There are 15 new candidates for the Hall of Fame in 2010. Among the new names on the ballot are Roberto Alomar, Barry Larkin, Edgar Martinez and Fred McGriff. It will be interesting who receives what percentage of the votes this year as the stigma of steroids is starting to play an ever increasing role in the vote. There are 26 candidates in total, three more than last year, when Rickey Henderson was elected in his first appearance and Jim Rice made it on his 15th and final try. Reporters who have been in the BBWAA for 10 or more consecutive years are eligible to vote.
Roberto Alomar is a 12-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove second baseman, had a .300 batting average, 210 homers and 474 steals in 17 major league seasons.
Edgar Martinez spent all 18 seasons with the Seattle Mariners, winning two AL batting titles and finishing with a .312 average and 309 homers. A seven-time All-Star, he was a designated hitter in 1,412 of 2,055 career regular-season games.
Barry Larkin was a 12-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove shortstop in 19 seasons, all with the Cincinnati Reds. He had a .295 career average with 198 homers and won the 1995 NL MVP award.
Fred McGriff is tied with Lou Gehrig for 26th on the career home run with 493 and had a .284 average in 19 seasons. He led the AL in homers for the Toronto Blue Jays in 1989 and the NL for the San Diego Padres in 1992.
Mark McGwire, who was hired last month as hitting coach of the St. Louis Cardinals, is on the ballot for the fourth time. Although he hit 583 homers, eighth on the career list, he has been stigmatized since his 2005 congressional committee testimony, when he dodged questions about potential steroids use. He received 118 votes (22 %) in last year’s vote, down from 128 in each of his first two tries.
Who do you feel should make it on January 6th?
Full Ballot: Roberto Alomar, Kevin Appier, Harold Baines, Bert Blyleven, Ellis Burks, Andre Dawson, Andres Galarraga, Pat Hentgen, Mike Jackson, Eric Karros, Ray Lankford, Barry Larkin, Edgar Martinez, Don Mattingly, Fred McGriff, Mark McGwire, Jack Morris, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker, Tim Raines, Shane Reynolds, David Segui, Lee Smith, Alan Trammell, Robin Ventura, Todd Zeile
Rules for Qualification and Election to the Baseball Hall of Fame
Ultimately all five will get in. Although I’m a bit hesitant on McGriff. This year I’m putting my money on Alomar and Dawson. I’m hoping for Larkin too but not holding my breath.
I like to play “guess who’ll get 0 points.” My favorites for this distinction are Segui and Appier
Who knows Jeremy Affeldt got a vote for mvp so you don’t know what is going through some of these writers minds.
Last year three players got no votes. 2008 two players got no votes. 2007 four players got no votes. 2006 two players. Etc. So it’s a pretty safe bet some won’t get any votes.
Who’s on your list (admit that this is a fun game)?
After more consideration I think Appier will get a vote. Someone with KC ties (Joe Posanaski of the KC Star?) will give him a vote. So I’m going to swap out Appier for Mike Jackson.
Mike Jackson
David Sequi
Todd Zeile and Shane Reynolds definately shouldn’t receive any votes for the Hall of Fame. I hope Dawson gets in and with no sure fire 1st time inductees on this list, I think he has a great shot of getting in. The “Crime Dog” might have a shot, but falling short of 500 homers might be his downfall. Fortunately for him he still has his Tom Emanski video highlights to fall back on.
A lot of these guys should be in the “Hall of Very Good” but I’m not sold fully on any of them. Really the only reason I wouldn’t vote for McGwire is the steroids issue.
Roberto Alomar is undoubtedly a first ballot hall of famer. He realistically could be considered one of the top 5 second basemen of all time. The others being Eddie Collins, Nappie Lajoie, Rogers Hornsby and Jackie Robinson. Alomar will rightly be remembered for his off the field tirades and his disgruntled attitude towards his teammates and fans. However, i will remember him as a sweet swinger switch hitter that played the game hard and had a silky smooth glove. The proof is in the numbers, he is the greatest modern era 2nd baseman. He should overwhelmingly be inducted into cooperstown.
I fully agree with “the fake” crowd pleaser. Rob made a living out of circus defensive plays and clutch at bats in the playoffs. The man could do it all and there is no doubt in my mind that I would take him over any other 2nd baseman in any era. BOTTOM LINE
I agree. It seems to me that Alomar is the only first ballot HOFer. I would like to see Larkin and Dawson get in as well, but that may take a little more time. Larkin was a Jeter type, minus the yankee mystique and associated accolades.
McGriff was a model of consistency, but I doubt he gets in as he wasn’t flashy enough personally or in his game.
Edgar Martinez was an amazing DH, but I think the DH designation will ultimately kill his cause.
I agree that Alomar should go in this year, but I disagree with Crowd Pleaser that he’s the greatest 2nd baseman of the modern era. I’m taking Joe Morgan without hesitation. Here’s how some of the numbers compare:
MVPs: 2-0 (Morgan)
Gold Gloves: 10-5 (Alomar)
BA: .300-.271 (Alomar)
HR: 268-210 (Morgan)
SB: 689-474 (Morgan)
RBI: 1134-1133 (Alomar- by one)
Runs: 1650-1508 (Morgan)
OPS: .819-.814 (Morgan)
I think it can be debated, but I’m going with Morgan (then again I’m a Reds fan, that might skew my perception).
Jeff, what no love for Scott Fletcher? sheesh
Morgan was extremely talented and both could play for my team any day. Some of morgans numbers may be skewed because of the team he played for (runs and rbi’s). Although it is tough to hold that against joe, robby alomar never played on a team as great at the big red machine. I will say this though, Joe is by far the best baseball analyst out there. He is able to simplify the game for all viewers.
I am partial to Sandberg at second base. Joe Morgan the best analyst? I don’t know about that . I am a big Harold Reynolds guy.
To expand on Jeff’s post here is how Sandberg compares to Morgan and Alomar over his career:
MVPs: 1 (Morgan)
Gold Gloves: 9 (Alomar)
BA: .285 (Alomar)
HR: 282 (Sandberg)
SB: 344 (Alomar)
RBI: 1,061 (Alomar)
Runs: 1,318 (Morgan)
OPS: .795 (Morgan)
At Bats: Morgan- 9,277 (22 seasons), Alomar- 9,073 (17 seasons), Sandberg- 8,385 (16 seasons)
So there you have it. While Alomar wins 4 out of those categories, Sandberg also put up excellent numbers in the fewest at bats by a large margin. I wonder where Sandberg would rank with those at bats? Combine that with a Rookie of the Year Award and 10 All Star Appearances and you got yourself quite a debate. Granted Ryno was my favorite player of all time, but it truly is interesting to see how these three rank.
Ryne should be classified as a 3rd baseman. Although he was a great pivot man while turning 2 and he was an intelligent ball player but his lack of range drives me up a wall.
Sandberg lacked ranged? I feel that is the wierdest argument when it comes to Sandberg. I hear a lot of “Sandberg didn’t dive for balls, Sandberg never got dirty, etc…” That is because he played the position so well he didn’t have to. Before he got chubby, Andruw Jones could chase anything down and made it look easy because he played the position so well. He didn’t have to dive as much as a Torii Hunter and it may have appeared that he didn’t have as much range because it came easier. I look at Sandberg in the same light and will take him defensively at second base over anyone.
TCP- I understand what you’re saying about the BRM, but once you start looking deeply there are a thousand reasons why we can’t accurately compare the two due to the eras they live in.
~It was harder for Morgan because there were less teams and therefore the quality of pitching he faced daily was better.
~It was harder for Alomar because there were more international players playing and therefore more talent in the league.
~It was harder for Morgan because he played in bigger ballparks. Alomar played in an era with inflated offensive numbers.
So many variables make it very tough to judge players just based on numbers. But I suppose it is the best we can do.
I agree Sandberg belongs in the discussion. I just have a huge prejudice against him because I hated the Cubs growing up and he and Harry Carey WERE the Cubs at that point. But prejudices aside the discussion of best 2nd basemen of the past 50 years includes those three players.
Some great debates from all sides. And Jeff hit it head on that its too hard to compare players from the different eras off numbers alone. But the 2nd base discussion has to be down to Alomar, Sandberg and Morgan. Being a Reds fan, i’m obviously gonna say Morgan. But Sandberg put up great numbers, and was phenominal on the field with not even close to as good of a team surrounding him as Morgan had. As far as some other names on that list, i gotta say Dale Murphy, Harold Baines, Andre Dawson should all be in there. I wanna say Robin Ventura too, but only put one thing of him in the Hall, and make it the video of him charging the mound, and then getting beat down by Nolan Ryan, still an all time favorite clip of mine!