2019 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot

They gotta use this cap for McGriff's plaque, right?

 

Is it? Why?

 

Unless your bar for an average player is insanely high, what is your average player?

 

Walker's away splits alone make him a little more powerful Dwight Evans. Walker hit .278/.370/.495 on the road. Evans in his career was .272/.370/.470. Or a slightly less powerful McCovey, who is at .270/.374/.515.

Walker's home-road splits are almost 50-50 so if you double his road numbers you get this player:
.278/.370/.495 with
1,934 hits (315th)
1,132 runs (228th)
406 doubles (180th)
336 homers (104th)
1,128 RBI (196th)
218 steals (307th)
938 walks (138th)
3,440 total bases (183rd)

That's a top 200 hitter of all-time with perrenial Gold Glove defense. Definitely not average.

 

I agree. Steve Carlton, Eddie Murray, Reggie Jackson, Jim Rice and others were dicks to a lot of writers. The first three sailed in, the fourth took till the end of his eligibility but, at the time, was thought by many to be "just a bit outside" on credentials. Hell, Ted Williams was hated by a bunch of writers but had fewer "no" votes than Stan Musial, who by comparison was everybody's pal. Gotta think what's stopping Bonds and Clemens isn't personality.

 

I have to disagree with basically this whole post. The idea that writers don't use personal grudges is ridiculous. Every journalist prides themselves on their objectivity -- except for maybe Hunter S. Thompson. But it's bullshit and we all know it. Curt Schilling is proof positive that people get held out of the HOF bc they're a dick -- when Mussina gets elected ahead of him.

David Ortiz, a travesty if he's elected? Because he supposedly used PEDs? He's arguably the greatest big moment hitter in postseason history. He had six top 6 finishes in the MVP race, including his last season. He was a prime face of baseball for more than a decade. He's going into Cooperstown on roller skates.

 

I don't think Schilling has been held out 100 percent for beign a dick. Has it cost him several, maybe a dozen votes? Probably, but he's been far enough away it wasn't making the difference. It hurt him that he appearred on overstuffed ballots with pitchers better than him.

You're going to be down the list when you are on ballots with Maddux and Glavine and Pedro and Randy and Smoltz and the writers are already putting in three and four guys each year.

Especially because there is still a faction that wants to see wins and Cy Young Awards on a Hall of Fame resume. If Schilling had 270 wins and a Cy Young Award (I know Mussina doesn't so it isn't a fair comparison) he would have already been in. 216, across 20 years, isn't going to stand out to a lot of these voters.

The next two years are will show if grudges are the real deal. There is no reason Schilling doesn't go in with either or both Jeter and Walker or in 2021 when he will be the best holdover candidate, assuming Clemens and Bonds don't jump him, and there is no first-ballot guy who wil get elected. The voters could be looking at either a shutout or Schilling.

 

There are going to be a bunch of columns in two years about voting for Bonds and Clemens in their last year as a form of punishment.

 

Should have asked if he could wear this hat.

 

Yes, because he did use PEDs.

 

I’ll concede average was the wrong word. Above average? Pretty good? Very good? Pick your adjective, as long as it isn’t Hall of Famer.