. Having said that, I need to make clear I am totally against violence, rioting, illegal invasions and that entire incident was absolutely horrific. Any one who was involved in violence or taking over that building should be locked up. I’ll also call out any one who has been involved in looting, rioting, burning down buildings or anything of that nature ever, regardless of who or what they support politically. All that said, Curt Schilling was always an interesting case because most of his greatest moments were in the postseason. Still, he had 216 career wins, over 3,000 strikeouts, 6 All Star selections, and 3 times was 2nd in the Cy Young voting. That alone makes him at least a borderline candidate. When you take into account his postseason career which include 3 World Series Championships, and 11-2 record with a 2.23 ERA, and a World Series and NLCS MVP, the decision becomes a lot easier. Curt Schilling should be in the Hall of Fame. While I don’t support all of his tweets and opinions, those are his tweets and his opinions. It is my opinion that the character and integrity clauses apply mostly to the a player’s playing career, not their tweets long after retirement. Therefore, Schilling goes on my list.
The final two guys I have not eliminated are Bobby Abreu and Andy Pettite. Believe it or not, Bobby Abreu was sneaky-good during his career and is a serious consideration. Despite only two All Star selections and one Gold Glove, he was still excellent over a long period time and played during the height of the Steroid Era. He was second to only Barry Bonds in walks from 1998-2004 and ended his playing career with 1,476 walks and 2,470 hits. He also had decent pop, hitting 288 career bombs. It should be noted that every player who got on base more times than Abreu is either in the Hall of Fame or connected to steroids with the exception of Rusty Staub. All that said, he still has time on the ballot so for now, I am leaving him off due to the fact that he only made two All Star Teams, was never a serious MVP candidate and was never an impact player in the playoffs.
Andy Pettite
Andy Pettite
That leaves Andy Pettite, who does have a PED connection, only made three All Star Teams and never won a Cy Young Award. On the other hand, he was straightforward about his use of HGH to help heal from an injury during 2002 and was not, in my opinion, some one who was constantly juicing throughout his career. He seemed honest and sincerely apologetic for doing what he did, even though at the time HGH wasn’t even banned in MLB. Therefore, since he wasn’t a big juicer, I can believe the majority of his stats, including 256 wins and a great postseason career that includes 5 World Championships and an ALCS MVP. Furthermore, he’s the game’s all-time leader in playoff wins and innings pitched and is fourth in strikeouts behind Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander and John Smoltz. He was always considered a great teammate and person, meaning as far I’m concerned, he meets the character requirement. Lastly, only Whitey Ford and Red Ruffing have more wins in a Yankee uniform and they’re both in the Hall of Fame. My final spot goes to Andy Pettite.