Today is the day that the Hall of Fame inductees will be announce by the Baseball Writers of America. There are 26 eligible players up for induction and to gain entry into the Hall and a player needs to receive a vote from at least 75% of the Baseball Writers to become a Hall of Famer. This year, there are ten first timers on the ballot. Included in the group are Roberto Alomar, Edgar Martinez, Barry Larkin and Fred McGriff. All in all, there are 15 first time nominees. Many of them will be a "one and done" vote as you must receive at least 5% of all votes to stay on the ballot. The Writers can vote for up to ten players but don't even have to vote for one. It's quite a procedure and it all comes together today.
So, who should go in? Well, first, let's look at the ballot.
New Candidates Returning Candidates
-Roberto Alomar -Andre Dawson
-Kevin Appier -Bert Blyleven
-Ellis Burks -Lee Smith
-Andres Galarraga -Jack Morris
-Pat Hentgen -Tim Raines
-Mike Jackson -Mark McGwire
-Eric Karros -Alan Trammel
-Ray Lankford -Dave Parker
-Barry Larkin -Don Mattingly
-Edgar Martinez -Dale Murphy
-Fred McGriff -Harold Baines
-Shane Reynolds
-David Segui
-Robin Ventura
-Todd Zeile
Of the returning candidates, I can really only see Andre Dawson and Bert Blyleven as finally getting the nod. Dawson is in his ninth year of eligibility and received 67% votes last year while Blyleven received 62.7% of votes, entering his 13th year of eligibility. These are the two I would vote for if I had a vote, but I don't.
As for the newbies, I like Roberto Alomar and Barry Larkin to get in on their first ballot. I think there are a few others that will eventually get elected in but they won't be first ballot Hall of Famers. Edgar Martinez and Fred McGriff fall into this category. Ellis Burks is another wild card. I just don't know if he did enough in his career to warrant entrance into the Hall of Fame.
There are also a few guys on this list who will fall short of the 5% needed to stay on the ballot. Mike Jackson, Shane Reynolds and Todd Zeile are three that I think will never be seen on a Hall of Fame ballot again.
Now, as for the future, Randy Johnson announced his retirement yesterday and in five years, he will be a guaranteed first ballot Hall of Famer. He has the second most strikeouts in history, 303 wins, a World Series title, a better Strikouts per Nine Innings percentage than Nolan Ryan and he obliterated a bird with one of his fastballs. Not to mention his perfect game in 2004, five Cy young Awards and 10 All Star selections. If Randy Johnson doesn't get in on the first ballot, I will eat my shoe.
Hopefully the announcement will come down at some point today as to who the Hall of Fame Inductees are. Once it does, make sure to check out my predictions to see if I'm right!
EDIT - 2:24 p.m.
The votes have been calculated and only Andre Dawson gets in. Really a shame as Blyleven misses by 0.8% and Alomar misses by 1.3% Sometimes I wonder if the Baseball Writers even like the game.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I know right? What a joke that out of all those candidates only 1 gets in. I understand that baseball has taken a hit with the steroid thing but the sour taste in writer's mouths is making it worse for the sport. They need to all get over themselves and continue to vote by the numbers and not the personalities.
ReplyDelete