My Ballot

Posted by Dave Nichols | Wednesday, January 05, 2011 | , | 1 comments »

I do not have a vote in the BBWAA process.  I do, however, belong to two organizations that also vote on Hall of Fame "suggestions", the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and the Baseball Bloggers Alliance.

Last year the IBWAA elected Bert Blyleven and this year included Roberto Alomar.

This season, the BBA elected both Blyleven and Alomar.

You'd think us internet geeks would be better sussing out qualified candidates and not make them wait years before we mock-induct them, but it looks like the some of the same biases that traditional media carry over to the internet media as well.

You are entitled to believe anything you want, but I am of the opinion that enough players were using performance enhancing drugs during the time frame that all of these players were active that PEDs (steroids, human growth hormone, amphtamines, etc) were part of the accepted baseball landscape and it's fair to evaluate these players against their peers without asterick.

So without further ado, here was my ballot:

Roberto Alomar.  The best second baseman of his generation and one of the top five of all-time. .300/.371/.443. 210 HR, 474 SB. 12 consecutive ASG, 10 GG, 4 SS.

Jeff Bagwell.  Consistantly elite production for 15 seasons. 449 HR. .297/.408/.540. ROY, MVP, 4 ASG, 1 GG, 3 SS.

Bert Blyleven.  Fifth all-time in Ks.  60 career shutouts.  287 wins. 242 complete games. 2 ASG.

Barry Larkin.  Took over mantel of best NL shortstop from Ozzie Smith.  .295/.371/.444. 198 HR, 379 SB. MVP, 12 ASG, 3 GG, 9 SS.

Mark McGwire. Greatest power hitter of his generation. 583 HR. .263/.394/.588. ROY, 12 ASG, 1 GG, 3 SS.

Dale Murphy. The best player in the game for six out eight years in 80s. 398 HR, 161 SB. .265/.346/.469. 2 consecutive MVPs.  7 ASG, 5 GG, 4 SS.

Tim Raines. Second greatest leadoff hitter of all-time.  .294/.385/.425, 170 HR, 113 3B, 808 SB. 7 ASG, 1 SS.

Rafael Palmeiro.  One of four players in history to reach both "Magic Numbers". .288/.371/.515, 3020 hits, 569 HR. 4 ASG, 3 GG, 2 SS.

Alan Trammell.  Fantastic defensive player and leader with good stick overshadowed in prime.  .285/.352/.415, 185 HR, 236 SB.  6 ASG, 4 GG, 3 SS.

1 comments

  1. BinM // January 5, 2011 at 7:50 PM  

    Sadly, both McGwire & Palmiero 'pooched' themselves via PED's; (Raffy by failing a test, McGwire by having Andro-based supplements in his locker back before the 'witch-hunt' started).