2019 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot

McGriff retired 15 years ago and is still top 15 for the position in hits, home runs, RBI and walks.

 

He accumulated some nice totals, sure. But I'm not a proponent of compilers like him or Don Sutton making it over guys like Mattingly and Johan Santana, who were without question the best in the business for more than a half decade. And he sure as hell doesn't belong in before Dick Allen.

 

Well McGriff has nothing to do with Allen not being in or if he goes before -- and he probably won't, since Allen is probably going to be elected in 2020 before McGriff's first vet committee chance in 2021

 

You're right, they don't have anything to do with each other anymore bc they're considered from some separate eras. But they're both first basemen, though Allen started at third and played elsewhere, too. So my main point is that among deserving first basemen who are not in the Hall, I'd put Mattingly and Allen well ahead of McGriff.

 

Allen should be in. I can't agree on Mattingly -- even as a peak candidate his peak is way too short.

 

I can understand why people don't support his candidacy. Six great seasons are a little short of a peak. But man he was a wizard at the plate and with the glove from 1984-1989. I loved watching him play. And I say that as a Red Sox fan who hates the Yankees.

 

I’m unsure I will ever be convinced Larry Walker would ever sniff Cooperstown if he didn’t go to Colorado.

 

I'm sure Polanco won't get a big head over it.

 

A couple of thoughts. One of the things about Cooperstown balloting is that it's the last chance for a BBWAA member to say fuck you to a player who was a dick to them. I think that's as much of the problem with Bonds', Clemens' and Schillings' candidacies as the PEDs, especially once David Ortiz comes up for consideration and is likely shipped through without delay (not to mention, among others, Pudge Rodriguez). The rates of votes for Bonds and Clemens on non-disclosed ballots are so low because it's much easier to make a value judgement (or settle a grudge) behind closed doors.

None of this year's choices particularly surprised or offended me, particularly after the ridiculous selection of Harold Baines by the veterans' committee settled the "no defensive position" debate once and for all in favor of Edgar Martinez. I'm not wild about Fred McGriff but haven't done the research. I wish Larry Walker didn't have Coors Field held against him as much as it is by voters.

My litmus test for a Hall of Famer is if they'd fit convincingly into the following sentence: "Oh shit! We're going up against _____ today!" Walker in his prime does. McGriff, maybe. Probably a casualty of how much quality is having to be processed.

Lou Whitaker thinks Jayson Stark can GTFO.

 

Walker's splits were so Coors heavy, it's insane. If he didn't spend his career at altitude, he'd have been an average player.

Honestly, McGriff's stats are there. I'm a small hall guy, so I don't view him as among the greats of his generation, but, I wouldn't get worked up if he were elected.

 

I'm not saying vendettas don't exist, but I'm always fascinated by the idea that baseball writers vote largely on the demeanor of the player and his interactions with the media rather than the player's accomplishments on the field. I've never been a BBWAA voter, but I've known a few. I've known a hundred other sports journalists. All of them prided themselves on their objectivity. Every damn one of them.

Now, I'm not saying they were immune to biases, but there's not a single one among them who would have used a personal grudge to vote against a player worthy of the Hall of Fame.

And, if there were one among them, there's no chance they could marshal together a majority of BBWAA writers who so strongly believed the writer (or writers) was aggrieved that they wouldn't vote for a worthy HOF candidate. Nobody gets held out of the HOF because they're a dick. There's too many voters, 95 percent of whom don't have to deal with the dick on a daily basis.

BTW, Edgar shouldn't have gotten in, nor should David Ortiz "sail through." Ortiz getting in would be a travesty.

 

An average player? That is a ridiculous statement.