Comments on: Open Thread: 2010 HOF Ballot

By: DCBX

DCBX — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:56:53 +0000

Roberto Alomar – in
Kevin Appier – really?
Harold Baines – come on now…
Bert Blyleven – ridiculous that he isn’t there already.
Ellis Burks – this is some kind of a formality, yeah? psssh
Andre Dawson – debatable
Andres Galarraga – also debatable… neither he or Dawson would be a question if the Expos had ever amounted to squat.
Pat Hentgen – hellllllll no
Mike Jackson – yea right
Eric Karros – no
Ray Lankford – no
Barry Larkin – no
Edgar Martinez – no
Don Mattingly – WTF?! of course. if Boggs is in, Mattingly has to go too.
Fred McGriff – debatable
Mark McGwire – yea, but if Big Mac goes, Rose has to go
Jack Morris – hell yeah. remember: winningest pitcher of the 1980′s
Dale Murphy – meh… no
Dave Parker – rings help, but I dunno how much he deserves it
Tim Raines – nah
Shane Reynolds – who?
David Segui – no
Lee Smith – still not in?
Alan Trammell – also a no-brainer and should have been in years ago
Robin Ventura -no
Todd Zeile – heck naw

So I have:

Blyleven
Alomar
McGwire
Morris
Smith
Trammell
Mattingly

By: sk

sk — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 01:03:48 +0000

i’d never vote for mcguire because he wasn’t a well-rounded, consistent player. look beyond the home run total. what’s there? roids probably ruined his chances of enshrinement, not because of his damaged reputation but because it probably contributed to his numerous injuries and shortened his career by two or so years. And, seriously, who gets over one-third of his hit total from home runs? Serious roid inflation

On a side note, I was 16 when he hit 70 home runs and everyone knew he was juiced up. When he testified before Congress, all the sports writers pretended that someone pulled the rug from underneath them. Some still do (*cough* Passan *cough*) and they continue to write that same “another black eye for baseball,” “the national past time has lost it’s innocence,” “nothing should surprise you in the steroid era” article again and again. Steroids didn’t ruin baseball. Beat writers writing about steroids ruined baseball.

By: leokitty

leokitty — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 21:02:25 +0000

My mom saw Blyleven pitch and she saw him as a dominating force.

Anecdotes wooo.

By: leokitty

leokitty — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:50:20 +0000

Why does it matter which ballot you get in on? If you’re a HoF caliber player you’re a HoF caliber player.

The “first ballot player” thing is overblown and one of the most irritating thoughts put into ballots.

By: Whitey14

Whitey14 — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:35:20 +0000

You must mean the travesty that it took so long for him to get in when he was deserving all along

By: steve (different one)

steve (different one) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:12:52 +0000

not exactly 10,000 words in this thread arguing Olerud’s candidacy, huh?

By: Matt ACTY/BBD

Matt ACTY/BBD — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 14:19:10 +0000

Ask and you shall receive (10 hours later):

Don Mattingly: .307/.358/.471/.830, 127+, 20 HR, 100 RBI

John Olerud: .295/.398/.451/.863, 128+, 18 HR, 89 RBI

By: Kiko Jones

Kiko Jones — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 13:49:26 +0000

Sorry to join the conversation so late. Here goes:

Bert Blyleven
Andre Dawson
Andres Galarraga
Barry Larkin
Edgar Martinez
Don Mattingly
Fred McGriff
Mark McGwire
Jack Morris
Dale Murphy
Dave Parker
Tim Raines
Lee Smith
Alan Trammell

By: Pete C

Pete C — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 13:24:58 +0000

The votings a joke, how does Blyelevin not get in after all these years, while Ozzie Smith gets in on a first ballot? Yeah I’ll take a hit on that one, I’m not saying Smith doesn’t belong, I’m saying 1st ballot inductions belong to players like Ricky Henderson, Mays or Arron, not a relatively light hitting glove man like the cuddly Wizard. While guys like Blyelevin, and Kaat don’t get taken seriously.
Remember, the guys who vote for the players are the same ones who ignored steroid use, starting in the mid 90′s, until they all of a sudden got religion , and were, shocked, shocked I tell you, when they “found out the players were using”. These hypocrites are the gatekeepers to the hall.

By: YankFanDave

YankFanDave — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 12:29:27 +0000

The case for Lee Smith: 7 time AS, 4 times in top ten CY voting (once as a runner up), 11 30 save seasons, 4 times led league in saves, 478 saves are 3rd all time and one of only 4 with 400+ saves, 8.73 SO/9 innings, 2.57 SO/balls. Gossage had over 100 less saves and their ERA and whip are basically identical (ERA-Goose 3.01, Smith 3.03; whip-Goose 1.23, Smith 1.25) Can’t fault the guy for playing on bad teams. It is fair to say he was dominant during his career.

Why Dawson over Raines:
Dawson was ROY, 8 time AS, MVP, 8 time gold glover, 4 time silver slugger, 400+ hr, 1500+ rbi, 300+ sb, 2700+ hits, averaged 98 rbi/yr over career. He was one of the best players during his career and a true 5 tool guy.

Raines was a great player but 1 fewer AS appearance, no MVP, no ROY, 1 silver slugger, no gold gloves, he did led the league in batting once, he did the league in OBP once, and we know about his steals. He definitely could hit but still had 100 less hits than Dawson and he could steal a base but in 23 seasons even in his area of note he led the league 4 times.

Dawson could take over a game in more ways than Raines and was simply the better, more complete player.