The HOF Ballot from EOTB-Part 2
The other day, I decided to do what most baseball fans do around this time of the year and put together my own ballot for the 2019 Hall of Fame. Like the actual BBWAA voters, I put together 10 names on the ballot who I feel are worthy of entering immortality. To reiterate, my first 5 selections were:
Edgar Martinez, DH, Seattle Mariners
Mariano Rivera, P, New York Yankees
Roy Halladay, P, Toronto Blue Jays
Mike Mussina, P, Baltimore Orioles
Andy Pettitte, P, New York Yankees
This leaves me with five remaining spots on my ballot. So, who else do I feel should be considered?
Barry Bonds, OF, San Francisco Giants
Roger Clemens, P, New York Yankees
Because of the controversy surrounding both Bonds and Clemens, I’m lumping the two of them in together. These two were the faces of the Steroid Era; the poster boys if you want to call them. Years ago, I would have said absolutely not to their induction, but let’s face it, these two, regardless of PEDs, were two of the best to step onto a field. Bonds holds a career WAR of 162.8 and Clemens 139.6, both are top 10 all time. Bonds was a 14x All Star, 7x MVP with a career .444 OBP and OPS+ of 182. And of course, the 762 career home runs (asterisk or no asterisk.) Clemens was an 11x All Star with 7 Cy Youngs, 4,672 career strikeouts and a career ERA of 3.12. We know the numbers these two put up and the impact they had during their playing days. Regardless of the speculation of PEDs, we can’t ignore this time in baseball history. Besides, there are already players who have been inducted who were accused of using PEDs (Pudge, Bagwell are two recent ones.) We’ve begun to really water down the Hall (Harold Baines was just voted in!). Let’s make it strong again. Both are entering their 7th year on the ballot and topped out at around 57% last year. Depending on the strength of the ballot over the next 4 years, we could see them voted in soon.
Jeff Kent, 2B, San Francisco Giants
We just saw Chase Utley call it a career and immediately people brought up the “is he a Hall of Famer?” conversation. My response to that: not until Jeff Kent is. You look at the numbers Kent put up during his playing days and, in my opinion, he is a Hall of Famer. 377 career home runs, the most by a 2B. 2,461 career hits, career .290 hitter, .500 career SLG and was the 2000 NL MVP, beating out teammate Barry Bonds (yes, *that* Barry Bonds.) His career WAR was only 55.4, lower than the average of HOFers at that position according to Jay Jaffe and his JAWS system, but Jeff Kent put up similar or better numbers than many others at his position. You compare him with Utley, who people believe is HOF worthy, it’s hard to argue how if Utley is worthy, then Kent should definitely be. He’s on my ballot, for sure.
Curt Schilling, P, No logo
I’m actually quite surprised Schilling is entering his 7th year on the ballot and has only topped out at 51%. 3x World Series champion with Arizona in ‘01 (World Series MVP) and Boston in ‘04 and ‘07. Career WAR of 79.6 with 3,116 strikeouts, ERA+ of 127 and FIP of 3.23 over a 20-year career. Schilling was one of the best in the game during his career, but it was after he turned 30 that his numbers really took off. If elected, I’d probably put no logo on his cap, similar to Greg Maddux. He spent the bulk of his career in Philadelphia, but helped guide Arizona to its first and only title to date, then helped anchor the Red Sox to break the curse of the Bambino in 2004 and then another title in 2007. It’s hard for me to say what team best defined Schilling’s career. Ultimately, if it were up to the Hall to choose, I think they’d go D’Backs. This pairs him back up with Randy Johnson and recreates one of the greatest 1-2 punches in baseball history.
Fred McGriff, 1B, Atlanta Braves
My last spot was tough to fill. It was a battle between two 1B in McGriff and Todd Helton. Helton is only entering his first year on the ballot while McGriff is on his final year. Because of this factor, I gotta go with the Crime Dog. At a position where power was key, McGriff delivered. 493 career home runs, .509 career SLG and career OPS of .886. 15 of his 19 seasons he amassed 20+ home runs, 10 of 19 he amassed 30+. He was one of the more feared power hitters in the game and helped lead Atlanta to a World Series in 1995. Because if this, I’d have him go in as a Brave.
So, there you have it. My 2019 Hall of Fame ballot. The ten guys who I feel are worthy to be enshrined into Cooperstown. Of course, these are just my opinions. Do I think all of them get in? Of course not, but as fans, it’s a fun conversation and debate we can have with each other. So, who makes your ballot?
