The Mets Police

The BBWA will announce their Hall of Fame voting tomorrow. As Shannon and I are still waiting for them to start including members of new media into the voting process, I thought I'd just reveal what my ballot would have been.


Players I vote Yes


Bert Blyleven: Can someone please explain to me how he has not yet been selected? He has 287 victories (24th all-time), 3,701 strikeouts (5th all-time), plus he ranks 8th in starts and 9th in shutouts. Had he played in NY or LA he would have been in 10 years ago.

Andre Dawson: An MVP, 8 All-Star games. 8 Gold Gloves. 438 homers - when it meant something to hit that many. Over 2700 hits and over 300 SBs. he came very close last year. There should be no question he gets in now.

Tim Raines: 808 stolen bases (5th all-time). OBP of .385. 7-time All-Star. Maybe the most feared man on the bases in the NL during the 80's. Dawson will be in, his Expos teammate should be too.

Mark McGwire: Please hold the steroid comments. Of course he did it (in my opinion) - but they were LEGAL in MLB at the time. And please, someone try to tell me that MLB wasn't condoning it. McGwire hit over 500 homeruns, held the season-best total for a few years, was a 12-time All-Star. His numbers scream HOF. Of course he will never get in because the writers that once praised him are now a bunch of hypocrites (yeah that will endear me to the BBWA)

Jack Morris: Winningest pitcher of the 1980's. Mr. Clutch. 254 Wins, 3 World Series rings, and a World Series MVP (one of the greatest pitching performances ever). Why is he not in yet?

Alan Trammell: Morris' teammate on the Tigers for so many years deserves to be in, unfortunately I doubt he will ever get in (at least this way). Look at Trammell's stats and then remember when he was playing. You can't compare him to the big SS that followed him - he was a throwback to when SS were there to get on base and for defense - both of which he did better than anyone else in the AL for most of the time he was playing. He wasn't flashy like Ozzie or a slugger like Ripken. But he was a great player nonetheless

Dale Murphy: The man won back-to-back MVP awards. The only other CF to do that was Mickey Mantle. He hit 398 homeruns when that meant something. 7 All-Star games and 5 Gold Gloves. Yet he has never received more than 23% of the vote. I don't get it.

Roberto Alomar: Over 2700 hits. Twelve consecutive All-Star games. 10 Gold Gloves. Yeah when he was with the Mets he sucked, but remember when they got him a)everyone was psyched, and b) (in typical Mets fashion) he was at the end of his career. Don't judge him as a Met, look at his numbers with Toronto, and Baltimore, and Cleveland.

Barry Larkin: A lot of people are promoting Larkin, and honestly I had to think about this one. Larkin was a lot like Trammell IMO - not flashy, a mainstay at SS for many many years. Played for one team in a smaller market. Interestingly, he and Trammell are very close stats-wise.

Players That Just Don't Cut It
Don Mattingly: A very good player, but Keith was better.

Edgar Martinez: Maybe if you had played a position. (As you can guess I am very anti-DH)

Lee Smith: The most meaningless stat category is Saves. And he accumulated among the most meaningless saves of all.

Fred McGriff: Sure good numbers, but I just don't think Hall of Fame when I think of the Crime Dog

All The Rest (the "Why Are You Even On The Ballot" group)
Kevin Appier, Harold Baines, Ellis Burks, Andres Galarraga, Pat Hentgen, Mike Jackson, Eric Karros, Ray Lankford, Dave Parker, Shane Reynolds, David Segui, Robin Ventura, Todd Zeile


Realistically, I am thinking 3 of the ones I selected make it this year - Dawson, Alomar, and Blyleven.



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Cooperstown has become a joke.

It may not be the baseball Hall of Fame's fault, but nonetheless it's a joke.

You can't have a Hall of Fame without the all-time leaders in all the offensive categories.

I'm sorry that some of these men were mean to sports writers, or took anabolic steroids, or bet on games, their numbers are what they are.

Maybe "Infamy" is unfair to some of the people I will list on the first ever ballot.  Let's call them the "Hall of Men With Great Stats" or the Hall of Famous or something.

This hall only worries about stats baby.  It doesn't matter if you spit on the ball or corked your bat or bribed the ump or took steroids.  Stats get you in, and that's it.  Unlike other halls you only need to sit out one full season to be enshrined

It's time to take the Hall back from the sportswriters and back into the hands of fans.  I invite you to vote, or even nominate, and we'll publish the results in a month or so.  This is your chance to stick up for Gil Hodges, Steve Garvey, Don Mattingly or anyone else you'd like to see enshrined.  Some day I'm sure Alex Rodriguez will wind up in our building.   Before we get to those folks, there's some others to nominate:

Ladies and gentlemen, the nominees for the 2009 Hall of Famous Baseball Players.

Joe Jackson.   You may know him as "shoeless."   He even has his own virtual Hall.  Jackson has the third highest batting average of all-time, with 1700 hits in ten full seasons (Ichiro type numbers!)   His .408 in 1911 was the highest of the century and hasn't even been approached here in Century 21.   You've surely heard of him, hence his nomination for the Hall of Famous.

Pete Rose.  Pete is baseball's hit king with 4256.  Six World Series and a main part of the history of not just the Reds, but also the Phillies.  Hard to ignore Charlie Hustle's credentials on the field.

Barry Bonds.  The Home Run King.   Two numbers that stand without explanation:  73 and the most famous number of them all 762.   How could you even consider a hall without the King?

Roger Maris.   As hard as it is for anyone under thirty to believe, 60 home runs was once very uncommon in baseball.   Roger was the only one to do it between Ruth and McGwire.  A two time MVP who played in seven World Series and was a leader with the Yankees and Cardinals.

Mark McGwire.  The man who saved baseball.  The man who returned the power game to a game that had become boring with 10 run games a rarity. A 12 time all-star who played in three consecutive World Series and has 583 home runs.  Hard credentials for someone to ignore.

Sammy Sosa.  The other smiling face of the legendary summer of 1998.  A man so beloved by all that even New York City threw a tickertape parade for a Chicago Cub.  A 7 time All-Star, an MVP and of course609 home runs including three seasons over 60.

Jack Morris.  What, you thought I was only going to list bad guys?  254 wins and the best pitcher of his decade.  He deserves a look.

Bert Blyleven.  287 wins, 3701 strikeouts.  Nobody will win 287 games again.

Tommy John.   288 wins.  You can't win 288 if you don't win 287, and nobody will.

Roger Clemens.   When he was playing he was considered one of the great pitchers of all time.  354 wins and 4672 strike outs.  Let me know who is pitching today that will even hit half those numbers.

Rafael Palmeiro.  Before the writers found righteousness there were two numbers that got you into any Hall:  3,000 and 500.   Raffy has them both.

Did I miss someone?   Hit comments and add your nominations or votes!



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