Friday, February 24, 2012

Hall of Fame

It's Hall of Fame voting time again and that means input from the blog.  Standards are high for the Hall and we have never elected more than a couple in a year.

Please vote, and do so responsibly.  You can only vote for five and players become introduce if not elected st some point.  Voting for your guy if he's not qualified is a wasted vote. 

My ballot contains two pitchers and the hitters.  I'll also cover nine guys I didn't vote for and why.

position players (in)
Kelvim Roa (RF) - 665 HR, 401 Sb, .295 ave, 7 AS, 1 MVP.  Simply the best power hitter on the ballot

David Padilla (c) - hit.300 with 611 hr playing catcher.  Seven time all star, MVP, rookie of the year and six time silver slugger.

Tony Baez (2b) - this spot was the tightest call for me and you'll see why in a minute.  Baez gets the nod based on nine all star trips and right silver sluggers (3 positions).  Hit hit.320 with 419 hr and 858 sb.  He gets my view on all around skill

Position players (close, maybe next year)
Mac Ventura (Cf) - His hiring numbers are just shy of three big pourer hitters above, .282, 602 hr, 329 sb, but he did it playing a premium defensive position in center field.  This was three hardest cut for me.

Santos Julio (c) - his numbers are very close tho Roa minus the speed.  He should get in.  .296 661 hr, 6 all star.

Position players (not in  or close)
the guys below are great but stand no chance this year in my opinion.

Bernard Lieber (ss) - hit.305 and style a remarkable 1157 bases, but didn't bring the pop to compete with under others.

Tom Davidson (2b/lf) hit.346 with 404 hr.  Great balanced hitter who should be in,.but lacks the totals of the others.

Tom Bollock (c) - maybe the best pure hitter in a second City history,.but he only played 75 games a year .367, give time world series champ

Pitchers (in)
Paul Rhodes - 262-116, 2.81, 2747 Ks. Played in eighteen post seasons,.
Going 18-15.  Nine time all star also saved 114 games.  Most wind, fewest losses, and best era of the candidates.

Phil Martin - the other pitching spot is a tough decision. 

Martin gets my vote on the strength of his 254 wins, 2745 K.  4.04 era was done mostly in the AL.

Pitchers (close)
Ozzie Myers - you can make a strong case for him over Martin.  He went 241-169 with a 3.92 & 3092 k.  Also had 3 championships.

Bartolo Gonzalez - 193-132  2489 K, work horse was a six time all star, but didn't win enough to chose him over these.

Pitchers (third tier)
Don't be offended,.these two were great,.but the others are clearly better.

Lenny Ohman - 181-67, 3.44.  He belongs above Gonzalez.  Judy not quite the totals for him yet.  Six all stars.

Marty Brantley - 227-150, 4.02, 4 ask star and a cy young.  Great, but not HOF.