Worst. Ballot. Ever.

In a year with a very strong Hall of Fame ballot that is crowded at firstbase, news editor at ESPN Barry Stanton turned in a Hall of Fame ballot that looked like this:

• Edgar Martinez
• B.J. Surhoff
• Tino Martinez
• Jack Morris
• Don Mattingly

That, in all honesty, might be the worst ballot ever. I am shocked that Harold Baines, John Franco, and Lee Smith were not also voted for. Heck, you can have ten votes, why not add Lenny Harris and Kirk Rueter?

I love the Edgar vote.  I can live with the Morris vote.  The others?  Well, if this were a year that had one or two deserving candidates and he voted for them out of courtesy so they would not get 0%, then I’m ok with that.  This is not one of those years, though.  This is a year where some voters are finding it hard to limit their votes to the maiximum number of ten.

To vote for Martinez, Mattingly, and Surhoff over Jeff Bagwell is ridiculous.  Check out the WARgraph:

I find it inexcusable to leave Bagwell off if you plan on voting for corner guys.  Bagwell is not the only one that deserves a vote over these three and there are at least two pitchers that deserve a vote over Morris. And this is not to say these players were bad, they were actually very good, but not Hall worthy, especially not over their contemporaries on the ballot.

There is no ryhme or reason to his voting.  It’s almost as if he did this to say “hey, I put my time in the industry and I will do what I want, how I want, and no one can do anything about it.  Up yours Major League Baseball and the Hall of Fame.”  I do not know Stanton, and I have never really heard of him before this ballot, so I find it hard to pass judgment, but this is what I feel his ballot said to me and to all of us.

This ballot is a disgrace to the BBWAA and they should consider throwing it out or claiming it got lost in the mail.

Chicago Tribune HOF Ballot is Laughable

7 Ballots were cast and here is the vote total:

Player	Votes
Roberto Alomar	7
Tim Raines	5
Burt Blylevan	5
Jack Morris	4
Lee Smith	4
Barry Larkin	4
Don Mattingly	2
Alan Trammell	2
Larry Walker	2
Harold Baines	1
Dave Parker	1
Edgar Martinez	1
Jeff Bagwell	0
Rafael Palmeiro	0
Mark McGwire	0
Kevin Brown	0
Fred McGriff	0
John Olerud	0

 

Not a single vote for Bagwell?  No vote for Palmeiro or McGwire.  Harold Baines has a vote.  Lee Smith has 4 out of 7 votes.  Tim Raines is at least getting some respect. 

I definitely have a bone to pick with Dave Van Dyck’s ballot.  I don’t have a problem with a small ballot.  Heck, I love them.  I wish that I had the ability to look past some of the lesser cases and only vote for the top 1%.  Mark Gonzales tried to do that with his ballot and he had the best ballot of anyone on the Chicago Tribune staff.  He only listed three names:  Alomar, Blylevan, Larkin.  I’m okay with that because those three could be considered the best on the ballot outside of Bagwell. 

BBA Hall of Fame Results

The BBA (Baseball Bloggers Alliance) was formed in 2009 as an internet version of the BBWAA (Baseball Writers Association of America) and was created to vote on and produce awards in a similar fashion.  As a member of the BBA we are given ballots for all major awards and the Hall of Fame.  154 ballots were cast and here are the final voting results:

Roberto Alomar, 75.97%
Bert Blyleven, 75.97%
Barry Larkin, 70.78%
Jeff Bagwell, 62.34%
Edgar Martinez, 59.09%
Tim Raines, 54.55%
Mark McGwire, 44.16%
Lee Smith, 38.96%
Alan Trammell, 35.71%
Don Mattingly, 33.12%
Larry Walker, 31.17%
Fred McGriff, 27.27%
Jack Morris, 25.97%
Rafael Palmerio, 20.78%
Dale Murphy, 16.23%
Dave Parker, 12.34%
Harold Baines, 10.39%
Kevin Brown, 9.09%
John Franco, 7.14%
Tino Martinez, 5.19%
John Olerud, 5.19%
Al Leiter, 4.55%
Bret Boone, 3.90%
Juan Gonzalez, 3.90%
Marquis Grissom, 2.60%
Benito Santiago, 1.30%
Bobby Higginson, 0.65%
Charles Johnson, 0.65%
Kirk Rueter, 0.65%
Carlos Baerga, 0.00%
Raul Mondesi, 0.00%
BJ Surhoff, 0.00%

The BBA has correctly predicted 14 of 16 awards voted on since it’s inception.  I am glad to see Alomar and Blyleven get their due but very sad that us internet bloggers found a way to keep Bagwell, Raines, and a few others out.

2011 HOF Ballot

Here is a quick look at the stacked 2011 Hall-of-Fame ballot and who I would definitely vote for, who I would definitely leave off, and who is borderline (in order from top-to-bottom):

Yes	No	Borderline
Roberto Alomar	Dale Murphy	Alan Trammell
Jeff Bagwell	Jack Morris	Barry Larkin
Bert Blylevan	Dave Parker	Edgar Martinez
Mark McGwire	John Franco	Larry Walker
Tim Raines	Juan Gonzalez	Fred McGriff
Rafael Palmeiro	Don Mattingly	John Olerud
	Harold Baines	Kevin Brown
	Tino Martinez
	Bret Boone
	Raul Mondesi
	Bobby Higginson
	Al Leiter
	Marquis Grissom
	Benito Santiago
	Lee Smith
	Carlos Baerga
	Charles Johnson
	Kirk Rueter
	B. J. Surhoff
	Lenny Harris

My “Yes” group is the group I would vote for 100% of the time, no questions asked.  The “No” group is the group that I would say no to 99% of the time.  I may give a vote once or twice to a couple of the guys if I was given 1000 votes but that’s about it. 

My “Borderline” group is a group that has compelling cases for but, me being a “Small Hall” guy, I am on the fences.  Yes, The borderline group, even some of the no group, are better than some guys already in the HOF but that is not an argument for someone to be enshrined.  The only thing that accomplishes is watering-down the HOF, and I am not about that.

If I were a Small-Hall guy I would probably vote for my borderline group, but I am not a Small-Hall guy.  As it stands now I would probably vote for Trammell, Larkin, and Martinez.  I plan on making a case for each in the “Borderline” group soon.  Stay tuned…

2010 HOF Candidate: Mike Jackson

Every year there seems to be a long-time middle-reliever that closed games out for a couple of seasons on the list of Hall of Fame hopefuls. This year is not any different. The “name famous” Mike Jackson is that man.

Jackson played 17 seasons in the majors, pitching in 1005 games and logging 1188.1 innings of 3.42 ERA ball for an ERA+ of 125.  Very nice numbers.  In those 1188.1 innings Jackson struck out 1006 while walking 464 and notching 142 of my favorite stat, the save.  He also posted a FIP of 3.96.

His best season came in 1998 with the Cleveland Indians when he posted a 1.55 ERA in 64 innings while striking out 55 and only allowing 43 hits and walking 13.  He also had a career high 40 saves and a ridiculous ERA+ of 307.

In 28.2 postseason innings he posted a 4.71 ERA with 25 strikeouts and 13 walks but a FIP of 3.63.  Oh, and he had a 3-run double in a 1995 NLDS game against the Reds.

Jackson falls well short of election and if anyone votes for him they should have their voting rights seriously questioned.  While he was a good major leaguer for a long time he was nohall of famer, not even close.  Still, Mike Jackson should hold his head high for just getting his name on the ballot because not too many people can claim they had their name on a hall of fame ballot.

2010 Hall of Fame Candidates

I am currently working on multiple articles to go over the strong class of 2010 hall of fame candidates and carry-overs.  I will do a piece on each candidate starting with the players that would not recieve a vote, if Ihad one, and ending with the players that would definitely get my vote.  Here is a quick list of the candidates:

Roberto Alomar
Kevin Appier
Harold Baines
Bert Blyleven
Ellis Burks
Andre Dawson
Andres Galarraga
Pat Hentgen
Mike Jackson
Eric Karros
Ray Lankford
Barry Larkin
Edgar Martinez
Don Mattingly
Fred McGriff
Mark McGwire
Jack Morris
Dale Murphy
Dave Parker
Tim Raines
Shane Reynolds
David Segui
Lee Smith
Alan Trammell
Robin Ventura
Todd Zeile

Chipper Jones is a Hall of Famer Right Now

“If I back up this year with the same kind of year next year, I don’t want to play the game. The game is not fun to me when I’m not playing up to my standards.” Those were the words of Chipper Jones just the other day.

Jones has had a tough time staying healthy the past six seasons. And while he has performed very well in each of those six seasons –this season is not as awful as some might think– he may retire after next season if he cannot return to what he considers his norm. So, the question that comes to mind when a great player like Chipper Jones utters the word retirement is: is he a hall of famer? I say yes, and on the first ballot.

Among switch hitters, Jones ranks third all-time in homers with 424, second in AVG at .308, fourth in OBP at .407, fourth in SLG at .542, third in OPS at .949, fifth in doubles with 469, fourth in total bases at 4208, fourth in walks at 1331 (only two behind Eddie Murray who is third), and third in OPS+ at 143.

His career numbers, switch-hitter or not, should be enough to get him in the hall anyway. On top of the numbers listed above, Jones also has 142 steals, more walks than strikeouts (1331/1219), 3741 times on base, 1438 RBI, 1448 runs scored, a wOBA of .404, and a postseason line of .288/.411/.459 with 18 doubles, 13 homers, 8 steals, and a 72/60 BB/K rate in 333 at-bats. Jones also won an MVP award (1999) and finished in the top 12 eight other times. Oh, and he was an above-average defender for his career.

There is no doubt in my mind that Jones is a first-ballot hall of famer. He has the credentials, he has been an iconic figure in his generation, and his name was clean in an era when steroids and HGH ruled the headlines. The best part is that Jones will continue to climb the leaderboards when he plays next season and possibly beyond. It will be a sad day the day Jones walks off the field for good but bet on seeing him give a speech at Cooperstown five years after he hangs up his cleats for good.