The IBWAA is holding a Hall of Fame vote, with the same candidates as the BBWAA uses. Here the players receiving my vote:
- Roberto Alomar
- Bert Blyleven
- Barry Larkin
- Edgar Martinez
- Mark McGwire
- Tim Raines
- Alan Trammell
Alomar and Larkin both reflect my desire to see more middle infielders in the Hall of Fame. Both did a great job of getting on base in their careers and had some pop to boot.
Edgar Martinez was a great hitter, and I don’t see his designated hitter status detracting from that. Putting in a designated hitter every 30 years or so seems about right to me.
The vote for Blyleven represents a big change of mind for me over the years. Ten years ago, my impression was that Jack Morris should be in the Hall of Fame and Blyleven shouldn’t. That was with zero research, just my impression of living through both careers. My own research and that of others, however, changed my mind. The case against Morris was easier for me, since my impression of him could not stand up to a thorough examination of his record. Blyleven was a tougher sell for me, since when I think of him I think of all those home runs flying out of the park. That, however, was later in his career, and he should have won many more games than he did due to his teams. That changed my mind.
McGwire was a difficult choice, but I’d like to see him stay on the ballot until we actually hear him speak about his alleged PED use. I’ve also been consistent with the position that PED use should be legal and transparent, so this vote also reflects that belief. Against that, is the fact that if McGwire did use performance enhancers, it was cheating. The drugs were banned, even though MLB didn’t test for them at the time. Maybe now that he’ll be working for the Cardinals we’ll find out more about what he used or didn’t use. His stats, however, make him a hall of famer. He got on base and hit for power, and did both very well.
I gave some thought to voting for Fred McGriff, just because I liked him so much as a player. Fred didn’t take advantage of the offensive explosion that started in 1993, however, so his career pales in comparison to his contemporaries. He remains one of my favorites, but I can’t justify a hall vote for him.
Have at my choices in the comments.
Update: I missed the second page of the ballot. Thanks to all of you who caught me on Tim Raines. I also included Trammell for the same reasons I’ve put in Larkin and Alomar.
Why not Raines?
Tim Raines?
let me be the third commenter to ask about tim raines. it absolutely boggles the mind how raines fails to get the pub for the hof.
also, i detest the support that mcgwire gets. i don’t even care about the steroids….he only has one number is his entire career that matches up with other hof’ers. if it had been outfield assists instead of homers, would we even be talking about him??
Those five along with Tim Raines are the easy ones for me. When Raines hit the ballot, I was totally ga ga over him. Now I’ve settled down a bit, but he’s still clearly a Hall of Famer.
The three I go back and forth on are Dawson, Trammell, and Smith. Trammell just did EVERYTHING so well, as shown by his stellar WAR. Dawson’s glove and arm did a lot to make up for his OBP deficiency. And while I used to pooh-pooh Smith as a product of cheap saves, I’ve come around on that a bit thanks to WAR. I’ve written up a relief pitcher analysis based on WAR.
Omission of Raines aside, that’s a great ballot and better than most I’ve seen.
No Raines? That must be an oversight. I’d also vote for Trammell but I can understand leaving him off. Raines though must have been left off because you assumed he was already in the HOF.
You’ve got to mention Alomar’s drug use and spitting incident.
Benjah:
Come off of it. McGuire stacks up against hall of fame sluggers any way you slice it. On base, power, durability. Are we considering character? The guy was considered a saint before it all hit the fan… at which point there were no more saints.
The chemical question definitely deserves consideration here, and I really like how Mark handled it. He didn’t lie, and he didn’t throw anyone under the bus. Whether what he put in his body was wrong or pioneering or both remains to be seen, but the way he handled the fallout was pretty classy compared to Clemens, Sosa, Jose et al.
@ benjah:
Seriously? Go check out his page on baseballreference:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mcgwima01.shtml
He’s 9th all-time in slugging, 11th in OPS, 12th in OPS+, and 1st in AB per HR. Maybe he was one dimensional, but hitting homeruns is the best “dimension” to have.
Also what’s interesting about the whole steroid thing is that Edgar Martinez fits the profile of a “steroid user” much more than Mark McGwire but no one really brings it up.
When I was filling out the ballot, I missed the second page. Sorry about that. Raines and Trammell do make my list.
As for McGwire, in my opinion he’s a cheater. Disqualified.
May I ask how close Baines came in your ballot? Seems like I’m seeing a decent amount of support for him from writers this year, though sadly enough not put him over the top, but by a rough estimate I think he’ll stick around.
@Joseph J. Finn: Baines wasn’t that close for me. His career averages are good, but they’re not outstanding for an outfielder/DH.
@tom
“hitting homeruns is the best dimension to have” — great line! and of course, totally true. as you point out, he ranks favorably in several important categories, but those are all categories that get inflated by his ‘one excellent dimension,’ in an era that inflates power across the board (small parks, watered down pitching, chemicals, etc) in no other facet of the game was he hof caliber. if his hr’s make him just better than borderline, so be it. it’s just my gut that tells me hofers need to be better all around (but in the words of john cusack, “my guts [may] have shit for brains).
@wewantthefunk
he was durable?? really?? in 7 of his 15 seasons he played fewer than 140 games. 5 times he played fewer than 105 games. and how do steroids affect whatever durability he did show?? and how can you call him classy? he cried in front of congress and refused to talk about it, then spent the time since in seclusion. sorry, i respectfully disagree with your points.
Heh. Our ballot’s turned out to be almost same. I went with 3 more players though.
Alomar, Blyleven, Raines, McGwire, and Trammel would be my selections for the HoF. Alomar because he was the best 2nd bagger during his time in baseball. The same for Trammel and oh by the way how many players play SS for that length of time? Trammel before Larkin just for that fact alone! Big Mac’s numbers and presence … get’s my vote! Chick’s dig the long ball! Rock Rains … enough said … and Bert should have been in the HOF long ago!
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