2015 Baseball HOF ballot released

It seems very random which "borderline" players are off the ballot in a year or two and those who linger for a decade.

 

That projection was 36.7 percent of the electorate.

 

Sosa stayed on the ballot and Nomar apparently did as well

 

Johnson was at 97.1 percent. Pedro was at 91.1
Smoltz finished at 82.9 percent. Biggio got 82.7 percent. Piazza was at 69.9 percent. Bagwell and Raines got back up to 55. Schilling jumpes to 39.2.

Mussine is at 24.6. Sheffield debuts at 11.7 percent.

Garciaparra got to 5.5. Sosa survived at 6.

 

This is my favorite time of year, when people argue that dumb ballots or dumb omissions or additions on otherwise reasonable ballots are a reason to decrease the number of voters.

No. Dumb ballots and dumb omissions or additions on otherwise reasonable ballots are a reason to have a large number of voters, because that helps ensure that the dumb ballots won't have a big influence on the final vote. There is a reason that the Veteran's/Golden Committee hasn't covered itself in glory through the years.

 

Delgado got 3.8 percent

 

Aaron Boone and Tom Gordon got multiple votes. Darrin Erstad got a vote.

 

Well, he was an excellent punter.

 

From Jayson Stark: Biggest HOF voting jumps: Schilling up 48 votes, Raines up 39, Piazza up 29. Biggest drops: Kent minus-10, McGwire minus-8, Smith minus-5

 

Piazza got 69 percent, so it seems he'll get in next year. Ken Griffey is the only slam-dunk first-ballot guy in 2016.

Of all the players the Braves faced regularly (i.e., division rivals) in my time as a fan, Piazza scared me more than anyone.

Raines will get in one day too I think, though he may be a final ballot guy a la Bert Blyleven.

As for deserving down-ballot guys, Alan Trammell was every bit the player that Barry Larkin and Robin Yount were, albeit without Yount's longevity.

I'm a Braves fan and Smoltz is my favorite player of that era, but I don't get how you vote for him and not Schilling. Take out Smoltz's 3 1/2 years as a reliever and their resumes are virtually identical, including the postseason stats.

 

I think you just answered your own question.

 

Smoltz had one great year (2003) as a reliever. The other 2 1/2 years he was a compiler.

If that's the difference between him and Schilling, it shouldn't have counted for much.