Nick's 2010 Hall of Fame Ballot

The 2010 Baseball Hall of Fame class will be announced on Wednesday. Every year, I cast my own ballot just for fun. Here it is.

Roberto Alomar – Yes. Alomar was a lifetime .300 hitter who swiped 474 bags during his career. Some of his numbers may not jump out at you, but my criteria is always was he the best player at his position when he played? Alomar was without a doubt the best 2^nd baseman of the early 90’s. He won 10 gold gloves, was an all star 12 times, and received MVP votes in 7 different seasons. Clearly, at least in my mind he is a HOF’er.

Kevin Appier – No. Appier was a nice pitcher who made a grand total of one all star game appearance. He should not get one vote.

Harold Baines - No. A very good and consistent hitter, but being a DH for a vast majority of his career hurts him. Baines was a solid Major Leaguer but in order to get in as a DH you need to put up astronomical numbers in my book and Baines simply did not do that.

Bert Blyleven – No. If there is a Hall of Fame for very good players and nice guys then Blyleven would be a shoe in. However, I cannot induct a guy who won only 20 games once and while he played 22 seasons was only an All Star twice. In 22 years he only got Cy Young votes in 4 years. Blyleven played a long time and because of that some of his stats look better than they are. I saw him pitch and he was never an elite starter.

Ellis Burks – No. Burks was a solid major league outfielder for a time in the early to mid 90’s. But Burks was never an elite ball player. He padded his numbers with a couple of big seasons in Colorado but in no way was Burks a Hall of Famer.

Andre Dawson –Yes. It seems every year I type the same thing endorsing the Hawk. Am I biased in that I saw him play every day for six seasons, probably. But, that does not mean the guy doesn’t belong. Dawson, was a five tool player that was MVP on a last place team in 1987. In 9 different seasons Andre received MVP votes. He was an all-star 8 times. He won 8 gold gloves for his defense. He hit 438 homers and stole 314 bases playing a large part of career in the knee killing dome in Montreal. Last year Jim Rice got in and Rice in my opinion didn’t have as strong of a case as Dawson does. Hopefully this year the writers at long last elect the “Hawk.”

Andres Galarraga –No. Galarraga is another player that padded his career stats playing in the thin air of Colorado. If you look at his splits his numbers are very pedestrian outside of Coors Field. The Big Cat was a good fielding first baseman that was a nice player but that is all he was.

Pat Hentgen – No. Hentgen won the AL CY young in 1996 and that was the apex of his time in the big leagues. Injuries derailed him after that season and he never again approached the type of numbers he put up in 96.

Mike Jackson – No. Jackson was for the most part a middle reliever for his career. He closed for a couple of seasons in Cleveland but he was under .500 and was never dominant.

Eric Karros – No. Karros was the NL rookie of the year in 92 but that is about it for his highlights. He was a .268 career hitter and that is all that I need to say about his candidacy.

Ray Lankford – No. In 15 seasons Lankford was an All star a grand total of one time. Next.

Barry Larkin – No. This is a close one and one I may revisit in future years. Larkin has a lot of pluses on his side. He was a 12 time all star. He won the MVP in 95 and got votes in 6 different seasons. But, I just don’t think Larkin was one of the best short stops of all time. He only had 2,340 hits and he played 19 seasons. That isn’t very impressive for a guy who was a singles hitter. His .295 average is respectable but all his injuries he complied hurt his case. In no other offensive category do his numbers jump out at you. If he gets in then Tramell should get in as well. I agree he was better than Ozzie Smith, but I never thought Ozzie belonged either.

Edgar Martinez – No. Martinez was a DH for the vast majority of his playing time. As I stated with Baines, in order to get in as a DH you have to put up phenomenal numbers as in my book you are only half a player. I am not here to debate whether Edgar was a good hitter because, I agree he was. You don’t hit .312 for a lifetime without being a good hitter. But, again he was a DH and his other numbers just aren’t that awe inspiring. He hit 309 homers, and only one season did he hit over 30. He did drive in 100 in 6 seasons but is that hall of fame worthy? Sorry if you are a DH you need to have out of this world numbers and Martinez simply does not have them.

Don Mattingly – No. I will say he is close and every year, I lean more to voting yes. His biggest problem is that he only played 14 years. However, during a 6 year run that began in 1984 he was one of the best players in either league. He was over .300 each season, knocking in over 100 each year except one in that stretch. Another plus is that he received MVP votes in 7 of his 14 seasons winning the award in 1985. With all that evidence, I still have a hard time thinking of Mattingly as a HOF’er. His career was short and that hurts him, a lot. For some reason he retired at 34. If he played another four or five productive years I would be all for him getting in. As it is I cannot vote for him. But he has a compelling case.

Fred McGriff – No. A simple look at the numbers would suggest McGriff should be included. 493 homers, 8 seasons of at least 100 rbi’s, he got MVP votes in 8 different seasons. With all that evidence I still lean no on him. First he played first base and badly, I might add. First base is a power position and even though he did drive in 100, 8 times his career high for a season was 107. McGriff was very consistent during his playing days and was a great power hitter. But, I never considered him the best first baseman in the game when he played. That says a lot.

Mark McGuire – No. This has zero to do with steroids. McGuire was an awesome power hitter. That’s all he was. He never hit for average, nor was he very good with the glove. I know he was paid to hit the long ball and he was very good at it. But, I cannot forgive his other glaring deficiencies of which there are many.

Jack Morris – No. No way a guy with that ERA should get in. If he were to get elected it would be highest ERA ever for a pitcher to be enshrined. In 18 seasons Morris won 20 games once. In 18 seasons he never won a Cy Young. As a matter of fact he never finished higher then third in the voting. His supporters point to the fact that he won more games in the 80’s then anyone else. I ask who won the most games from 85-95? My point is that it is a useless statistic. He was great in the postseason and that means something to me. But, in no way was he ever in my mind a Hall of Famer.

Dale Murphy – No. Murphy was great for a couple of seasons. But, when he lost it he lost it in a hurry and he was not even a shell of his former greatness. Just can’t vote for a guy who didn’t play at a high level long enough.

Dave Parker – No. But, he is another player that gets overlooked. For awhile in the late 70’s to early 80’s Parker was one of the most feared hitters in the game. He received MVP votes in 9 seasons. He had a rocket arm and won 3 gold gloves. He is hurt by the low power numbers. In 19 seasons Parker only hit 339 homers and that is troublesome and keeps him out.

Tim Raines – No. Of all the players on last year’s ballot I took the closest look at Raines as he got a lot of support last year. Raines was a very solid major league ballplayer. He put up some really good years in the 80’s with the stolen base and is fifth all time in that department. However, he was only adequate in the outfield and while his average is nice at .294 for a singles hitter that is not high enough. Also he had only 2,600 hits in parts of 23 seasons. Just cannot look past that.

Shane Reynolds – No. Really, do I need to say anything about Reynolds? He never won 20 games and finished with an ERA of 4.09. Let’s move on.

David Segui –No. Segui’s name appears prominently in the Mitchell report. Not that he had the numbers to get in anyway.

Lee Smith – No. I loved Lee Smith and still am pissed the Cubs traded him when they did. With that said Smith was the king of the one inning save and was never someone I would ever consider dominant. In 19 seasons he received Cy Young votes in 4 of them. He was a great closer but not in the same league as Sutter, Gossage, and Rivera.

Alan Trammel –No. I really gave a good and hard look at Trammel this year after I read some information about him touting his candidacy. And you know I have underestimated him. But, not enough to believe he should be in the HOF. Trammel did receive MVP votes in 8 seasons. He was an All Star 6 times and wound up with some very impressive numbers for a shortstop. Still, he is not what I would call a HOF player. Trammel was a very good all around shortstop and again while he was good, I just don’t think his numbers are what anyone would call great.

Robin Ventura – No. Ventura was a nice player who had a couple of decent seasons but was only an all star twice and finished his playing days with a .267 batting average. Sorry that isn’t anywhere near good enough.

Todd Zeile – No. Another guy who was pretty mediocre and who won’t be on the ballot next year.