General Forum

"Sounds good to me"
    - Sid Bream

Actually, Lolich is a good call, as well. 

v3

Bonds, Clemens, Ramirez and Rivera

• Barry Bonds, best home run hitter of all time.

• Roger Clemens, one of if not the best pitcher of his era

• Andruw Jones, best defensive outfielder of his era and maybe any era

• Jeff Kent, best offensive second basemen of his era and one of the best ever

• Edgar Martínez, the epitome of what a DH should be

• Fred McGriff, Gary Sheffield, two of the best players of their generation, if they had played for one team their entire career they would have been first ballot 

• Mariano Rivera, best closer ever

I would put Halladay in also but probably not in his first year and Manny I would need to think on

LOL, perhaps...but I also make the same thought mistake with Mattingly all the time so not so much.

Schilling not being in yet is a travesty, based purely on his politics.

What About  Lance Parrish, he was the Carter of the A.L & both had 324 Hrs ? And yes Sweet Lou & Mickey Lolich would get my vote , too .

Looking through the HOF ballot every year is a great way to look back at some great careers.  If you think about the number of guys who have played MLB, just getting on the ballot is a huge testament to their careers.  Almost every name on the ballot this year I can remember a time when they were at the top of the game.  Most dont have the sustained success of a "1st ballot no doubter", but they all had their time.  Always cool to be able to look back and recognize some pretty good careers.

One thing I have always found as slightly comical is the omission of Pete Rose.  He was banned from MLB.  Unfortunately there is nothing in the Hall Of Fame's that directly ties them to Major League Baseball.  Look at their webpage... first thing you see is their mission statement ...

" The National Baseball Hall of Fame is a nonprofit committed to preserving the history of America’s pastime and celebrating the legendary players, managers, umpires and executives who have made the game a fan favorite for more than a century. "

Pete Rose was banned from baseball and he deserved that for his actions off the field.  To keep him from the Hall doesnt preserve the history of the game, unless you consider preserving history is omitting facts that you find unflattering.  Same thing applies to what writers are doing to Bonds, Clemens, Sosa, Mcgwire, Palmeiro, etc...

Writes and fans complain that they are cheaters, but somehow when they were being entertained and paying to attend their games it was OK.  Nobody boycotted Cardinal games back in '98 even though there were rumors even then about andro and other supplements he may have been using.  How many guys are already in the HOF that may have taken stuff to helpo them along, in the 70's it was uppers, the 80's was coke..

But, I digress...

My Vote:

Bonds (Duh!!)

Clemens (Same as above)

Rivera (best reliever ever)

Walker (great career, hurt by coors)

Helton (better career than Walker, again hurt by coors)

Edgar(definition of a DH)

Mussina (good pitcher for lot of year, a bit like Jack Morris)

Pettitte (good pitcher for a lot of years wih a bunch of rings to boot)

Sosa (holy crap he had a heck of a 5 year run)

Mcgriff (consistent threat, but overshadowed by some of the all-time greats)

Nooooo! I was going through every player in detail, but then accidentally left the page instead of switching windows! Dang it. Not starting over. 

I agree with Smokin' Joe on just about everything in his rant. 

And now I'm left with just my yes votes (ok, quick comments, too): 

• Barry Bonds - I'm over the steroids thing

• Roger Clemens - see Bonds

• Roy Halladay - 2 Cy Youngs put him over

• Mike Mussina - a winner

• Manny Ramírez - see Bonds

• Mariano Rivera - Duh

• Scott Rolen - See Ron Santo

• Curt Schilling - strikeouts and post-season

• Sammy Sosa - see Bonds

• Omar Vizquel  - see Ozzie Smith and Bill Mazeroski

• There's my 10 vote limit, with at least three players I really don't like. I think they should keep the 10 vote limit, by the way.  

• v3

It is getting closer.. I am learning a lot about this.. but still learning... it si ten vote limit something that goes on just here on TCDB or can they vote ten into the HOF?

After hours of youtube ed-u-ma-cation my 10 are

• Barry Bonds
• Roger Clemens
• Roy Halladay
• Andruw Jones
• Jeff Kent
• Edgar Martínez
• Fred McGriff
• Mike Mussina
• Mariano Rivera
• Curt Schilling