Newly enshrined: (none)
Well since last year's festivities were postponed, I guess Jeter, Walker, Simmons and Mitchell will get their own day after all.
Maybe next year: Curt Shilling, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Scott Rolen, Omar Vizquel, Billy Wagner, Todd Helton, Gary Sheffield, Andruw Jones, Jeff Kent, Manny Ramirez, Sammy Sosa, Andy Pettite, Mark Buehrle, Torii Hunter, Bobby Abreu, Tim Hudson
(I think they ought to be in) Curt Shilling, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Gary Sheffield, Manny Ramirez, Sammy Sosa, Andy Pettite,
Yup....all the same dudes as last year. And the year before. When are the baseball writers gonna do their jobs? Why do they spend so much time denigrating their own sport? Barry Bonds is arguably the greatest player of all time, what is the point of a Hall of Fame that doesn't have him in it? Why are they starving the Hall of Fame? (*)
(I'm undecided) Todd Helton, Bobby Abreu, Tim Hudson
Again, same as last year. Helton was one of the best hitters in the game for most of his career, albeit in a hitter's park. That's gotta be worth something, right?
Abreu had 8 seasons with 100 BBs, 100 Runs, 20 home runs; 9 season above .290 BA; 10 seasons of 100 RBI; 12 seasons with OBP above .390; 13 seasons with at least 20 SBs. But never in the top ten for MVP voting, when I remember him as much more feared at his peak. I dunno, close call but I think he deserves more support than others (*cough* Jeff Kent).
Tim Hudson had seriously superior years and played for some really good teams. Had double digit W's in 15 of his first 16 seasons, made four all-star games, finished top-4 for Cy Young three times and won a World Series (2014 Giants). Starting pitchers just don't pile up numbers the way they used to. I can see Hudson being reevaluated as pitching stats steadily deflate.
Rolen, Vizquel, Wagner, Buerhle were good solid players for a long time, guys you'd be more than happy for your team to get in free agency. But none of them ever struck me as all-time greats.
Hunter and Jones both started off well but neither really blossomed into the stardom that seemed ahead of them.
I'm still flabbergasted that Jeff Kent is on this list 8 years in--who is voting for this guy? I watched Jeff Kent's prime and he was never anywhere near as dangerous as Bobby Abreu and yet Abreu's is struggling to stay on the ballot. Why? What is the BBWAA's obsession with Jeff Kent? (He's the anti-Schilling, I suppose?)
10th and final ballot: (none)
One and done: Aramis Ramirez, LaTroy Hawkins, Barry Zito, AJ Burnett, Shane Victorino, Dan Haren, Michael Cuddyer, Nick Swisher
Yeah, I can't make much of an argument for any of these guys. Zito won a Cy Young and was a minor (at best) piece of a Series winner (2012 Giants), and Burnett was a good starter on a World Series winner (2009 Yankees), but that's about all I can say for any of this batch.
The headliners for the 2022 ballot include Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz...so two more of the greatest ballers I ever saw that won't be going to the Hall of Fame?
(*) My real complaint: I didn't even like Sammy Sosa and honestly I'm not sure if Pettite truly was Hall-worthy--but we're never gonna get those discussions! When you make the argument solely about phony baloney morality jibba-jabba then we're not getting statistical analysis any more. We're not properly separating the wheat from the chaff. We're just leaving out guys that the writers don't like and that's stupid. Plain fuckin' stupid.
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