Nominees include: Harold Baines, Albert Belle, Dante Bichette, Bert Blyleven, Bobby Bonilla, Scott Brosius, Jay Buhner, Ken Caminiti, Jose Canseco, Dave Concepcion, Eric Davis, Andre Dawson, Tony Fernandez, Steve Garvey, Rich “Goose” Gossage, Tony Gwynn, Orel Hershiser, Tommy John, Wally Joyner, Don Mattingly, Mark McGwire, Jack Morris, Dale Murphy, Paul O’Neill, Dave Parker, Jim Rice, Cal Ripken Jr., Bret Saberhagen, Lee Smith, Alan Trammell, Devon White, Bobby Witt
okay - obviously MacGwire and Canseco will be controversial. Canseco is an obvious No to me, but Big Mac is the Big Question.
I agree with the article’s assertion that both Gwynn and Ripkin will be first-balloters
My choice in the “thinking with my heart” category? Paul O’Neill.
This year has a freakin buttload of 'Wow he was pretty good, and wouldn’t be a travesty to be in, but I doubt he’ll make it, and I don’t know his exact stats off the top of my head" type candidates. If I had an actual vote I have to spend about two straight months of research and comparisons.
Tommy John deserves to be in. He missed 300 only because his arm blew up, and when he came back he won another 150+ games. I’ve always thought that him, Blyleven, and Jim Kaat deserved to be in sooner or later. It’s hard to argue with 16 consecutive Gold Gloves and 280+ wins over a 25-year career, yet this might be the first time I’ve ever seen Jim Kaat’s name on these boards.
Okay, but what about McGwire? Wouldn’t he be a first-balloter if there wasn’t the taint of steroids on him? And the fact that steroids were not illegal at the time in baseball?
I have heard arguments that he may not have the numbers with or without steroids, but given his overall performance and that infamous, historic home-run race, if steroids were not an issue, he’d be a shoe-in.
Part of me wants to say that he should be voted in - simply to get MLB to acknowledge that it was the League’s and the owners’ issue for not enacting rules against steroids, so what exactly did McGwire do wrong in the letter of the law?
I expect that he will not be voted in - he is too radioactive due to steroids so the BBW’s won’t vote for him, and can cite enough ambiguity with his stats to say he didn’t quite rack up the numbers or something…
I’ve always thought Jack Morris deserved more consideration. Problem is he probably stayed on a couple years too long. 20 game winner three times, world series champion twice. He was a workhorse who was possibly the best pitcher in basebal over a five year span in the mid-80’s.
I would vote Ripken & Gwynn. They both have the numbers, accomplishments and goodwill to be no-brainers.
Big Mac can wait a year for his answers to Congress alone.
Goose Gossage is way overdue.
I love Paul O’Neill, but he is probably not a Hall of Famer and he is far from a first ballot Hall of Famer.
**Tommy John ** should probably go in. As a pitcher, he is borderline Hall of Famer and as the namesake for the most famous surgery in baseball, I think it should push him in. He is effectively a baseball pioneer. That is as good a reason as many for a borderline Hall of Famer to make it into the Hall.
I like Jim Kaat as a pitcher, coach and announcer. Perhaps he should go in through the veteran’s committee one day for his complete contribution to the game. He himself has explained in detail that he is not a Hall of Fame pitcher as he was never a truly dominate pitcher. He had a few very good years and a very long career. He is well liked and respected but not Hall of Fame material.
I’ve alwayws been a Blyleven supporter. I think he’s gotten jobbed in the past for the teams on which he played. So Aalbert goes in as well.
There are a lot of players on the list that could go in and it would be a point of discussion for a long time. Dawson, Davis, Gossage, Mattingly, Smith, Trammell, and so forth.
In fact, Smith and Gossage are largely hit by the fact that the HoF still doesn’t know what it wants to do with relievers. Otherwise they’d probably go in.
McGwire’s the controversial one, damn straight. I’d still vote him in as a larger than life home run hitter. For all of me he always looked to have the most raw power ever.
Less people voting for Mac probably means a few more votes for the marginal candidates.
I still can’t believe Sutter is in and not Goose. And Blyleven gets undue blame for his seemingly
mediocre W-L record…
Blyleven and Kaat should definitely be in. Of the boderline choices, Belle has the best stats but will never get in due to his poor relationship with the media.
McGwire is a one trick pony whose only trick has been proven to be drug enhanced, so for him to ever be admitted would be a joke. Baines’ stats are due to extreme longevitiy only.
I agree with this list, but I think that only Gwynn and Ripken make it this year. No way for McGwire in his first try. He might make it next year, but I am not even convinced of that.
Canseco will never get close.
Gossage and Smith may have to get in by the “Veteran’s Comittee” route, or whatever it is called now. They’ve had too many chances and are now a full generation removed from the players that are going to become eligible in the next few years.
Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken, absolute first balloters, the kind of players we want HOF players to be. What a great year for the HOF just to have those guys going in at the same time. I don’t think there’s a need for anyone else, and I have the same feelings about Conseco and McGwire – they’re tainted.
You could ask this question with a different emphasis: without steroids, would McGwire have washed out of the league in 1991, a career .240 hitter with 165 home runs?
He came close. I remember Tony LaRussa sitting him at the end of that season to keep him above the Mendoza Line (he ended up batting .201, I believe). Then, the next year, he comes back with Muscles From Hell[sup]TM[/sup] and doubles his HR count of the year before. Aside from more and more frequent nagging injuries, McGwire never looks back.
I think that without steroids, we might not be having this conversation right now about Mark McGwire, but maybe for different reasons.
What Stampy said. I personally think Pete Rose should be in the Hall. His problems didn’t have anything to do with the way he played the game. But no known cheaters. Nope.
Tommy John should go in because as the first man to have Tommy John surgery, he changed the lifespan of major league pitchers. His numbers are good enough that it’s not a ridiculous choice as well.
McGwire… setting aside the steroid issue, he’s Harmon Killebrew (who was a controversial HoF pick himself.) He has only 1600 career hits, even if a third of them were round-trippers.
Add in the steroid issue, and McGwire is certainly not a first-ballot pick. I think he gets in eventually, but not this year.
I think Jim Rice, Andre Dawson, Bert Blyleven and Jim Kaat will still remain members of the Ray Lankford Wing of the “Hall of Very Good.”
I always pop into these HOF discussions just to hijack my own “Forgive Pete Rose” mantra, so thanks for helping the cause.
No love for Andre Dawson? His balloting hit 61% last year, up from somewhere in the 50% range, he’s an 8 time golden glover, 8 time all star, and a member of the 300-300 club (hits/steals). I think he shouldn’t be a shoo in, but a definite strong contender.
The day Rose gets in is the day I renounce MLB forever.
Also no to McGwire.
Yes to Gwynn and Ripken, though they were never as dominating as their freak-show stats made them seem. Yeah, it’s cool to win a gazillion batting titles, but power counts a little too. Yeah, it’s cool to play in every inning of every game forever, but it would be cooler if you were actually a great player the whole time. Cal was great some years, very good others, and lousy in others, but he gets credit for the streak that is only a statistical oddity that makes him seem great for decades, which he wasn’t.
Blyleven, John and Kaat are all pitchers I admired, but since I don’t admire career length as much as length of career peak, I’ll vote No on all of them. If I had to pick one of the, I’d pick Kitty.
Yes to Gossage, no to Smith and the rest of the list. I’d put a stake through Garvey’s heart, and Canseco’s and Bonilla’s just so I don’t have to look at their names and the words “Hall of Fame” in the same sentence ever again.
