Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, Carlos Delgado, Nomar Garciaparra, & Gary Sheffield are among 17 first timers up for HOF consideration. Will the numbers go up or down for Clemens (35% last year) And Bonds (36% last year) McGwire received only 11% last year & Sosa risks being dropped from the group next year unless he receives the required 5%. Last year he only received 7% And sadly Don Mattingly is in his 15th & final year of eligibility. Where did the years go?
Randy Johnson and Pedro are no-brainers. Smoltz, close..I like Smoltz but he was a very good pitcher, NOT great, imo. And I put less stock into his record as a reliever as just about everyone else does. Just because he HAD TO convert to a reliever doesn't necessarily mean he was an all-star/HOF caliber reliever for his time as a closer. Delgado - nope Garciaparra - nope (I'll eat my shorts if he gets elected to the HOF) lol Sheffield - you can keep his fancy numbers, I smell roids and I'll NEVER forget him admitting he intentionally threw balls away for errors with Milwaukee just to get off 3b or traded. DOG
Randy - yes Pedro - I h he is delayed a year, but yes Smolltz - yes Delgado - no Nomad - no Sheffield - no Clemens - down Bonds - down McGwire - down Sosa - down Mattingly - unfortunately falls short Who else is up???
Yes to the Unit. Yes to Pedro in another year or two. No to the rest, and obviously down to the 4 Horsemen of the Syringe. As for Sheff, sadly no as he is in the same camp as Giambi in my book. They weren't taking banned substances but knew full well they were taking something designed around the rules....goes to the intent of the act (in my book). Mattingly is gonna have to go into the hall as a manager/lifetime achievement ala Torre. Not saying its right, just how it is.
Yes to Johnson. Yes to Pedro, and I'd be shocked if he isn't first-ballot. He'll be (rightfully or not) compared with Koufax in the "SuperDominant for a bit, not enough rest-of-career" numbers. Smoltz may not get in 1st time. Clemens and Bonds probably stay about the same. McGwire and Sosa down. I think Edgar Martinez might (rightfully, IMO) go up.
I hate the...well he isn't a first ballot kind of guy, bullshit either he is a HOF'er or not. Johnson......... Yes Pedro............. Yes Smoltz........... Yes no one else I do vote Bonds and Clemens but they wont get in
Steve the others that are on the ballot are..... Biggio (he'll get in this time) Rich Aurillia * Jeff Bagwell Aaron Boone * Tony Clark * Jermaine Dye * Darin Erstad * Cliff floyd * Brian Giles * Tom Gordon * Eddie Guardado * Jeff Kent Edgar Martinez Fred McGriff Troy Percival * Mike Mussina Mike Piazza Tim Raines Curt Schilling Jason Schmidt * Lee Smith Alan Tramell Larry Walker NOTE: * indicates "What the fuck were they thinking"
I'd say yes to: The Big Unit Pedro Smoltz close, may be next year? Maybe this year. We should see both Clemens and Balco Barry's vote pctg, begin to taper down lower than they already are. I'd like to see Edgar Martinez get in, as well, believe it or not, IMO, Edgar was a cluth DH, and perhaps the best DH of his time, then some. The Crime Dog too. IMO, McGriff is one of the least underrated 1st baggers, and a helluva hitter. Had good years in Diego, Toronto, and Atlanta. Tampa, the Cubs, (as a Cub at 38 yrs of age,: (30 HR's and 103 RBI's).......even played with those Bums of L.A. I'd of liked to see him as a DH, when Donnie BB had 1st base locked down. After all Fred has 493 HR's, and I've never felt anyone under 500 HR's should be excluded. At least he got to see Series Play with Atlanta, yet I'd of loved to of seen The Crime Dog still in Toronto, during their back to back Series Wins. But then if that happened there would of been no Joe Carter to win that last game vs Wild Thing Mitch... I had a SI, article on The Crime Dog, and how as a Rookie, he was hitting Bombs over the upper deck of RF, and out of the park. How the entire team would shut down to watch Fred take his At Bats, during BP....but then, he deserved to play full time somewhere.
__________________________________ Biggio - YES Kent - YES, cannot dispute his numbers as a 2b and he wasn't a hack on defense. Edgar Martinez - YES if they're going to recognize DH as a "position". McGriff - NO Mussina - YES (someday soon) He was every bit as good as Glavine and the record proves it. Piazza - YES Lee Smith - NO Raines - YES (someday soon) Schilling - Falls into the Smoltz category, very good/excellent- not all time great. *I believe Smoltz and Schilling will eventually get voted in because they also fall into the "well liked by the media" category......neither one should go in BEFORE MIKE MUSSINA. *Keep in mind - the last time I checked, post season performance wasn't a factor/requirement in HOF voting. You can't hold it against a player if he never appeared in the post season/WS, nor can you penalize him if he sucked in the post season, AND he doesn't get extra "points" or credit if he did very well in postseason or played on WS winners. Some continue to use that case when comparing Puckett and Mattingly's career numbers....but they also seem to overlook Mattingly's lone POST SEASON performance, he was GREAT. Walker/Trammel - NO Walker -Coors hitter, but I do think Trammel has been underrated... ...the rest aren't worthy of an individual comment.
As great a DH as Edgar was I still don't think someone who played only 1/2 the game should be in the hall. JMO. I also think Raines deserves a shot. OH! & did I mention that some of the names on that list has to meant as a joke? And yet some dumb bastard will waste a vote on them.
I also think Trammel is under rated, at one time IMO, Trammel to Whitaker Turn 2, were one of the better middle infielders in their time. Funny how Post Season is not supposed to count. Yet look at Mattingly vs Puckett, remove the Post Season Rings, and both have damn near identical as it gets lifetime numbers. Mattingly was better defensively than Kirby IMO as well.
Yet, I won't make the arguement that Donnie BB should be in the HOF, I don't think Puckett should be either. We pretty much beat the dead horse of Yanx who should or shouldn't be in the Hallowed Halls, way back in the BSPN Board days. I recall getting hammered by saying I thought Donnie S/B in the HOF. Tho' it was more an eye opener for me, as in all respect, Donnie just didn't put up enough years offensively, to amount to a HOF career....Shucks...
___________________________ imo, Trammel and Whitaker were one of the best DP/SS-2B combos of all time. Played together and produced for a long time. Outstanding.
Amen, damn near as good as Tinker to Evers To Chance....well at least in their own era, Trammel and Whitaker were no doubt the best 1, 2 up the middle infielders, to Turn 2....the premier players in their time, unequalled...IMO...
I salute your honesty. I'd be inclined to vote yes here as well, but would never expect that vote to matter.