Dec. 31st, 2012

goobergunch: (Default)
In the spirit of the end of the year, here's the Hall of Fame ballot I'd submit if I was a member of the BBWAA. As is obvious from my ballot, I'm not a huge fan of the "STEROIDS ARE THE WORST THING EVER" argument. Until baseball actually started enforcing the rules against steroids, I view steroid usage as sufficiently inseparable from the era that the affected players played in to be essentially only worth taking into consideration as an effect of the era. Also, given that you have had to be a member of the BBWAA for ten years to have a vote, the vast majority of voters complaining about steroids in baseball should have to address their own incompetence in reporting about them first. Anyway, the ballot:

Jeff Bagwell (1B: 77 WAR, 149 OPS+, RoY, MVP, 4 A-S, GG)
Craig Biggio (2B+: 62 WAR, 112 OPS+, 3060 H, 285 HBP, 7 A-S, 4 GG)
Barry Bonds (LF: 158 WAR, 182 OPS+, 762 HR, 7 MVP, 14 A-S, 8 GG)
Roger Clemens (P: 134 WAR, 143 ERA+, MVP, 7 CYA, 11 A-S)
Kenny Lofton (CF: 65 WAR, 107 OPS+, 6 A-S, 4 GG)
Edgar Martinez (DH: 64 WAR, 147 OPS+, 7 A-S)
Mike Piazza (C: 56 WAR, 143 OPS+, 427 HR, 10 SS, RoY, 12 A-S)
Curt Schilling (P: 76 WAR, 127 ERA+, 4.383 K/BB, 6 A-S)
Alan Trammell (SS: 67 WAR, 110 OPS+ 6 A-S, 4 GG)
Tim Raines (LF: 66 WAR, 123 OPS+, 808 SB, 7 A-S)

Notable exclusions:

Larry Walker - How much did Coors Field inflate his numbers? Not sure, but I'd have him on my ballot if I had room. (And honestly, I probably would if I wasn't casting a tactical vote for Lofton, whose HoF case is IMO borderline but I feel is worthy of further discussion).

Rafael Palmeiro - Somewhat of a borderline case if you ignore the big milestone stats. The steroid suspension also counts against him. I'd prefer to focus my ballot on players more likely to be inducted.

Mark McGuire - I kind of want to vote for him just because of 1998, but his overall record is somewhat borderline. Plus, like Palmeiro, I feel that he's just not going to be elected by the BBWAA voters.

Sammy Sosa - 609 HR would usually earn a vote, but his non-HR stats (particularly the advanced ones) are somewhat lacking.

Non-notable exclusion:

Jack Morris - A case built on pitcher wins (which I can't believe that people still take seriously as a stat) and the 1991 World Series. Forget advanced stats -- ERA is enough to dismiss Morris's candidacy as a creature of good run support.

----
Will anybody actually get the 75% needed for election this year? We'll see on 9 January. (If anybody, my guess would be Biggio -- but it wouldn't surprise me if nobody got in this year.)

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