Maddux, Glavine, Thomas elected to Baseball Hall of Fame; Biggio just misses

Re: 2014 BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released

Dan McGrath votes for just eight — Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Frank Thomas, Craig Biggio, Jack Morris, Alan Trammell, Curt Schilling, Mike Mussina.

He doesn't ding Piazza for PEDs but because "This Hall is for the greatest of the greats, not the best of the very good."

 

Re: 2014 BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released

Sounds like he either has no idea what he's talking about or he simply won't admit that he's "dinging" Piazza for PEDs.

 

Re: 2014 BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released

He flat out says he doesn't vote for PED guys and calls out the usual suspects so I don't know if it's a subconscious thing about Piazza.

 

Re: 2014 BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released

When was Biggio a better player than Piazza? Seems like he likes round numbers.

 

Re: 2014 BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released

With three days until the voting deadline, we have 10 percent tallied at 58 ballots.

100 - Maddux
100 - Glavine
86.2 - F. Thomas
82.8 - Biggio
———————————
70.7 - Piazza
67.2 - Morris
65.5 - Bagwell
55.2 - Raines
44.8 - Schilling
41.4 - Bonds
41.4 - Clemens
36.2 - Mussina
25.9 - L. Smith
22.4 - Trammell
20.7 - McGriff
15.5 - E. Martinez
13.8 - Kent
10.3 - McGwire
8.7 - R. Palmeiro
6.9 - L. Walker
5.2 - S. Sosa
———————————
3.4 - Mattingly
1.7 - P. Rose (Write-In)

 

Re: 2014 BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released

Correct. He mentions the 3,000 hits as a reason for his vote

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/24608253-574/mcgrath-my-hall-of-fame-ballot-8-men-in.html

 

Re: 2014 BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released

I'm leaning toward not knowing what the hell he's talking about after reading that.

 

Re: 2014 BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released

Evan Grant noodling his ballot on Twitter. Says he is still deciding up until the deadline. "My definites: Bagwell, Biggio, Maddux, Piazza, Raines, Thomas & Walker."

Would be the first known non-Glavine vote if that holds as his ballot.

 

Re: 2014 BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released

He's trying to lobby that he be allowed to vote for Michael Young now.

 

Re: 2014 BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released

The Curly-Haired Boyfriend does his best Juan Vene impression -- Morris, Schilling, Thomas, Glavine, and Maddux.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2013/12/29/time-cast-his-votes-for-baseball-hall-fame/ojPVH3NSylmZg1vJAGW6fJ/story.html?s_campaign=sm_tw

"This is where we go off the rails. Like Thomas, guys such as Piazza and Bagwell have Hall of Fame numbers and never tested positive for PEDs. But they look dirty. Something doesn’t make sense. Thomas makes sense.

This is where it gets unfair and subjective. I don’t vote for the PED guys, so it’s easy to say no to Bonds, Clemens, Sosa, McGwire, and Palmeiro. They have positive tests and/or admissions and/or multiple appearances in the Mitchell Report. Piazza and Bagwell have none of that. They just don’t look right.

The rest of the list of players I reject are good old-fashioned baseball arguments. Biggio got 68.2 percent of the vote last year, but I don’t think of him as Hall-worthy (only one 200-hit season). Same for Mussina and his 270 wins (he always pitched for good teams) and Smith and his 478 saves (saves are overrated and often artificial). Not voting for Raines and Martinez also feels totally unfair. I just never thought of them as Hall of Famers. They fail the “I know it when I see it” test.

It would be easy to vote for all of them. But the Hall is for guys who were more than very good. It’s for those who dominated at their position in their time. And it’s in the eye of the beholder."

 

Re: 2014 BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released

One of the guys organizing the gizmo at Baseball Think Factory said that even Ripken and Gwynn didn't last this long at 100% of public ballots in 2007. I'm really shocked — pleasantly so, because this makes it more likely that I'll be going to Cooperstown next summer.

I know it's only 10% or so, but still. Really, really shocked to see Glavine on so many. I really did think he would end up on the borderline (say, 72-78%.)

 

Re: 2014 BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released

I'm more surprised that Thomas is getting his percentage of the votes than Glavine is at 100 percent.

The fact that it is looking like four guys will go in with Piazza being right on the fence is a very good sign. And the ballot needs for at least the top four to go in this year.