Would induct (75%+): Bagwell (44 votes), Clemens (44), Biggio (42), Piazza (42), Bonds (41), Raines (36).The average voter selected 8.125 candidates, which is remarkably high. One-third of all voters used all ten slots. Six voters skipped both Bonds and Clemens (with five of them omitting McGwire as well); three voters skipped Piazza but otherwise supported the other five we'd induct. (Strategic voting?)
Just short: McGwire (33), Schilling (28).
Receiving some consideration, and remaining on the ballot: E Martinez (18), Sosa (14), Trammell (13), Walker (10), Murphy (7), Palmeiro (6), Morris (5), Wells (3).
Explain your one vote: Conine, Lofton, Mattingly, McGriff, L Smith, Rondell White, B Williams.
Query for the Schilling abstainers: is it "I don't think he's worthy" or "even if he may be worthy, he's not First Ballot material"? Polls remain open.
updated, Friday 11am: I'll leave the poll open, but the results haven't much changed with twenty more votes in, other than a burst of increased support for Alan Trammell bringing him close to Edgar-level. Given this data, I might as a voter consider throwing a vote Kenny Lofton's way to keep him in future consideration and strategically skip voting for someone like Raines who likely isn't getting in this year, but isn't falling off the ballot either.
Just realized I forgot to vote for Trammell, who definitely deserves to go. Looking at Schilling again I see that he deserves to go in as well, but he's such a dick I'll go with letting him pass until next year. I know Bonds and Clemens (and many others) are jerks as well, but their HOF cases are overwhelming.
ReplyDeleteSchilling I think can go in eventually, but I just didn't feel like making him first ballot.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good thing I'm not a real HOF voter, given how much my emotion attaches to all of this. Sosa is out because he broke my heart. Wells is in because I was there when he threw his perfect game. The bloody sock gets me right here. I think McGwire gets my vote because if I can't bring myself to vote for Sammy, I want the magic of the Summer of 1998 represented somehow. I'm a big ol' ridiculous sap when it comes to baseball.
ReplyDelete(Note - this only affects things at the margins. Sosa was borderline to start with, and Wells is pretty much there without the emotional push to drop him into the box anyway. Etc.)
And, of course, Julio Franco. I have a tremendous affection for guys named J. Franco who play well past the age when mere mortal men can play professional baseball for true love of the game. And who do so for the Mets. I know he has no shot, but I love the guy. If this were real voting, I'd never suggest he belongs in the Hall, but dammit, I want the guy to get one vote. And I'm the only one who is going to give it to him.
Marsha's comment on the heart reminds me that I have one person on the ballot who I would never say is an easy in but I actually like that had one vote (from cowboy hats): Kenny Lofton. 6-time all-star, 4 golden gloves, pretty high on the stolen base list, 11 playoffs, 2 world series, decent offensive numbers...I might not vote for him, but Lofton was always a player I loved to watch and I hope he has more than just one year on the ballot.
ReplyDelete(Plus, one of only two people who's been in the FInal Four and the World Series, the other being Tim Stoddard.)
I have to go back and look, I think Lofton played for 13 different teams (or maybe it's 12 with a return trip to Cleveland). Which I think is kinda cool.
ReplyDeleteI don't get the first ballot thing. Either you think someone deserves to be in, or not. No one remembers which year of eligibility people get in, just that they do. If you think someone belongs in the Hall, you vote for him. What if they get hit by a truck? do you write a column about how much of a shame it is that they didn't get in in their lifetime? It always amazes me the way people's votes go up over time.
ReplyDelete12 with 2 Cleveland stints (and both Chicago teams). There was a fun DHL commercial about it: http://www.adforum.com/creative-work/ad/player/6703957
ReplyDelete