My Hall of Fame votes are in and here’s what I came up with. This year was a little bit tougher than last year. I changed my mind on a couple players from last year. Tough decisions were made and they were tough.
Note: Jeff Bagwell, Mike Piazza and Tim Raines have already been honored in previous IBWAA elections, which is why you don’t see their names listed here.
WHO I VOTED FOR
Ken Griffey Jr.
1st time on ballot. The question isn’t whether Junior is a Hall of Famer or not but if or how close he gets to 100% on the ballot. I don’t need to show you the numbers to prove why he belongs. If you’re a true baseball fan you know he belongs. The sad thing is that he won’t get in at 100% because someone will have a bogus reason for not including him.
Trevor Hoffman
1st time on ballot. Hoffman gets overshadowed because he pitched in the same era as Mariano Rivera but he is probably just as good as a pitcher. He pitched in a smaller market and definitely didn’t have the postseason success that Rivera. 7 time All-Star, 601 saves (2nd most all time) and a career 2.87 ERA.
Edgar Martinez
7th time on ballot. I voted for him and here’s why http://9inningknowitall.com/2014/12/30/the-case-for-edgar-martinez/. The tide is starting to turn for Martinez. With David Ortiz announcing his retirement at the end of the 2016 season and the talk of his Hall of Fame chances. It has brought more attention to Martinez and that’s a good thing.
Fred McGriff
7th year on ballot. McGriff is one of the players I changed my mind on. This is the 1st time I have voted for McGriff. He played in the wrong era. Put his numbers in any other era and he’s a shoe in for the Hall but because of the inflated numbers during his time he gets overlooked. 5 time All-Star, 4 time Silver Slugger, 493 HR’s, .509 SLG, .886 OPS. He belongs take a closer look and you will agree.
Lee Smith
14th year on ballot. I think one of the things that has hurt Smith is that he played on so many teams, 8 in 18 seasons. He was still a 7 time All-Star and is 3rd all-time in saves with 478. I believe when he retired he was the all-time saves leader until Rivera and Hoffman came along. He was one of the most feared relievers in his time and pitched in an era where closers were asked to pitch more than just an inning. Not to mention a career 3.03 ERA.
Alan Trammell
15th year and last year on ballot. I’m not sure why or how Trammell hasn’t been voted in yet. He was a 6 time All Star, won 4 Gold Gloves and 3 Silver Sluggers. He is highly underrated. He is right on par with Barry Larkin who is a BBWAA Hall of Famer (WAR Trammell 70.4 Larkin 70.2). On the biggest stage he was a gamer. In the 1984 World Series he batted .450 with 2 HR’s, 6 RBI’s and was name WS MVP.
Larry Walker
6th year on ballot. The other player I changed my mind on and here’s why http://9inningknowitall.com/2015/11/22/the-case-for-larry-walker/
NEAR MISSES
Mike Mussina
Curt Schilling
Gary Sheffield
Billy Wagner
THE STEROID 4
I still can’t bring myself to vote for Bonds, McGwire, Sosa and Clemens. Maybe things will change in time but I just don’t see it. I have noticed that Bonds and Clemens have been treading upwards but I don’t think they have enough time. The best chance they have will be with the Veterans Committee and I don’t see that happening. This is McGwire’s last year on the ballot.
I just can’t see the argument for Trammell. Pretty average numbers if you ask me.
I appreciate your opinion. I’m not going to lie it took me a while to come around but once I dove deeper into the numbers and found a couple of other peoples takes on him very interesting.
[…] BBWAA Hall of Fame results due this coming week, here’s are just a couple of members of the IBWAA who made their vote public. The IBWAA Hall of Fame works a bit […]