2012 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot

The 2012 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot has been released by the Baseball Writers Association of America, which means it's time for me to talk about each man on the ballot!

And if you're interested in history, here is my 2011 ballot.

This hideous goatee may be
hurting Bagwell.

Jeff Bagwell: Yes. It seems silly to even waste my time stating how Bagwell is deserving, but sadly not everyone is on the same page as Bagwell only received 41.7% of the votes last year. According to fWar (Fan Graphs' version of Wins Above Replacement) Bagwell ranks 10th all time for 1B, which may not sound that impressive but know that it's higher than Rod Carew, Eddie Murray, Harmon Killebrew, Willie McCovey and Ernie Banks who are all enshrined in Cooperstown. 

Jeromy Burnitz: No. Burnitz was known for being an ex-Met, hitting a lot of homers for some really bad Brewers teams, having a late-career Coors Field boom, and being known as an all-around good clubhouse guy but a Hall of Famer he is not.

Vinny Castilla: No. Speaking of Coors Field I'm not sure that any player benefited more from their home park than Vinny Castilla did while playing for the Rockies at the height of the steroid/non-humidor/inflated numbers era in Colorado. At his peak, Castilla was hitting over .300 with 40 home runs which sounds Hall-worthy until you realize that during those 5 peak years his OPS+ was only 109 (meaning his OPS was only 9% better than the average major league hitter). And outside of Coors, well he was never good, leading to a very underwhelming career OPS+ of 95.  Solid player, great fantasy 3b, not a Hall of Famer.

Juan Gonzalez: No. If it's possible to hit over 40 home runs 5 times, win 2 MVP awards and not be considered even a debatable Hall of Famer, Juan Gonzalez is your guy. He hit a lot of homers and drove in a ton of batters, enough to fool the BBWAA twice for MVP awards he didn't deserve. He also couldn't stay healthy, refused to take a walk and was a DH playing Right Field. 

Deion Sanders wasn't the only 2-way player for the
Falcons/Braves.

Brian Jordan: No. Great fielder, vastly underrated baseball player and solid defensive back for the Atlanta Falcons, but not a Hall of Famer.

Barry Larkin: Yes. He's basically achieved everything a major league player could achieve, and it's a shame he wasn't elected last year. However, having received 62.1% of the votes in 2011 it looks like he is on his way to being inducted in 2012.

Javy Lopez: No. Lopez was probably the most over looked Braves during their division winning dynasty days, then he hit 43 homers in 2003, signed with the Orioles the following year and was out of baseball in three seasons. 

Edgar Martinez: Yes. I don't care if he was "only" a designated hitter (hint: he wasn't), go back and look at his on-base percentages, clean up your drool and tell me he's not a Hall of Famer.

Don Mattingly: No. One of the pre-requisites for a lot of Hall of Famers is healthy and durability, and unfortunately Donnie Baseball had neither. 

Fred McGriff: No. I'm not holding it against him that he didn't hit 7 more home runs to get to 500, I just don't think he was quite good enough. He was a solid 1b for a long time and put up some very impressive counting stats, but when you think about it like that so did a lot of other players and McGriff's numbers aren't impressive enough at the position he played. 

Mark McGwire: Yes. Since we'll never know everyone who used steroids and everyone who didn't, I'm not automatically dismissing McGwire from the Hall of Fame. With that said the dude hit 583 homers and had a 162 career OPS+, not to mention how he averaged over 60 home runs a season over a 4-year stretch. If one pre-requisite for the Hall of Fame is durability, another is being one of the best players during your time, and McGwire most certainly was. 

Jack Morris: No. I won't waste much time here talking about Jack Morris because I'm sure an article by Dan Shaughnessy's ballot will force me to write many more in the near future. Bottom Line: One World Series pitching performance doesn't make you a Hall of Famer.

Bill Mueller drove in Dave Roberts
after his now famous steal. Barf.

Bill Mueller: No. If, and when, a Red Sox fan creates a Best Hitters Against Mariano Rivera Hall of Fame then I'll gladly route for Mueller's inclusion, but until then he's staying out of Cooperstown. And in case you were curious, for his career Mueller was 6/17 with 1 HR and 4 RBI against Mariano including the game tying hit in game 4 of the 2004 ALCS.

Terry Mulholland: No. He pitched for 11 teams, threw a no-hitter, made an all-star game, and continuously went from starting to spot starting to relieving back to starting again becoming one of the generations best "rubber arms". Pretty cool.

Dale Murphy: No. It'll be a shame if great players like Dale Murphy are forgotten because they are just not quite good enough for the Hall of Fame but that doesn't mean we ought to vote in every player that's not quite good enough for the Hall of Fame. However, Murphy still won 2 MVPs and was one of the best, if not the best, OF for several years in the National League.

Phil Nevin: No. I'll always remember Phil Nevin for being a huge part of many a fantasy baseball team name "I Ain't Nevin Scared", but I may not always remember him for being a great baseball player because he wasn't.

Rafael Palmeiro: No. If Fred McGriff played half of his games in Texas his career would probably look like Rafael Palmeiro's which means to say that I wouldn't vote either in the Hall of Fame.

Brad Radke: No. Brad Radke threw a lot of innings, gave up a lot of hits and home runs but hardly walked anyone, finishing his career with a1.6 BB/9 ranking 32nd all time.

Tim Raines: Yes. It's pathetic that he hasn't been inducted yet and even more so that he only received 37.5% of the votes last year. If you need to be convinced that he's worthy, check this out. 

Tim Salmon: No. I'm glad that Mr. Angel was able to win a World Series with them in 2003 and he's certainly deserving for their Hall of Fame but for the rest of us he may soon be forgotten. He does have a cool  factoid though that may keep his name alive from the always reliable Wikipedia: "Salmon's career home run total is the highest for any player in MLB history who played most of his career after the first All-Star game in 1933 to have never been selected to appear in an All-Star Game."

Ruben Sierra: No. A lot of people have been joking about Bill James' Hall of Fame predictions from 1995 concluding that Ruben Sierra would be inducted in 2017, which in 2012 seem ridiculous. In his early years Sierra did profile as a potential young star and future hall of famer, but something happened in the 90s and Sierra became a glorified pinch hitter for the remainder of his career.

Lee Smith: No. His only chance of making the Hall of Fame was when he had the record for most saves and now that he's only third he won't make it, which is good because he doesn't really deserve it.

Alan Trammel: Yes. He's one of the best shortstops of all time, it's as simple as that.

Larry Walker: No.  Just like last year, this one was very tough for me but I'm not changing my vote. Again though, it must be mentioned that he wasn't just a product of Coors Field, he would have (and did) hit in any park and would continue to play a great right field. Also, it must be mentioned again that he had one of the best fantasy seasons of all time in 1997:  .366 average, 49 homers, 130 RBI, 143 runs and 33 steals.  If that happened this year he would have finished first in the major leagues in average, homers, RBI, runs and 15th in stolen bases. 

Bern, baby Bern!

Bernie Williams: No. In 2002, Bernie Williams was 33 years old and just hit .333/.415/.493, one of his best seasons and at that point in his career he had over 1,800 hits 226 homers and a .308/.392/.493 batting line. It didn't seem so out of the question that if he could keep that up for a few more years he would start entering the Hall of Fame debate. Unfortunately however in 2003, Bernabe Figueroa Williams' production slipped, batting .263 with less power and he never recovered, retiring in 2006 at the age of 37. Although he won't be arriving in Cooperstown (at least in bronze form), Bernie has had a successful post-baseball music career. 


Tony Womak: No. Last year Lenny Harris' name on the ballot provided some laughs, this year it's Tony Womak providing the comedy. Tony Womak was never a good fielder (career -46.8 UZR/ -2.7 dWAR) and couldn't swing a bat (career 72 OPS+). He did however steal 72 bases once and had the game tying hit against Mariano Rivera in game 7 of the 2001 World Series with the Diamondbacks. Damn, this ballot isn't too kind to Mariano Rivera!


Eric Young: No. Eric Young is like having the best season of Tony Womak's career, but for 10 years, not a Hall of Famer, but at least a solid player. Plus he's also given us Eric Young Jr. who is just like the real Tony Womak. Next up: Tony Womak Jr., the clone of Eric Young Sr.!

Recap

Yeses: Jeff Bagwell, Barry Larkin, Edgar Martinez, Mark McGwire, Tim Raines, Alan Trammel

Close Calls but No: Larry Walker, Fred McGriff, 

Why the F*ck are you on the ballot: Tony Womak

What say you?