2011 HOF Ballot
 

Please choose who you would select to the HOF in 2011. You can pick multiple players.

10 was the most I could choose for the poll, I tried to choose the best 10 candidates...sorry if I left anyone off you wanted to vote for.

Edited: Mispelled Palmeiro in original poll...woopsie

Hof
 

Thanks Rob, I'll fold the first hand to you in poker next month.

Rawn

No prob Rawn...I won't hold my breath on that one...hehe

I just realized I have Jack Morris there twice...I need some coffee...ugh...was supposed to be Tim Raines....

hof
 

Really I will the first, but not the last.

Rawn

wide spread interest
 

Since this has some wide spread interest I took the liberty of moving it to the front page....regards

Rob- I also fixed your mistake, took the 1 vote in the 2nd Morris box and added it to the 1st Morris box and made Raines an option....hope that helps...I love this new s/w :)

Thanks Leon, and thanks for fixing my Tim Raines omission!!

Interesting poll. Through the first 35 votes, no one is getting in this year!

I don't think anyone will get in this year either! :(

I wouldn't vote for any of them. The Hall of Fame has been watered down enough in the past decade or so.

me neither
 

maybe there should be a "none of the above" option?

Poll
 

I voted for Blyleven, but only because "none of the above" was not an option.

Spitting at Hirschbeck after being called Out at third. Should keep Alomar locked out for life. IMO

uhh the people that didn't vote for anybody probably can't even spell hall of fame

None
 

None of the above.

Actually it was a called 3rd Strike.

Bert should be money. His was a tough man on the mound, but was not saddled up on very strong teams. His K's are pretty nice over the span of a career.
Hope all is well,
Bob

None. I would vote for Robby Alomar eventually but he doesn't quite seem first-or-second ballot worthy. Blyleven to me is a very good pitcher who just, but definitely, falls short. Tommy John, Jim Kaat, Luis Tiant, etc.

Edgar
 

I am going to vote for the only guy on the list who has a MLB Award named after him...Edgar Martinez.

No McGwire???

Ooohhh, then let him in!

Edgar Martinez was the best hitter I have ever seen in my life. The fact that he played DH really should not matter because had he played 50 years ago he would have just stayed at third where he started and been an average fielder and then we would not even be having this talk.

Besides Palmiero, do any other players on this list raise suspicion of steroid use?

Maybe I shouldn't be, but I am a little suspicious of Bagwell.

He swears no, but "c'mon man."
:D

I tend to agree with Phil, the HOF is watered down enough. None of the above.

Agreed (or if not THE best pure hitter I've ever seen, very close to the top of the list).
Also hits the nail on the head when it comes to the DH argument.

Greg

When was the last year that NO ONE was elected to the Baseball Hall of fame??

Soooooo, how is it that putting Bagwell and Martinez in the Hall would be watering it down? Sorry, but DH has been an official position in the American League for over 30 years now. Are we going to keep all pitchers out because they can't hit well? As for Bagwell, does anyone have proof he did steroids? I haven't seen any. As far as I can tell, he was pretty consistent...and I'll tell you what, I believe with PID's he could have hit 60-70 homeruns easy.

Even if nobody is elected by the writers, Pat Gillick is going in this year. The years where nobody went in were 1940,41,43,50,58 and 60.

It's going to be a rough weekend in Cooperstown if Pat Gillick is the only inductee.

Greg

Bert Blyleven will get in this year.

I actually think they should start having ballots for players in who should be removed! Anyone have some names for that list? :D

Twenty-four percent for Barry Larkin? This is a tough crowd. He's a Hall of Famer, hands down ...

Blyleven will surely get in this year. Alomar should as well.

Completely agree. Numerous qualified candidates.

How's Larkin a "hands down" HOFer? Career .295 Ave., I think he only won 3 Gold Gloves (I know he went up against Ozzie every year) and he won 1 MVP.

He is very good, but the Hall of Fame "should" be reserved for the best of the best.

Do we want the "Hall of Very Good"?

I'd vote for Larkin in a heartbeat. During the 20 year span in which he played, there was not another shortstop who put up offensive numbers even remotely close to Larkin's. Plus, he won an MVP, was a 12-time All Star, was Team Captain, and led the Reds to a World Champioship in 1990 (no small accomplishment for that team, in that era).

Bill James ranks Larkin as the #6 Shortstop of all-time. Unfortunately, the small market thing will probably kill his chances... If he played for NY or Boston, he'd be a shoe-in.

Not A real Hall of Famer in the group.

I agree, those are the 2 guys that I voted for.

I guess Dale Murphy and Fred McGriff are not going to make it. Too bad.

me too
 

Honestly, I didn't do any research, and have admittedly not kept up with very much "new" baseball in the last 25 yrs, but Blyleven was my only vote.

Blyleven
 

Average season: 14-12, 3.31. He never won a Cy Young or even came in second. He made two all star teams. He is not blowing me away as a Hall of Fame pick.

Blyleven 287 Wins, 242 Complete games, 3701 Strikeouts, 60 Shutouts. Im not saying hes a top ten all time pitcher but he wouldnt be near the worst pitcher in there. Also anyone who doesnt think Alamor deserves in needs to compare his stats to other 2nd baseman that are in, he compares favorably to almost all of them.

Some arguments for Bert.

Blyleven is 5th all time in strikeouts (3701)...the top 14 in strikeouts are all in the HOF except:

Randy Johnson (Future 1st ballot HOF)
Roger Clemens (1st Ballot if not for cheating)
Greg Maddux (Future 1st ballot HOF)
Pedro Martinez (Future 1st ballot HOF)

He is 27th all time in Wins (287) playing on some awful teams (20 of the 26 in front are in the HOF and 3 are mentioned above).

He is 9th all time in shutouts with an amazing 60, everyone else in the top 20 is in the HOF.

Postseason record 5-1 with a 2.47 ERA and a key part of two WS teams.

For those who don't consider Barry Larkin worthy of the Hall of Fame, can you come up with 10 shortstops who were better? Also, is the Hall of Fame big enough for one of the best 10 shortstops in history? Bill James ranks him sixth and he's the best baseball numbers guy of all. So to all of Larkin's detractors, I challenge you to prove to me ... with a comparative statistical analysis and not simply opinions ... why Larkin isn't worthy of the Hall of Fame.

Induction into the Hall of Fame should be based not on perceptions, allegiances and myths, but on hard numbers that take into account all the factors (dead ball vs. live ball, size of ballparks, etc.) that skew statistics. Sadly, while James and others have done the work, only a small percentage of baseball fans have even noticed. As a result, the debate goes on, but at the same time, it goes nowhere ...

Nolan Ryan never won a Cy Young award or came in 2nd and his average season was 14-13 with a 3.19 ERA.

I don't think someone should get in for longevity stats alone unless maybe for cracking a magic barrier like 3000 hits or 300 wins. To me a HOFer not only should have great career stats but should, for a reasonable number of years (say 5-7 minimum), have been one of the best players at his position or pitchers in the game. Two all star teams does not say that to me about Blyleven. His status suggest longevity only.

Chris,

I always respect your arguments and your passion for the Larkin argument. I just don't think of him as a HOFer, and here are some reasons why:

He had an injury riddled career...he only played 140 games or more in a season 7 times. If he was able to stay on the field more, his stats would probably look much better but we can't factor those lost stats in.

Only hit more than 20HR twice, 100runs twice, never had a 100RBI season.

2340 career hits is excellent, but for a non-power guy doesn't strike me as HOF material.

379 SB and 3 Gold Gloves is good but not enough of a factor IMO to add with his offense to get him in.

I am sure you have many arguments for and I respect them, and that is why I love these kind of debates.

Rob

Alomar a definite, Blyleven, best of the rest IMHO

I understand your point, but I think All Star game appearances are an overrated factor. Often great players on bad teams won't have many all star appearances.

And do you think Nolan Ryan should be in the HOF? If he only played 23 seasons instead of 27 he wouldn't have 300 wins, and besides strikeouts he never had a dominating stretch of years for any other stat. He never led the league in wins, only led in ERA twice

If Blyleven had played for the Yankees he would have been in long, long ago. Larkin would make it this year or next if he had been a Yankee or could do backflips like Ozzie Smith. Injuries certainly did have a negative effect on Larkin's career and total numbers; I still have no reservations saying he belongs.

Excellent poll. By the 75% rule, there's still not one who's getting in on our ballots.

Im pleasantly surprised by the amount of votes Bagwell is getting. I dont even know if I consider him a HOFer, but I appreciate the consideration he's getting. It's also interesting to watch the subtext he carries as there are "some" suspicions of steroid use, nothing remotely glaring (hello Palmeiro) and a nice bellweather case for what the voters will do with this entire era of players and "unknown" situations.

Who are the top 10 Shortstops according to James? It would be interesting to see this list.

Also, before Larkin & Ripken, SS was primarily a defensive position where teams carried players on their roster for their glove, not their bat. That is probably the main reason that James has him as high as he does.

Ryan
 

I think he is overrated by those who count him among the few greatest pitchers ever, but he has to be in the Hall given the sheer outrageousness of the strikeout totals, plus the 7 no hitters, not to mention the 324 wins. His ERA was 10 or so points better than Blyleven, and he had many more all star appearances.

Phil, here's James' list. He didn't include active players. If he did, A-Rod and Jeter would obviously be high on the list ...

1. Honus Wagner
2. Arky Vaughan
3. Cal Ripken
4. Robin Yount
5. Ernie Banks
6. Barry Larkin
7. Ozzie Smith
8. Joe Cronin
9. Alan Trammell
10. Pee Wee Reese

Also, Larkin's various injuries, and the time he lost as a result, often come up in Hall of Fame discussions. I did a quick survey, and for what it's worth, he played more games at shortstop in his career than roughly half the shortstops in the Hall of Fame ...

How many Gold Glove shortstops can you name with a ton of steals, an MVP award, a World Series ring and a .370 career on-base average? If they gave out Gold Gloves in 1910, certainly Honus Wagner would quailify, but who else?

I wonder if Concepcion would be #11,

2300+ Hits, 9 AS Games, 5 Gold Gloves, 300+ SB

Rob, I'm a huge fan of both the Reds and Concepcion, but his on-base average is 50 points lower than Larkin's. That a deal breaker for me ...

Larkin
 

Rob did this as a way to further a Larkin's case. He already had my vote.

Arky Vaughan
 

I generally like Bill James' take on things, but rating Arky Vaughan as the number 2 shortstop in history is ridiculous.

That list goes to strengthen my argument that before Larkin's time, SS was just a defensive position, since 7 of Bill James' top 10 SS are "modern" SS.

There's some great names there, but that has to be "the weakest" Top 10 list for any position in the Hall of Fame. Just an indication of what the position used to be.

Hall of Fame
 

It will be interesting to see what happens come January when the writers have to turn in their ballots for HOF inductees

Hof
 

i voted but couldn't get my mind off gavvy or cactus cravath as my perennial real choice.

best,
barry

Bert Blyleven , it's almost a crime he isn't in, his stats alone are so much better than many pitchers in the HOF ! Plus he wasn't on the best team and still put up monster numbers. The HOF should be ashamed for not having him in yet, disgraceful........................

Blyleven deserves it. If Alomar and Larkin aren't in and Mazeroski and Ozzie are, then somethings wrong. :confused:

my imaginary votes went to blyleven, alomar, larkin, and raines.

these arguments never go anywhere. people are reading from different books and watching different games. when you're still quoting archaic stats like batting avg/rbis or wins and eras (or that jim rice is a hof'er), there's just no point of reconciliation.