Negro Leagues HOF ballot

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Posted By: Andy Baran

If I were voting, these are the players that I would include:

PRE-NEGRO LEAGUES
* I think the committee got this one right. Every player that made the cut deserves to be in the hall. Those players are as follows:
- Frank Grant
- Pete Hill
- Grant Johnson
- Jose Mendez
- Spot Poles
- Dick Redding
- Louis Santop
- Ben Taylor
- Sol White
Additionally, I think 2 other players from the era deserve to be inducted, but they didn't make the cut:
- Bud Fowler
- George Stovey

NEGRO LEAGUES:
* In my opinion, there are 7 players who are significantly above the rest of the candidates. These are the players that I would vote for (in alphabetical order):
- John Beckwith
- Ray Brown
- Willard Brown
- Mule Suttles
- Cristobal Torriente
- Biz Mackey
- Jud Wilson

Also, both Effa Manley and Cum Posey deserve to be enshrined, as well as Gus Greenlee, who somehow missed the cut.

Minnie Minoso also deserves to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame. However, he does not deserve it for his Negro League career. It was just too short, and doesn't compare with players such as Monte Irvin and Larry Doby who split time between the Negro Leagues and the Majors. Minoso's Major League career is Hall worthy on its own merits, his Negro League career is not even close.

Lastly, I am torn as to whether or not I would vote for Buck O'Neil. He clearly deserves to be enshrined for his contributions to baseball, but I don't feel he is deserving for his play on the field. He was a very good player, not a hall of fame player. There are many players on the list (both the original 93 and final 39) that were more skilled ball players than O'Neil.

With all of this being said, I would be very disappointed if any of the players that I mentioned were not elected, and would not have an issue with others that I didn't mention getting in, as long it was not at the cost of one of these elite players.