On December 31st baseball writers will be turning in their votes for the latest Hall of Fame balloting. Eight days later the inductees will be announced. With a weak group of players with first year eligibility many are wondering if players like Goose Gossage, Bert Blyleven and Jim Rice will finally gain induction. Also, will the writers continue to use Mark McGwire as an example for future ballots and not vote him in once again? We will have the answers to these questions on January 8th.

Here is the 2008 Hall of Fame ballot:

Brady Anderson*
Harold Baines
Rod Beck*
Bert Blyleven
Dave Concepcion
Andre Dawson
Shawon Dunston*
Travis Fryman*
Chuck Finley*
Goose Gossage
Tommy John
David Justice*
Chuck Knoblauch*
Don Mattingly
Mark McGwire
Jack Morris
Dale Murphy
Robb Nen*
Dave Parker
Tim Raines*
Jose Rijo*
Jim Rice
Todd Stottlemyre*
Alan Trammell
*-first time on ballot

The rules are pretty simple for voting. Any writer who has been a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) for ten years is eligible to vote for up to ten players. Any player receiving more than 75% of the vote will be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

While I am not a member of the BBWAA I can still cast my (unofficial) votes for this year’s Hall of Fame ballot. In no particular order here are the players I would vote for if I did have a Hall of Fame vote:

Jim Rice
1978 AL MVP…382 HRs, .298 Lifetime Avg…Eight time All-Star…One of the best hitters of the late 1970s/early 1980s
HIGHEST VOTE TOTAL: 64.8% (337 votes) 2006

Bert Blyleven
22 year career…287 career wins, 3.31 ERA…Two-time All-Star…3,701 Career Strikeouts (5th All-Time)…60 career shutouts (9th All-Time)
HIGHEST VOTE TOTAL: 53.3% (277 votes) 2006

Andre Dawson
438 career HRs…1977 NL Rookie of the Year…1987 NL MVP…Eight time All-Star…Eight Gold Gloves…503 career doubles
HIGHEST VOTE TOTAL: 61% (317 votes) 2006

Jack Morris
254 career wins…162 wins in the 1980s (Most in the 1980s)…3.90 ERA…Most consecutive Opening Day starts (13)…Five-time All-Star (3 starts)
HIGHEST VOTE TOTAL: 41.2% (214 Votes) 2006

These players are close to getting my vote, but just miss:
Alan Trammell
Goose Gossage
Don Mattingly
Tim Raines
Dale Murphy

It is a pretty safe bet that at least two of these players will be elected into the Hall of Fame on January 8th. With the first timer class being as weak as it is (only Tim Raines is close) voters will have to look somewhere else. Of course there is nothing in the rules that says that voters have to vote for anyone. In fact, they can vote no one into the Hall of Fame which they did in 1996.

Hall of Fame voting is one of the most argued about topics in baseball. With the recent release of the Mitchell Report this argument has some added fuel, and over the course of the next ten or so years this argument may reach of new level of intensity.

Other News:
- Reports on ESPN.com are stating that Roger Clemens has hired his own private investigators to investigate Brian McNamee.
- Mark Prior has signed with the San Diego Padres a one-year/$1 million deal.