*notes a player in his 1st year of eligibility
JEFF BAGWELL (1B)
1991-2005 Houston Astros
Career Accomplishments: 4x All-Star (1994, 1996-1997, 1999); NL Rookie of the Year (1991); NL MVP (1994); Gold Glove winner (1994); 3x Silver Slugger winner (1994, 1997, 1999)
Why He's On My Ballot: Bagwell was one of the best all-around players of his era. While he was known for his power (he's one of just 51 players in history to hit 400 or more home runs and currently ranks 36th all-time with 449), he could also steal bases and draw walks. He was a more versatile player than Sammy Sosa or even Rafael Palmeiro, even if his overall numbers didn't match those two in certain categories. In addition to his one MVP win in the strike-shortened 1994 season, he finished second in 1999 and third in 1997, netting nearly 60% of the votes each time. His 79.5 career WAR would rank him sixth among enshrined first basemen.
CRAIG BIGGIO (2B)
1988-2007 Houston Astros
Career Accomplishments: 7x All-Star (1991-1992, 1994-1998); 4x Gold Glove winner (1994-1997); 5x Silver Slugger winner (1989, 1994-1995, 1997-1998); 3,000 hits club (3,060)
Why He's On My Ballot: Name an aspect of what goes into playing baseball and chances are that not only did Craig Biggio do it, but that he did really, really well. Biggio racked up hits (he's currently at 21st in history), smacked a fair amount of home runs, stole a ton of bases (one of just 73 players in history to steal 400 or more with 414) drew a bunch of walks (1,160, one of 116 players to accumulate 1,000 or more) and logged at least 300 games in the infield, outfield and at catcher. And while he wasn't as great for a good chunk of his last seven or eight seasons, his first twelve seasons were more than hall-worthy.
BARRY BONDS (LF)
1986-1992 Pittsburgh Pirates, 1993-2007 San Francisco Giants
Career Accomplishments: 14x All-Star (1990, 1992-1998, 2000-2004, 2007); 7x NL MVP (1990, 1992-1993, 2001-2004); 8x Gold Glove winner (1990-1994, 1996-1998); 12x Silver Slugger winner (1990-1994, 1996-1997, 2000-2004); 2x home run champion (1993, 2001); 2x batting champion (2002, 2004); single season home run record (73, 2001); most career home runs (762); most career walks (2,558); most career intentional walks (688)
Why He's On My Ballot: Um, holy shit! Bonds is legitimately one of the greatest baseball players of all time. Beyond the accolades above, he has the sixth best on-base percentage in history (.444), the fifth best slugging percentage in history (.607), the fourth best OPS in history (1.051), played in the tenth most games (2,986), his career WAR of 162.5 is the fourth highest in history and the second highest ever for an outfielder, and he ranks high on the list of damn near any other offense-based statistic.
I already made my case about steroids and the hall of fame and why I don't discredit players who were strongly linked to them. But I should explain that, yes, Barry Bonds almost certainly did steroids. BUT, so did the vast majority of his contemporaries, and they didn't put up the kinds of numbers that Bonds was year in, year out. Secondly, while I'm sure steroids might have helped out some players from a statistical standpoint, Bonds included, there isn't enough evidence to suggest that they are as impactful as believed. Third, the offensive boom from the late 80s through the early 00s was caused by far more than just PED use, like smaller ballpark dimensions, inferior overall pitching compared to other eras, umpires calling larger strike zones and baseballs themselves being made with different material, to name a few. So not only is the steroid dogma hypocritical, it also speaks to many writers' lack of understanding of the history of the game or the context of that history. And with that explanation out of the way, that should do it for my steroid rants. You may cheer now, if it pleases you.
ROGER CLEMENS (P)
1984-1996 Boston Red Sox, 1997-1998 Toronto Blue Jays, 1999-2003, 2007 New York Yankees, 2004-2006 Houston Astros
Career Accomplishments: 11x All-Star (1986, 1988, 1990-1992, 1997-1998, 2001, 2003-2005); AL MVP (1986); 7x Cy Young Award winner (1986-1987, 1991, 1997-1998, 2001, 2004); 2x World Series champion (1999-2000); 6x 20-game winner (1986-1987, 1990, 1997-1998, 2001); 7x pitching champion (1986, 1990-1992, 1997-1998, 2005); 2x pitching triple crown winner (1997-1998); 300 wins club (354); 4,000 strikeouts club (4,672)
Why He's On My Ballot: Look up at the career accomplishments blurb. I've also explained my position on steroids. He's another inner-circle type player like Barry Bonds.
GREG MADDUX (P)*
1986-1992, 2004-2006 Chicago Cubs, 1993-2003 Atlanta Braves, 2006, 2008 Los Angeles Dodgers, 2007-2008 San Diego Padres
Career Accomplishments: 8x All-Star (1988, 1992, 1994-1998, 2000); 4x Cy Young Award winner (1992-1995); World Series champion (1995); 18x Gold Glove winner (1990-2002, 2004-2008); 4x pitching champion (1993-1995, 1998); 2x 20-game winner (1992-1993); 300 wins club (355), 3,000 strikeouts club (3,371); 5,000 innings pitched club (5,008 1/3)
Why He's On My Ballot: He's like Roger Clemens except in the National League and without the steroid stigma.
EDGAR MARTINEZ (DH/3B)
1987-2004 Seattle Mariners
Career Accomplishments: 7x All-Star (1992, 1995-1997, 2000-2001, 2003); 5x Silver Slugger winner (1992, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003); 2x batting champion (1992, 1995)
Why He's On My Ballot: If someone is the best player at his position or one of the best in baseball history, that should be enough for enshrinement. Edgar Martinez is the best designated hitter in baseball history. If there are people out there who are still bothered that the DH exists, get over it. The position has been around for 40 years. It's not going away. And Bull Durham is a shitty movie. Get a life.
MIKE PIAZZA (C)
1992-1998 Los Angeles Dodgers, 1998 Florida Marlins, 1998-2005 New York Mets, 2006 San Diego Padres, 2007 Oakland Athletics
Career Accomplishments: 12x All-Star (1993-2002, 2004-2005); NL Rookie of the Year (1993); 10x Silver Slugger winner (1993-2002); 400 home run club (427)
Why He's On My Ballot: He's the greatest hitting catcher in baseball history. Yes, he was a terrible defender. But defense is only used as a hall of fame measuring stick if a player's offensive numbers are merely good and he needs the bump. So put Piazza in Cooperstown already.
TIM RAINES (LF)
1979-1990, 2001 Montreal Expos, 1991-1995 Chicago White Sox, 1996-1998 New York Yankees, 1999 Oakland Athletics, 2001 Baltimore Orioles, 2002 Florida Marlins
Career Accomplishments: 7x All-Star (1981-1987); Silver Slugger winner (1986); 2x World Series champion (1996, 1998); batting champion (1986); 800 stolen bases club (808)
Why He's On My Ballot: Talk about underrated. Raines was the Rickey Henderson of the National League in his prime. Unfortunately for him, he played at the same time as Rickey Henderson when Rickey Henderson was putting up historic numbers and Raines' numbers were merely awesome. He stole the fifth most bases in history and was a great hitter with a .294/.385/.425 line. He also drew a lot of walks for a guy who wasn't a power hitter (1,330), which speaks to great plate discipline. He should've been inducted years ago, lack of hardware be damned.
CURT SCHILLING (P)
1988-1990 Baltimore Orioles, 1991 Houston Astros, 1992-2000 Philadelphia Phillies, 2000-2003 Arizona Diamondbacks, 2004-2007 Boston Red Sox
Career Accomplishments: 6x All-Star (1997-1999, 2001-2002, 2004); 3x World Series champion (2001, 2004, 2007); World Series MVP (2001, with Randy Johnson); 3x 20-game winner (2001-2002, 2004); 2x strikeout champion (1997-1998)
Why He's On My Ballot: Schilling's regular season numbers are great and are more than enough to put him in the hall of fame, but it's his postseason stats that put him over the top. He was superb in the 1993 NLCS (he won the series MVP), his highest ERA in the entire 2001 playoffs was his 1.69 in the World Series (he also struck out 26 batters in three games), and he was absolutely dominant in both of his World Series outings with the Red Sox, particularly in 2004 when he had a 0.00 ERA (not a typo) against the Cardinals. So yeah, he's more than worthy.
FRANK THOMAS (DH/1B)*
1990-2005 Chicago White Sox, 2006, 2008 Oakland Athletics, 2007-2008 Toronto Blue Jays
Career Accomplishments: 5x All-Star (1993-1997); 2x AL MVP (1993-1994); 4x Silver Slugger winner (1991, 1993-1994, 2000); World Series champion (2005); batting champion (1997); 500 home runs club (521)
Why He's On My Ballot: He was one of the greatest hitters of his era and is living proof that the inflated offensive numbers of the time weren't solely due to steroid use.
***
So that's who I'd vote for if I had a hall of fame vote. Realistically, Greg Maddux is the only one on my ballot who's probably going in this year. Craig Biggio, Mike Piazza, Curt Schilling and Frank Thomas all have a strong shot. Barry Bonds, Rogers Clemens and Edgar Martinez have almost no shot. Jeff Bagwell and Tim Raines are wild cards. Hopefully, the voters see fit to put a modern era candidate in the hall this year. Hopefully more than one. This ballot is stacked and there's no good reason so many great players should still be fighting to get in.
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