By Josh:
Recently Kelly posted his IBWAA Hall of Fame ballot and I felt like I should not be so lazy and post my ballot as well. For those of you that don’t know the IBWAA is the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. This isn’t the group that does the official Hall of Fame ballot, although there are some members of the IBWAA that do have official Hall of Fame ballots (I’m not one of those people).
When I first started voting for the IBWAA I was pretty much against steroid users. However, after listening to a number of individuals that are much smarter than me, Bob Costas being probably the most notable of those I listened to, I have changed my stance some. I am voting for the best of this era so that baseball fans in the future can look back at the story of baseball during my lifetime.
Note: Vladimir Guerrero and Edgar Martinez have already been honored in previous IBWAA elections, which is why you don’t see their names listed here.
Who I Voted For:
Chipper Jones – When anyone talks about the Atlanta Braves Chipper is the first and main player I think of. His playing career is littered with All-Star game appearances, top 15 in MVP voting, a .303 career batting average, and 468 homeruns. Chipper is a no brainer for the Hall of Fame in my opinion and will be only the second #1 overall draft pick to make the Hall of Fame. Ken Griffey Jr being the first.
Jim Thome – 612 homeruns is not the only reason I voted for Thome but that sure is a huge reason why. A lot of people see him as only a power hitter but having a .276 batting average and a .402 on base percentage just solidifies my vote.
Trevor Hoffman – I don’t mind specialized players being in the Hall of Fame. That is why I will argue and fight for Edgar Martinez to be in Cooperstown until my last breath. Hoffman has 601 saves, 2nd to only the great Mariano Rivera.
Mike Mussina – I wasn’t big on Mussina the last few years. This is actually the first time I voted for him, but as I looked deeper into his stats I began to see a real reason for voting for him. 270 wins is worthy of the Hall of Fame, especially when you add that to 7 Gold Gloves, and 5 All-Star games.
Curt Schilling – I will admit that I am looking at both his regular season numbers and his playoff numbers. Honestly I am still on the fence as to whether or not I should have voted for Schilling but I did.
Billy Wagner – Even though Wagner doesn’t have the same number of saves as Hoffman I still felt he was one of the most dominate pitchers of his time. 422 saves with a 2.31 ERA were key to my reasoning. If you don’t agree on this one I understand but I think Wagner deserves my vote.
Larry Walker – Don’t tell me that playing at Coors Field is the only reason that Walker was a good hitter. He hit in every stadium pretty much the same. Plus not only was he a great hitter but he was a great defender. That does play into my decision because if a player was great all around then that does add to his value in my eyes.
Barry Bonds – I don’t like Bonds. I was never a fan of his, but he could play. Yes, I know he used PED’s but getting stronger doesn’t make you a great ball player. It can help you do what you already do better, but steroids and HGH doesn’t give you talent. Bonds was the most feared hitter for about a decade. There is a reason for that.
Roger Clemens – Like Bonds I was never a huge Clemens fan but that doesn’t take away from what he did. He was a great pitcher who could bring it.
Players I thought about voting for:
Andruw Jones
Jeff Kent
Scott Rolen