Breaking Down the 2012 Hall of Fame Ballot

On Wednesday, the Baseball Writers Association of America announced the upcoming 2012 Hall of Fame ballot.  Included are 27 candidates (down from last year's 33)...13 newcomers and, like last year, 14 holdovers.

Unlike last year, when Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven got the obvious call, there are no shoe-ins whatsoever.

Leading the pack of returners is 1995 National League MVP, Barry Larkin...who is on his third ballot.  A year ago, the longtime Cincinnati Reds shortstop finished third overall with 62.1% of the vote.

Other holdovers include Jack Morris (53.5%), Lee Smith (45.3%), Jeff Bagwell (41.7%), Tim  Raines (37.5%), Edgar Martinez (32.9%), Alan Trammell (24.3%), Larry Walker (20.3%), Fred McGriff (17.9%), Don Mattingly (13.6%) and Dale Murphy (12.6%).

Three others, Mark McGwire (19.8%), Rafael Palmeiro (11.0%) and Juan Gonzalez (5.2%) are obviously adorned with the steroid scarlett letter and have about as much of a shot of making it in as you or me.

There are no notable newcomers on the ballot, which makes this a boring, boring ballot.

Leading the pack, however is possibly the most accomplished of the first ballot guys...New York Yankees fan favorite Bernie Williams.

Good friend of The Hall "Bald Vinny" might have Williams on his Yankees Mt. Rushmore, but it isn't likely that the Hall of Fame will welcome him. Sure, his .297 career batting average (including eight straight seasons of .300 or more), 2336 hits and 22 post season home runs are things of recent Yankee lore…but they are nothing but a blip on the radar of what gets mentioned alongside the names of those in Cooperstown

Other notable first ballot guys...Javy Lopez, Ruben Sierra and Vinny Castilla.

It's been a long time, but back in the day, I think we all might have been tempted to make the argument that Lopez was on his way to something. Then, well, the train left the tracks and I'm not really sure what happened to the guy. He ended his career with a respectable .287 batting average and 260 home runs.

20 years ago, Sierra was, along with Hall of Very Good frenemy Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire and Pete Incaviglia, THE future of baseball and you would have been hard pressed to find anyone to agree with you. Now, after 306 home runs and 1322 RBI…he’s an interesting footnote to an era that has long since passed.

Was Castilla a very good hitting third baseman or another one of those who was helped by the much ballyhooed Coors Effect? Both?!? Any way you slice it, his 320 home runs and near perfect hair doesn’t get him through the doors of Cooperstown without paying first.

Rounding out the ballot...Jeromy Burnitz, former two-sport star Brian Jordan, Bill Mueller, Terry Mulholland, Phil Nevin, Brad Radke, 1993 American League Rookie of the Year Tim Salmon, Tony Womack and Eric Young.

Voting results will be announced Monday, January 9.

Friday Five: The "Bartman Ball"

How much would you pay for a foul ball hit by Luis Castillo on October 14, 2003?

What if that ball bounced off the waiting hands of one Steve Bartman and led to what, some call, the greatest collapse in postseason history?

The answer...$113,824.16.

The ball was snatched up by Chicago lawyer Grant DePorter and sold at an auction in December 2003.  On February 26, 2004, it was publicly detonated.

Here are the five most valuable baseballs in baseball history.

$3,005,000
Mark McGwire's 70th Home Run
Date Hit:  September 27, 1998
Significance:  Set the then single-season home run record.
Snagged by:  Phil Ozersky
Sold to:  Todd McFarlane

Comic book artist McFarlane paid $3,005,000 for it at a Guernsey's auction in January 1999. Ozersky got $2.7 million after the auction commission. He bought three houses, went to the Super Bowl, and gave $250,000 to charities.

$805,00

Babe Ruth's 1933 All-Star Game Home Run

Date Hit:  July 6, 1933

Significance:  First homer hit in All-Star Game history.

Snagged by:  Earl Brown

Sold to:  Anonymous

In July 2006, the baseball went on the block at Hunt Auctions All-Star Fanfest auction held in Pittsburgh. The lot included Brown's ticket stub to the game, a newspaper box score and summary of what happened, a notarized letter from Brown's wife and the home run baseball. The final bid for the baseball and accompanying items was $700,000. A 15% buyer's premium sent the final price to $805,000.

$804,129
Barry Bonds's 700th Career Home Run
Date Hit:  September 17, 2004
Significance:  Bonds became the third player to reach the milestone.
Snagged by:  Steve Williams
Sold to:  Anonymous

In October 2004, an unidentified bidder paid $804,129 to Overstock.com for the ball. Williams plans to donate a portion of his auction proceeds to two charities: Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and the Edgewood Center for Children and Families in San Francisco, a counseling and treatment center for at-risk children.

$752,467
Barry Bonds's 756th Career Home Run
Date Hit:  August 7, 2007
Significance:  Broke the all-time home run record.
Snagged by:  Matt Murphy
Sold to:  Marc Ecko

After wanting to keep the call, Murphy eventually decided to sell the ball because he couldn't afford to pay the taxes required to keep it. It went to auction with SCP Auctions and sold for $752,467.

The winning bidder was Ecko, who asked the public to vote on what he should do with the ball.  "The public chose to send the ball to the Hall of Fame with an asterisk, as a constant reminder of this unforgettable moment in sports history and popular culture," the fashion designer said.  "You might say it's defacing. Others might say that it's validating the way most people feel about the ball."

$650,000
Hank Aaron's 755th Career Home Run
Date Hit:  July 20, 1976
Significance:  Final home run of the former career home run leader.
Snagged by:  Richard Arndt
Sold to:  Andrew Knuth

Arndt would keep the ball in a safety deposit box for over 20 years before finally selling it at auction in 1999 for $650,000 to, a money manager from Westport, Connecticut. 

***A big thanks to Zack Hample and the gang at ballcatchers.com for the assist.***

Cooperstown 2011: Mark McGwire

MARK McGWIRE
Fifth Year on Ballot (2010 - 23.7%)

PLAYING CAREER:  Oakland Athletics (1986–1997) and St. Louis Cardinals (1997–2001)

ACHIEVEMENTS:  Career batting average of .263, 583 home runs and 1414 RBI.  Ranks tenth all-time in home runs, eighth in slugging percentage (.588) and tenth in on-base plus slugging (.982).  Led league in home runs four times (1987, 1996, 1998 and 1999), including a then-Major League record 70 home runs in 1998.  1987 American League Rookie of the Year.  1989 World Series Champion.  1990 Gold Glove Award winner.  12-time All-Star selection (1987-1992 and 1995-2000).


HOVG THOUGHTS:  Even without the steroids discussion, McGwire’s stats don’t warrant the positive lip service that everyone has given him.  Sure…“Big Mac” has a heap of home runs. With 583 under his belt, he is sitting tenth all-time. And while I’ve heard all the OPS+ arguments, you can take away his tremendous home run total and all you’ve got is a guy who played in a ton (if you consider 12 “a ton”) of All-Star games and had precious little to show for it.  Now, I’m not one of those guys who thinks that McGwire was basically a clone of Dave Kingman…I tend to give him a little more credit than that. When healthy (and McGwire played in 140 or more games in only eight seasons), he was one of the best out there.  The problem I have is that he wasn’t durable, wasn’t consistent and, frankly…was the baseball world’s equivalent to a Long Drive contest participant.  I mean, the fact that McGwire hit a home run once in every ten at bats (and yes, he is first all-time) is impressive. What isn’t is the .263 career batting average, 1626 hits and almost as many (1596) strikeouts.

Happy Anniversary Mitchell Report

It’s been three long years since the Report to the Commissioner of Baseball of an Independent Investigation into the Illegal Use of Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Substances by Players in Major League Baseball become public and engrained itself within our collective conscience as the “Mitchell Report”.

The report was the result of former senator George Mitchell’s nearly two-year investigation into the use of steroids and human growth hormones in Major League Baseball.

89 players were named in the 409-page report and this year’s Hall of Fame class, while not the first to have suspected steroid users, features a handful of the report’s biggest names.

Everyone already knows the plight of Mark McGwire and his inability to get any where near the 75% that he needs to get enshrined in Cooperstown.

First on the ballot in 2007, McGwire has hovered between 21.9 and 23.7% in the four tries on the Hall of Fame ballot. Arguments can and have been made as to whether or not the former slugger and his 583 home runs are Hall-worthy with or without the steroid allegations.

But now that he has admitted that he, in fact, did use performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career…will we see a drop in support?

This year, there are four first-time nominees on the ballot that also appear in the “Mitchell Report”…six-time All-Star Kevin Brown, two-time MVP Juan Gonzalez, former Rookie of the Year Benito Sanitago and, of course, the guy who will most surely test the Hall of Fame voters the most.

Rafael Palmeiro.

Palmeiro has the most Cooperstown-worthy numbers (he’s one of only four players with more than 3000 hits and 500 home runs) of anyone that’s been on the ballot in recent years, but, it will be his suspension in 2005 that will basically put a fork in his chances at enshrinement.

But according to the “Mitchell Report”…Palmeiro didn’t knowingly do anything wrong.

On August 1, 2005, Major League Baseball announced that Baltimore Orioles first baseman and designated hitter Rafael Palmeiro had violated the league's joint drug program and would be suspended for 10 games. Palmeiro subsequently acknowledged that he had tested positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol, the generic name for Winstrol, but he repeatedly denied that he had ever "intentionally taken steroids."

Unfortunately, the suspension will overshadow the numbers. The big question isn’t if he did or didn’t…it’s how will the voters treat him.

Palmeiro’s former teammate Texas Rangers Juan Gonzalez wasn’t named directly in the Mitchell Report, but the two-time MVP was linked to some suspicious luggage found while he played in Cleveland.

On the evening of October 4, 2001, Canadian Border Service officers working at Toronto's international airport discovered steroids, syringes, and clenbuterol in an unmarked duffel bag during an airport search of luggage that had been unloaded from the Cleveland Indians flight from Kansas City.

Oh, and baseball’s most famous steroid user Jose Canseco implicated “Igor” in his 2005 best-seller “Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits and How Baseball Got Big”…saying he introduced the former outfielder to the culture.

Yikes.

Arguably baseball’s highest profile (alledged) steroid user is Barry Bonds. And while the seven-time MVP won’t be up for Hall of Fame consideration for a few more years, one of his (seemingly) partners in crime is on the ballot this year.

Benito Santiago was one of several players implicated in the BALCO investigation and the book "Game of Shadows" and according to the Mitchell Report, he was just as guilty as his former San Francisco Giants teammate.

At the end of the 2003 season, Mike Murphy, a Giants clubhouse attendant, was cleaning out Santiago's locker when he found a sealed package of syringes. Murphy brought the syringes to the training room, handed them to (Victor) Conte, and told Conte that he had found them in Santiago's locker. Conte responded that he "would take care of it".

Lastly, Kevin Brown.

According to the report, Brown called former Mets clubhouse employee-turned-Mitchell Report snitch Kirk Radomski after he got injured and asked for human growth hormones.

Radomski sent HGH to Brown and in return received a package containing $8,000 in cash. According to Radomski, over the next two or three years he sold performance enhancing substances to Brown five or six times. Radomski recalled that Brown usually purchased multiple kits of HGH, paying with cash. At one point, Brown asked Radomski for Deca-Durabolin to help with an ailing elbow, and Radomski sold it to him.

Any other year, Brown’s stellar winning percentage and reputation as a staff ace might get him a few more votes. This year, the fact that he was implicated will probably cost him a second year on the ballot.

Since the December 13, 2007, only five players not named Mark McGwire have appeared on both the Hall of Fame ballot and the “Mitchell Report”.

In 2008, David Justice and Chuck Knoblauch each appeared on one of the 543 ballots that were cast.

A year later, Mo Vaughn and Matt Williams faired much better, getting a combined 13 votes…a far cry from the 405 votes needed to get inducted.

And last year, admitted steroid user David Segui did as well as Justice and Knoblauch…equaling their one vote.

It’s hard to say if any of the vote totals in the last three elections were directly influenced by the “Mitchell Report” as none of the five really stood any chance of getting in to Cooperstown, but this year, guys like Rafael Palmeiro and Juan Gonzalez actually could have a shot…if it wasn’t for that pesky George Mitchell and his Report to the Commissioner of Baseball of an Independent Investigation into the Illegal Use of Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Substances by Players in Major League Baseball

Fergie Jenkins...not a fan of Mark McGwire

When Mark McGwire made an appearance earlier this week in St. Louis, he was greeted with cheers and a standing ovation.

In an "open letter" to the Associated Press just a few days later, Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins had some harsh words for the slugger.

Jenkins suggests that "Big Mac" may have shortened some pitchers careers because of his steroid use, claims that he would have "knocked him on his butt" and demands more apologies.

"You have not even begun to apologize to those you have harmed," Jenkins told the former home run king McGwire. "You need to apologize to your family for depriving them of your presence as time goes on because you are likely going to die earlier than if you had never relied on andro to carry you to all your successes."

Yikes. Something tells me that the two won't be exchanging any Christmas cards anytime soon.

This past May, I had a chance to talk to Jenkins and his fellow Hall member Rollie Fingers and the subject of steroids came up. Suffice it to say...they had some choice words for those Major Leaguers who took (and are suspected of taking) performance enhancing drugs.

HOVG: With the talk of steroids all over the sports channels and what not…what are your feelings going to be when a player who has admitted use, and it’s bound to happen, gets elected to join you in Cooperstown?

FERGIE: I don’t think (it’s bound to happen). Whoever has the vote, the Hall of Fame committee…the 500 plus reporters, they’re not going to vote for them. Guys like (Sammy) Sosa might not make it. Neither will (Barry) Bonds or (Mark) McGwire. A-Rod might not make it.

ROLLIE: I don’t think that’s ever going to happen. The sportswriters are pretty sticky about that. It’s pretty obvious with the numbers that Mark McGwire has gotten. If you’re known to use or if they figure you’ve been using, I don’t see that person getting voted in.

FERGIE: Once you get that particular black mark on your record, they are not going to give you the required amount of votes. You have to get 75 percent. McGwire only got 22 percent (in 2009). He’s not even close.

HOVG: If someone that is suspected of steroids makes it in, like Roger Clemens, are you on that stage when they're inducted?

FERGIE: I don't know, I'd have to wait and see. I know Bob Feller voiced his opinion already. There's a few guys who voiced their opinion and said they wouldn't go. (Al) Kaline probably wouldn't go. Some of the guys who are staunch advocates of playing the game clean...they probably wouldn't show.

ROLLIE: Yes…simply because the sportswriters voted him in. If they felt as though he warranted going into the Hall of Fame, I am not going to shun him. I would stay on the stage. But like I said before, I don’t think that it’s going to happen. Roger Clemens says he doesn’t care, but I guarantee you…Roger Clemens cares.

HOVG: We can all blame Jose Canseco.

ROLLIE: (Laughs) I tell you what…everyone gets on Jose Canseco, but you don’t see too many people suing him. If he hadn’t have written the book, who knows where we’d be at today with steroids and the number of guys using them. It would probably be out of hand. At least right now, they’re taking care of the problem. The worst thing you can do is to let kids see that it is okay to use this stuff and get by. You have to show kids that this is not the right way to go and clean it up.

Feel free to check out my full interview with Fergie Jenkins HERE and Rollie Fingers HERE.

Big Mac Admits What We Already Knew

When good friend of The Hall E drops me an email asking if I could use a McGwire post...my response was an easy one.

Why not?

Here it is:

Mark McGwire has finally admitted what everyone has expected for the better part of 10 years: that he used performance-enhancing steroids while he was playing baseball.

The fact that he went from a guy who had the physique of a basketball player to a guy who looked like he could punch through an engine block all but convinced everyone that McGwire was on the juice.

Five years ago, when he was called in front of Congress to testify about steroids, he bebopped and scatted all around the issue (as opposed to Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro, who outright lied). Since he retired, he's been in virtual seclusion, lending more credance to the fact that maybe he had something important weighing on his mind. And now, he's come out and spilled the beans.

And I'm going to do something nutty and defend the guy a little bit.

Read the rest of E's defense HERE!

Mark McGwire comes clean...sun still set to rise

He admitted to it...kinda.

Move on, gang.

The obligatory Hall of Fame re-cap

So here’s the deal…you’re a voting member of the BBWAA and instead of checking off one name on your ballot (you can do up to ten), you choose to do none.

None.

Never before has the baseball world been more upset in the five writers not completing their ballot than with this year’s Hall of Fame ballot. I know, I know, by NOT voting for anyone…they voted.

Whatever.

Let’s jump into the re-cap of who got in (Andre Dawson) and who didn’t (25 other dudes).

Andre Dawson (77.9% this year, 67.0% in 2009)
“The Hawk” was destined to make it in given he was the closest last year and at 67% in 2009, his 10% jump was no real surprise. I have no issues with Dawson making it in given Cooperstown opened its doors to Jim Rice last season. For what its worth (and I know the Dan Shaughnessy haters will blast me on this one)…he always struck me as a Hall of Famer.

Which brings me to…

Bert Blyleven (74.2%, 62.7%)
I’ve called Blyleven plenty in the last couple of months. A “compiler”, “not worthy”…the list goes on and on. Battles have been waged, but my opinion never wavered. That being said, the dude got screwed. But why? Did he fall five votes short of 75% because of the cowards who sent in blank ballots? Not sure. Did he fall short because of his own endless campaigning? Who knows. I know this...Bert will be back on the ballot next year and his supporters will be all the more vocal.

Roberto Alomar (73.7%, first year on ballot)
I’ve been huge on Alomar for a while now. Still am. How a player of his stature can be left out in the cold is beyond me. Are there that many Mariottis out there that feel as though they are better than the game by not purposely NOT putting someone in on their first ballot? I know the argument about “a Hall of Famer is a Hall of Famer…doesn’t matter when he gets in”, but Alomar was the most deserving cat on the ballot.

Jack Morris (52.3%, 44.0%) and Lee Smith (47.3%, 44.5%)
Like Dawson and Blyleven, both Morris and Smith saw increases in their totals. While I am a fan and supporter of both…I do see the arguments against. That being said, it appears as though the Hall is starting to open its doors for some of my heroes growing up. As a child of the 80s…I ate, drank, breathed 80s baseball and Morris and Smith were a big part of it.

Tim Raines (30.4%, 22.6%)
I’m going to be honest…it sure would’ve been nice for Raines and Dawson to have gone in together. After the time they spent tolling in Montreal, the pair would have been quite a site together on that stage in front of the baseball world. As it is, “Rock” is now three years in to what will surely be a long stay on the ballot.

Alan Trammell (22.4%, 17.4%), Don Mattingly (16.1%, 11.9%), Dave Parker (15.2%, 15.0%) and Dale Murphy (11.7%, 11.5%)
Cases can be, and have been made for these four guys. At times, each one represented the best of the best at the respective positions. All four will stay around for the duration of their maximum 15 years on the ballot, but as I’ve said numerous times in the past…I think only the iconic Yankee Mattingly will sniff Cooperstown. At only 16% now, his vote totals haven’t gotten near the 75% needed, but I am predicting that when it is all said and done, the Veterans Committee will recognize his achievements in New York pinstripes.

Harold Baines (6.1%, 5.9%)
I love the fact that Baines can’t do better than six percent, yet won’t dip below five. I’ve always been a fan of the guy and as long as he is continuing to linger on the ballot…I will continue to pimp his cause. My hope is that the BBWAA won’t disappoint (as they proved they can this year), and keep throwing votes Baines’ way. 30-40 votes a year…that’s all I’m asking for. Less than that means he’s likely off the ballot.

Barry Larkin (51.6%, first year), Edgar Martinez (36.2%, first year) and Fred McGriff (21.5%, first year)
While Alomar surprised me…the totals for these three first timers did not. With more than half of the votes, Larkin is positioned to eventually get in (I’m looking your way, Class of 2015) and when he does…I’ll lead the slow clap. Regarding Martinez and McGriff, honestly, I could go either way. Put them in or don’t…I really have no issues either way.

Eleven guys (Andres Galarraga, Robin Ventura, Ellis Burks, Eric Karros, Kevin Appier, Pat Hentgen, David Segui, Mike Jackson, Ray Lankford, Shane Reynolds and Todd Zeile) got less than the five percent necessary to stick around next year. Suffice it to say…these guys won’t be missed come 2011.

In a year where it appears as though almost everyone increased their vote totals, I am beside myself that Mark McGwire (23.7%, 21.9%) still can’t get a third of the votes necessary to become a Hall of Famer. While I would never put him in the Hall…a lot of mainstream writers appeared to be changing their tune on the big redhead. With the latest revelations regarding performance enhancing drugs that have been unearthed in the last couple of years…“Big Mac” still doesn’t have any tangible evidence being pointed in his direction. My guess is that the writers are waiting to see if or when McGwire gets cleared of using PEDs before they make a realistic push to getting him enshrined…or, they’re hoping his time on the ballot ends quickly so they don’t have to make the decision to tick his box.

***Following the BBWAA's omission of everyone BUT Dawson, I posed the question, "Who else should have gotten the Cooperstown call?" This is how you answered: Alomar (71%), Blyleven (62%), Larkin (38%), Raines (26%), McGwire (25%), Morris (24%), Smith (21%), Martinez (14%) and Other (3%).***

Hall of Fame 2010: Mark McGwire

From now until the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2010 is announced, The Hall is going to be breaking down each candidate. Some write ups will be lengthy...some will be the opposite. Some will be brand new pieces...some will be re-hashes of previous pieces.

Plenty has been written regarding Mark McGwire’s Hall of Fame credentials, but all of them pretty much begin and end with the speculation around whether or not he was guilty of using performance enhancers.

To me, it doesn’t matter.

Even without the steroids discussion, McGwire’s stats don’t warrant the poaitive lip service that everyone is given him.

Sure…“Big Mac” has a heap of home runs. With 583 under his belt, he has more than everyone but seven. As we all know, he was the guy who, in 1998, toppled Roger Maris and his legendary 61 home runs.

And while I’ve heard all the OPS+ arguments, you can take away his tremendous home run total and all you’ve got is a guy who played in a ton (if you consider 12 “a ton”) of All-Star games and had precious little to show for it.

Now, I’m not one of those guys who thinks that McGwire was basically a clone of Dave Kingman…I tend to give him a little more credit than that. When healthy (and McGwire only played in 140 or more games eight times), he was one of the best out there.

The problem I have is that he wasn’t durable, wasn’t consistent and, frankly…was the baseball world’s equivalent to a Long Drive contest participant.

I mean, the fact that McGwire hit a home run once in every ten at bats (and yes, he is first all-time) is impressive. What isn’t is the .263 career batting average, 1626 hits and almost as many (1596) strikeouts.

McGwire was named the American League Rookie of the Year in 1987, but not once did he take home an MVP Award. And while you could argue he should have won the hardware in 1998 (and he probably should have), he only managed three Silver Slugger awards.

I realize that many scoff at the hardware argument, but let’s face it…it is all part of the overall package. It’s either the icing on the cake (ask Bert Blyleven) or the entire cake itself (ask Ozzie Smith).

For me, it is the icing and for McGwire…a handful of huge years needed those trophies to go along with them.

Hall of Fame ballot...2010 style!

Last Friday, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America released the names of the 26 players that make up the 2010 Hall of Fame ballot.

Between now and when the results of the balloting are announced January 6, you’ll likely be subjected to dozens of writers who think they have an opinion as to who belongs and who doesn’t.

Unfortunately, I’m no different…so here we go!

Roberto Alomar. I’m huge on Alomar…can’t help it. The guy retired at 36 and still managed career numbers of 2724 hits and 1508 runs. Add to that his .300 career batting average and you’ve got one of the best second basemen ever to lace up the spikes. 12 straight All-Star Games, 10 Gold Gloves in an 11 year stretch and back-to-back World Series rings. Yeah…put him up the wall now and spare the writers this vote.

Kevin Appier. If I told you that Appier had a career ERA of 3.74 and ten years with ten or more wins would you care? No?!? Thought so.

Harold Baines. Alright, as huge as I am on Alomar…I’m just as huge on Baines. And yes, I know the “he was JUST a DH” speech so spare me the lecture. That being said, it needs to be pointed out that Baines holds the record for most games played at DH. His 2866 career base hits (40th all-time) means that he has the most hits of any player that is Hall eligible. Only Pete Rose, Craig Biggio, Rickey Henderson, Rafael Palmeiro and Barry Bonds are ahead of him. Odds are that had Baines not had two work stoppages during his career, he would have eclipsed 3000 hits. Futhermore, he also has the most RBI of all Hall eligible players and ranks 29th all-time. So riddle me this…how does a guy like Baines barely get enough votes to stay Hall-eligible year after year? His lack of support is a joke.

Bert Blyleven. For some reason, Blyleven has become the sexy pick of everyone who has an opinion on who does and who doesn’t belong. That being said…I don’t know that he should be up there on the Cooperstown stage come July. Yes, I know, I know, I just went on and on about Harold Baines and now…I’m slamming Blyleven. The guy was a compiler. A damn good compiler…but a compiler nonetheless. Of his 287 victories, only once did he top 20 victories…and that was in a season where he went 20-17. And while he has more strikeouts than all but four pitchers, let’s look at the bigger picture…how many times did Bert lead the league in ERA? Wins? What about winning percentage? How many Cy Young Awards did this cat bring home? Zero. He was an All-Star twice, but c’mon…so was Esteban Loaiza. And frankly, when do you suppose the last (or first) time someone not named “Blyleven” uttered the words…”I sure do hope Bert’s on the hill today” on their way to the ballpark?

Ellis Burks. While I would never, ever, use the words “Ellis Burks” and “future Hall of Famer” in the same sentence, I was surprised to see that he had a career batting average of .291, belted 352 home runs and was robbed in 1996 of the National League MVP Award.

Andre Dawson. Like Jim Rice, I think Dawson will eventually get in. After a while, the writers will shrug their shoulders and say “why not?” An eight time All-Star, eight Gold Glove recipient, an MVP Award and Rookie of the Year honors…he was every bit as feared as people say Rice was. Add to that close to 2800 hits and those pesky 438 home runs and you’ve gotta admit…”The Hawk” was a special, special player.

Andres Galarraga. You can go both ways with the “Big Cat”. Take away the “Coors Factor” and Galarraga is the poor man’s Will Clark. Take into account that he did play in Colorado during the prime of his career and he’s borderline Willie Stargell-like. But let’s face it…you can’t ignore 399 home runs, 1425 RBI and a career .288 batting average. Wait, the writers do routinely…and, again, they call him “Harold Baines”.

Pat Hentgen. In 1996, Hentgen took home the American League Cy Young Award. This January, he’ll have celebrated his lone year on the Hall of Fame ballot.

Mike Jackson. Jackson is 12th all-time (among pitchers) in games played with 1005…three more than Goose Gossage. Pretty impressive until you realize that numbers 1 through 11 consist of such notables as Dan Plesac and two other “Mikes”…Mike Stanton and Mike Timlin. Something tells me that Cooperstown isn’t ready for the journeyman closer/set up man yet.

Eric Karros. See “Pat Hentgen”, but swap out “1996 American League Cy Young Award” with “1992 National League Rookie of the Year”. In short…same result.

Ray Lankford. You know, there used to be a time when I routinely confused Lankford with Brian Jordan and Bernard Gilkey. Next!

Barry Larkin. With all the hubbub that surrounded Cal Ripken and how he re-defined the position of shortstop over in the American League…Larkin was his equivalent in the National League. To an extent. With a career .295 batting average, 2340 hits and nine Silver Slugger Awards, the 1995 NL MVP brought some swagger back to what was a dead Big Red Machine…if only for a few years. I put him in.

Edgar Martinez. The argument FOR Martinez is that he is the “best DH ever”. The argument AGAINST Martinez is that he is the “best DH ever”. I’m not sure which side of the fence I fall on, but as long as Harold Baines is paying for his ticket…Martinez can stand in line behind him. Sure, Martinez has a .312 career batting average and ranks 22nd all-time in on base percentage (at .418)…but the guy only has 2247 hits and has a pretty empty trophy case to show for his 18 year career. And yes, even though the annual DH award is named after him…that isn’t good enough to garner a plaque on the wall.

Don Mattingly. Like most of the world, I was enamored with Mattingly when he hit the scene. I had his 1984 Donruss rookie card encased in Lucite and thought I was witnessing the second coming. During a six-year run beginning in 1984, Mattingly averaged 26 home runs, 114 RBIs and a .327 batting average. No player during that stretch had more RBI than Mattingly's 684 amd only Hall of Famer Wade Boggs (1,269) had more hits than Mattingly's 1,219. That six-year peak (from 1984 to 1989) is clearly one of the best of his generation and overall, his brief career stacks up with some others in the Hall. I’m not saying he goes in now, but I do think “Donnie Baseball” will hover on the ballot for a while longer and get his due from the Veterans Committee.

Fred McGriff. Now, this is where I might lose some of ya…I think the “Crime Dog” is a Hall of Famer. It’s true, he wasn’t a sexy player (no MVP Awards, only five All-Star Games), but his numbers stack up well with some of the other first basemen in the Hall. Of the 12 enshrined, only five of them drove in more runs (McGriff has 1550 RBI), only four hit more home runs (McGriff hit 493), and only three scored more runs (McGriff scored 1349 runs). McGriff needs to be enshrined soon, because (like Rice for 14 of the last 15 years), his numbers will pale in comparison to the contemporaries on the ballot.

Mark McGwire. Even without the steroids discussion, McGwire’s stats don’t warrant the lip service that everyone pays him. And while I’ve heard all the OPS arguments, you can take away his tremendous home run total and all you’ve got is a guy who played in a ton of All-Star games and had precious little to show for it. Sorry Mark…and it has nothing to do with whether or not you were juiced.

Jack Morris. Consistency and durability, while not THE reason to induct someone…has to be taken into consideration when judging someone’s worth. Morris was the epitome of a pitching “Iron Horse”. Matter of fact, this innings hog (he had eleven seasons of more than 235 innings pitched) holds the record for most consecutive opening day starts…14. And if you thought Cal Ripken’s streak was impressive (it was), Morris went nearly 500 starts without missing his turn in the rotation. Again, not a reason to bronze his head…but not too shabby either. Morris notched a career 254-186 record…good for a .577 winning percentage. His win total is more than Hall of Famers Bob Gibson, Juan Marichal, Whitey Ford and plenty of others. Hell, in the 80s alone…Morris went 162-119 and led the decade in both wins and complete games. He was the ace of three World Series teams (he was injured and couldn’t play in 1993 or else there’d be a fourth) and he threw a no hitter. I think the main reason Jack gets overlooked is his career ERA of 3.90. He never led the league (much less came close to it) and made no bones about the fact that he gave up a ton of runs. Will he get into the Hall? Probably not. Does he deserve to? Absolutely. Thankfully for Morris, the Veterans Committee does like to look at players that got close (he appeared on a best 41.2% of the ballots in 2006) but not close enough. Let’s hope that someday soon, the 80s won’t be as overlooked as they have been in the past.

Dale Murphy. It’s hard to remember how dominant Murphy was when he hit his peak in the mid-80s. Consider this…when he retired, his 398 home runs ranked 19th all-time. Now…he sits at 48. After winning his back-to-back MVP awards in 1982 and 1983, Murphy appeared to be on his way to Cooperstown. Now…not so much.

Dave Parker. If there was a “Badass Hall of Fame”, I’d put “The Cobra” in hands down. Matter of fact, I think he and Jack Morris would be on hand to deliver two of the inaugural speeches. Unfortunately, the only Hall of Fame worth mentioning here is saved for baseball players and as much as I’d like to see Parker’s toothy grin on that stage praising Willie Stargell and condemning Marge Schott…I’m afraid we’ll never see it happen.

Tim Raines. I always kinda thought that Raines was one of the best out there. Along with Rickey Henderson, there were really only two guys you would want to lead off for you. With a nice peak throughout the 80s, 2605 career hits, a .294 batting average and 808 steals, Raines is the kind of guy that might get some votes.

Shane Reynolds. Ugh.

David Segui. Double ugh.

Lee Smith. I met the guy a while back and the man is intimidating. Smith seemed bigger than life standing next to me (I'm 6'4") and shaking his hand was like grabbing a tractor tire. I can only imagine what it was like having him throw something in your direction from sixty feet, six inches. Now, while that is not a reason to induct someone (if it was, Tim Stoddard would be enshrined), Smith’s 478 saves were pretty darn good. For 13 years, Smith was the all-time saves leader and up until recently, he held the record for most games finished. I mean, when a guy is getting his records broken by the likes or Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera he had to have been decent, right? Right?!?

Alan Trammell. For some reason, Trammell has become the Bert Blyleven of some Hall of Fame discussions and I am not sure why. When he played, like Blyleven, he was so overshadowed by some of the other guys out there that no one would have considered him a lock for Cooperstown. Now, long after retiring and having spent a number of years on the ballot…people start banging his drum. Why? I liked Trammell, it’s true…but I don’t see it, gang.

Robin Ventura. Six times a Gold Glove recipient at third and a gang load of grand slams…but that’s about it.

Todd Zeile. See “Robin Ventura” but remove the flowery comments about Gold Gloves and grand slams.

So, I guess if you’re keeping track, my “YES” would go to Alomar, Baines, Dawson, Larkin, McGriff and Smith. I’m admittedly on the fence about Blyleven, Martinez and Raines and I think Mattingly and Morris will eventually get their due.

I guess we’ll see how it all unfolds in six weeks. Until then…keep reading and let me know what you think.

Mark McGwire...hitting coach?

Mark McGwire being named hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals is not that big of a deal, baseball fans.

Trust me.

You know how I know? Mickey Hatcher, Kevin Long and Joe Vavra led their teams to the three highest batting averages in the Majors and NO ONE knows who they are.

Matter of fact, I had to look it up.

What you've got here is, in my opinion, two things...(A) Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa throwing a bone to a buddy so that said buddy can (B) get his name back in the news so that he can garner more than the third of the necessary votes he has been getting to make it into the Hall of Fame.

This is more of a "let's get the gang back together" move than it is an effort to raise the National League's third best team batting average. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool.

I mean, honestly...how is Mark McGwire going to help the Cardinals hitters? They were in the top six or seven (above the league average) in every major hitting category and third from the bottom in strikeouts.

Whatever they were doing worked.

That being said...I think Albert Pujols could be getting hitting tips from Fredbird and he'd still end up swinging the best bat in the National League.

Sorry Walker...here's my favorite Texas Ranger

I was in a meeting last week when, no joke, someone said…“there’s a reason why it is called the ‘Midsummer Classic’ and it isn’t because it is played in February”.

Dumb statement? Perhaps.

But it wasn’t long after I heard that, that I realized that we were indeed on the cusp of being deluged with All-Star game hype.

Who is in?

Who is out?

Is it wrong to want to see Ken Griffey, Jr. out there for what might be one last time?

All valid topics of conversation and every single one of them was answered this past Sunday when the teams were announced a la the NCAA brackets. I mean, do we really need an All-Star Selection Show?

The answer is “no”…but I digress.

By now, we all know that this is the last All-Star game at “Historic Yankee Stadium”, the Tampa Bay Rays have no starters, Junior fell out of favor over the past week and Jason Varitek is somehow going to be part of the festivities.

All of those are stories that we’re going to hear ad nauseam, but there is going to be one name that we’re likely going to get sick of hearing by this time next week.

Josh Hamilton.

I know, I know…he is a former number one overall pick, struggled with injuries and drug addiction, was out of baseball for a few years and is now back living up to the expectations everyone had of him ten years ago.

I get it…it is a nice story.

All that aside, there is one tidbit about Hamilton that I took notice of…he is the first Texas Ranger outfielder to start an All-Star game since Juan Gonzalez in 1998 and only the third Ranger outfielder (Gary Matthews, Jr. was the other) to be selected in the last twenty years.

That’s not terrible company considering Gonzalez left his own injury filled career sandwiched between ANOTHER Junior, Cal Ripken, and should be Hall of Famer Andre Dawson on the all-time home run leader list.

That’s right, Gonzalez quietly finished his career with 434 bombs…good for 37th all-time. Matter of fact, including Dawson…there are only four Hall eligible players (Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco and Dave Kingman are the others) with MORE home runs than “Juan Gone”.

Drafted at 16 and taking his first Major League cuts at 19, Gonzalez was considered by many to be the best Puerto Rican baseball player since Roberto Clemente...and he could have been. Here was a slugger whose numbers at the plate seemed to mirror those of Griffey, Jr. but never did he garner the adoration “The Kid” received.

Starting in 1992, and setting the 1994 strike year aside, Gonzalez had 35 or more home runs in seven out of nine seasons. From 1992 to 2001, Gonzalez hit 365 home runs out of the yard...Griffey sent 400 packing.

Imagine if Gonzalez would have stayed healthy!

Here is a guy who MISSED twenty or more games in all but FOUR seasons in his seventeen year career. At the time, “Juan Gone” made Junior look durable!

In 1996, Gonzalez won the first of his two MVP awards with a career high .643 slugging percentage, .314 average, 144 RBI and a staggering 47 home runs. And why are 47 home runs staggering considering that it was only fifth best in the American League? Gonzalez sat out close to 30 games and STILL led the Rangers to the playoffs.

His impact was THAT great.

In the 1996 ALDS, Gonzalez tied Jeffrey Leonard's 1987 NLCS record by homering in four straight post-season games and joined Reggie Jackson and Griffey as the only players to hit five home runs in a single post-season series.

Two years later, Gonzalez once again brought home some hardware by hitting .316, 50 doubles, 45 home runs and knocking in 157 runs. Unfortunately, this MVP season was all but ignored on the national stage given McGwire and Sammy Sosa delighting the world with their best Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle impersonation.

But yet again, the Rangers lost to the Yankees in the playoffs and “Igor” was pretty much a shadow of his 1996 postseason self barely hitting my dog’s weight….083.

But if postseason play means anything (and it probably doesn't in this case), Gonzalez's four-year peak, contributed to the only three postseason appearances in the Rangers' history and he also contributed greatly to the Indians' 2001 division championship.

Juan Gonzalez was pretty much an RBI machine throughout the 1990s.

Eight times, Gonzalez knocked in more than 100 runs and for his career, he knocked in a hefty 1404…more than Hall of Famers Orlando Cepeda, Johnny Bench, Duke Snider and only ten less than McGwire. Along with McGwire, there are only seven players eligible for the Hall that have more RBI than Juan Gonzalez.

In 1998, his 101 RBI at the All-Star break was the second most in history. Hank Greenberg had 103 at the intermission of the 1935 season. By comparison, the afore mentioned Josh Hamilton is leading the free world this year with 85 RBI…twenty more than the next closest hitter in the American League.

But let’s get back to McGwire (and I do so ONLY because there is that faction out there that believes he should be enshrined) and compare him to Gonzalez.

As I’ve said before…take away McGwire’s home run total and you’re basically left with nothing. Compared to Gonzalez, “Big Mac” has roughly 500 more plate appearances, but 300 less hits. “Juan Gone” finished just shy of 2000 for his career…McGwire had 1626.

Gonzalez bests McGwire in career batting average (.295 compared to .263), but does far short in both on base percentage and slugging (.343 and .561 versus .394 and .588).

McGwire blows Gonzalez out of the water with his OPS+, but honestly, he has 150 more home runs…he should. Gonzalez’s 132 OPS+ is better than Hall of Fame sluggers Dave Winfield, Eddie Murray and Carl Yastrzemski though.

When Cooperstown comes a callin’ (and I’m suggesting that maybe the writers take a longer look at Juan Gonzalez than they did, say, Albert Belle), it’ll be easy to dismiss him considering some of the talent he played against, the era he played in (his teammates at one time in Texas DID include Jose Caseco and Rafael Palmeiro) and the fact that he played in the Lone Star State for a majority of his career. He had one great year outside of Arlington, but outside of that…the guy is one of the best Texas Rangers to ever walk this Earth.

Sorry Walker.

Better late than never I suppose

At some point last Tuesday night, I lost part of a filling. I’ve gotta admit, chewing on food and then (all of a sudden) biting down on a piece of amalgam is startling. It didn’t hurt…I’m getting it fixed.

Earlier in the day, Goose Gossage became the lone inductee to the Baseball Hall of Fame and somehow, losing a filling was the most exciting thing that happened on the that day. Hell, it was the most exciting thing to happen all last week to be honest!

Frankly…I’m not surprised.

I’ve posted it here that Goose being voted in was pretty much a foregone conclusion. As I’ve said before, I don’t think he is a Hall of Famer, but since SOMEONE seemingly had to get in…why not Goose, right? Dig your Gossage jerseys out from the mothballs, kids! Wait...what number was his? Did/do people even OWN Goose jerseys?

It was the vote totals that surprised me though.

After nine years on the ballot, 85.8% of the writers ALL OF A SUDDEN believe that Gossage is a Hall of Famer. In that same nine years, Dave Winfield (84.5%), Eddie Murray (85.3%), Dennis Eckersley (83.2%) and Paul Molitor (85.2%) all made the Hall of Fame with LESS support than Goose got this year.

That’s right, all of a sudden, more Hall voters feel that Gossage is more worthy than each of those players who (at the time they were elected) BURIED Gossage in the voting.

I try understand how it works...I really do. What can’t be stressed enough is the importance of who you are stacked up against.

Which brings me to…

Jim Rice (72.2%)
Many expected that this would be the year that Rice FINALLY made it to Cooperstown given the lack of competition. But even though he fell only 16 votes short, I don’t see it happening next year either. Basically, it’ll be hard to induct the guy that, this year, many proclaimed the “best leftfielder not in the Hall” when Rickey Henderson is up for election.

Andre Dawson (65.9%) and Tim Raines (24.3%)
No love for the Expos I guess. Hawk not making it in is not as surprising as Rock getting less than a quarter of the vote. Dawson will be one of those guys like Tony Perez who, after a number of years on the ballot…voters will say “why not”. HOWEVER...Perez didn’t have the competition that Dawson likely will. We’re about to see a slew of Hall worthy players coming up before the voters, folks.

Raines, on the other hand, shocks me…I figured he would have gotten at least double the votes he did. Maybe voters are planning a Henderson-Raines induction next year. I mean, why not induct the best two lead-off hitters of their time in the same year? It won’t happen, but the speeches would be awesome.

Bert Blyleven (61.9%), Jack Morris (42.9%) and Tommy John (29.1%)
Plenty of wins and Ks from this trio, but all in all…there’s not likely to be any Hall calls here. Blyleven has (for some reason) become the sexy pick as of late. Like Gossage, he’s been vocal about the Hall of Fame and that has drummed up some support for his inclusion. Morris, while I’ve made the case for him, is about to be overshadowed by some big name pitchers on some upcoming ballots. Sorry Jack…it probably won’t be happening for you.

And speaking of “not happening”…Tommy John is still on the ballot?!? I’m pretty sure, John has been on EVERY ballot since about 1984. I will say that, like his career, John has been VERY consistent with Hall voters. The lowest percentage of votes he’s gotten…18.7. The most…29.6.

Mark McGwire (23.6%)
Next…ain’t happenin'..

Alan Trammell (18.2%), Dave Concepcion (16.2%) and Don Mattingly (15.8%)
Apparently Detroit, Cincinnati and New York have between 15.8 and 18.2% of the vote. I know that math isn’t right…but you get what I mean.

Harold Baines (5.2%)
28 voters think Harold Baines is a Hall of Famer. That’s it? In his first year on the ballot (last year), 29 voters were on the side of Baines. So…who changed their vote?!? C’mon guys…three years ago, 26 of you thought that Willie McGee should be enshrined. If the argument for Blyleven is that he has the most wins or most Ks out of ANYONE that isn’t enshrined…Baines’ hit total has to mean more than 5.2% of the voters think he is worthy of the Hall of Fame.

Rob Nen (2 votes)
I kinda thought Nen would get more than 2 votes considering he was lights out before his arm fell off in 2002. Nen had 315 saves in nine seasons as a closer…yikes!

Brady Anderson and Jose Rijo (0 votes)
The man with the 90210 sideburns and the Playmate wife had the support of Hall darling Cal Ripken Jr., is one of two players (Barry Bonds being the other) to have stolen 50 bases and hit 50 home runs and STILL couldn’t buy a vote. Incidentally, in 2004, Hall of Famer Jim Palmer suggested Anderson’s 50 jack season was steroid influenced. Not a chance I say!

I only mention Jose Rijo because in 2001 (the FIRST time Rijo was Hall eligible), he received one vote. How that ONE writer decided seven years later (after Rijo retired AGAIN) to NOT vote for Rijo again is beyond me.

The big question…how did Todd Stottlemyre get a vote?

***Note: Following the Hall of Fame voting, I posed the question..."who else should have been elected?" Overwhelmingly, NO ONE garnered much support. Andre Dawson was just under 50% with 48% of the vote. After that, Tim Raines (43%), Jim Rice (39%), Bert Blyleven (35%), Harold Baines (30%), Mark McGwire, Jack Morris and Alan Trammell (26%), Dale Murphy (17%), Tommy John, Dave Parker and Lee Smith (9%), Dave Concepcion and Don Mattingly (4%). "Other" received a whopping 13%...thanks gang!***

No McGwire...No Shock

The Hall of Fame voting came and went and remarkably…Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn made it while Mark McGwire did not. No surprises, right? Not from this guy. It's a shame that lost in the "did he" or "didn't he" do steroids debate, the hypocrisy of the Hall of Fame voters is going virtually unnoticed. Say what? Okay…pay attention. There are baseball writers out there who intentionally left their ballots blank to protest the "Steroid Era" and, more specifically, McGwire.

Let me get this straight… writers are protesting Major League Baseball's "Steroid Era" (post 1994) by NOT voting in McGwire, BUT…they are overwhelmingly (almost unanimously) voting in Ripken and Gwynn?!? I'm not saying Ripken and Gwynn used steroids (Hell, I'm not saying McGwire did or didn't), but weren't all three of them on their first ballot this year? I mean, doesn't that mean that they ALL retired in 2001? Doesn't that mean that all three of them played during the "Steroid Era"?

You following me?

If you're going to make McGwire the poster boy for steroids (and let's be honest…whatever dude was taking wasn't banned by baseball and therefore LEGAL in the sport), you've got to punish his brothers as well.

Let's look at Ripken's numbers post 1994. His .276 Batting Average is EXACTLY on par with his career average. His home runs, RBI and hits…all down. Clearly he showed the signs of decline after ending "the streak". Should he have hung it up after 2000 when he got his 3000 hit? Maybe...but why not stick it out another year and get the accolades. I used to be on the fence with Ripken…after looking at his numbers, I'm a fan.

Anthony Keith Gwynn on the other hand…let's look at his numbers post 1994. The .353 Batting Average is higher than his career .338…BUT his .371 between 1994 and 1997 (the same time that McGwire's numbers started to balloon is what puzzles me. Gwynn ended up with a paltry 135 home runs over his career…of course he hit 69 (more than half) of them between 1994 and 1999.

Let me put that into perspective…if I can.

Between 1994 and 2001, Tony Gwynn hit 51% of his career home runs. Mark McGwire belted 60% of his career bombs in that same period. I'm not saying Gwynn's numbers were inflated due to steroids…but his RBI totals of 90 and 119 in 1995 and 1997 do make you wonder considering his career best prior to that was 72.

Here's my point. If the Hall of Fame voters are going to leave Mark McGwire out of the Hall of Fame because of his alleged steroid abuse in the 1990s…they need to look at the stats of some of the players they are enshrining. Again, I'm not saying that anyone did or didn't juice up…I'm just suggesting the playing field be level. Are McGwire's numbers Hall worthy? Outside of some mammoth home runs and magical moments…probably not. Take into consideration that he was a twelve time all-star and you might have a case.

I look at it this way…subtract his home runs and you've got an oft-injured guy who hit .263 with 1626 hits, 1414 RBI and a mere 252 doubles. Compare those numbers to some guys who will NEVER make the Hall (Albert Belle for one) and all you can say is...UGLY.

So come on, baseball writers, quit hiding behind the "Steroid Era" bullshit…ESPECIALLY when you are going to be hypocrites and allow two others that played during the SAME EXACT TIME into the Hall with the third and seventh highest percentages EVER! I'd wager a majority of the guys bashing McGwire also jerked him off as he and Sammy Sosa were chasing Roger Maris. You got egg on your face, fellas, but no one did ANYTHING wrong. The ball and the players were juiced and YOU rode it all the way to the bank and loved it.

Admit it.

Next year...get it right and let in Goose, Hawk and Rice.