Frank Thomas, slam dunk HOF now?

How many players can a writer enter on his or her ballot? I thought it was like 8 or something, and that even if a player's HOF class is stacked with other studs, it still shouldn't be a problem getting in unless there were 8 of them.

And the thing that I've always been impressed with about Thomas - his last year at Auburn, he was intentionally walked something like five times with the bases loaded. Whatever it said on his 1990 Topps Traded card, anyway.

 

There is no limit to the number of players a writer can vote for, although most writers typically vote for no more than 3-4 players in a year.

Historically, though, if a player's entry class is filled with at least two sure-fire studs (for instance, an Aaron and F. Robinson in '82, or Ryan and Brett in '99, or Ripken and Gwynn in '07), other guys are going to get shut out this time around. That's because the writers typically hold back on their votes. That's why "first ballot HOFer" has become such an honor -- even though it's dumb, because it's based on writers who don't vote for other HOFers because there's a couple studs on the list.

A Hall of Famer is a Hall of Famer. First ballot, 2nd ballot, 15th ballot. It doesn't matter.

 

I understand your point however 1999 had Ryan, Brett and Robin Yount all first ballot guys.

 

As with anything, some are better than others.

 

But Carlton Fisk was on that ballot, and he had to wait a year.

 

I'm a Twins fan... I'll answer at a later date.

 

"Each writer may vote for as many as 10 candidates, or as few as zero."
http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/history/hof_voting/default.htm

And Thomas would get my vote.