Tags
Alan Trammell, Baseball Hall of Fame, bert blyleven, Edgar Martinez, Jack Morris, Jeff Bagwell, Larry Walker, Ozzie Smith, Roberto Alomar, Tim Raines
Obviously I do not carry a Hall of Fame vote, but that does not mean I do not have opinions on the matter. Here are the five players that I consider worthy of induction in Cooperstown:
Bert Blyleven
He was five votes shy of induction last year with 74% of the vote (75% is needed for induction). He has 287 wins, and almost as many losses, but Blyleven played on some very mediocre teams. One could also argue that he played poorly when he was on good teams (he won 44 games in 105 starts in his three seasons with Pittsburgh 1978-80). He does have some interesting lifetime statistics: 3,701 strikeouts (fifth all-time), 60 shutouts (ninth all-time) and was on two World Series champions (1979 Pirates and 1987 Minnesota Twins). He was also a vocal critic of his own teams and was traded five times in his career. This all adds up to making Blyleven wait for his induction into Cooperstown until now.
Roberto Alomar
Spit on an umpire once and you have to wait a year before induction. Alomar was eight votes shy last year, but should walk into Cooperstown easily the second time around. Alomar was the best second baseman of the 1990s. He won 10 Gold Gloves, was a lifetime .300 hitter, a 12-time All-Star and won two World Series championships with the Toronto Blue Jays. The only thing that may hold him back this year would be a messy public divorce along with allegations that Alomar is HIV-positive and did not tell his wife or former girlfriends.
Jack Morris
If Morris was a nicer guy he would probably already have a plaque in Cooperstown. Possibly the best pitcher of the 1980s. Morris had 254 wins in 18 seasons, a somewhat inflated ERA of 3.90 and won four World Series championships (1984 Detroit Tigers, 1991 Minnesota Twins, 1992-93 Toronto Blue Jays). Also, Morris had arguably the greatest World Series pitching performance since Don Larsen, a 10-inning shutout of the Atlanta Braves in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series.
Alan Trammell
Trammell’s numbers are slightly above average, maybe even just average. A lifetime .285 hitter, four Gold Gloves, six All-Star appearances and one World Series championship with the 1984 Tigers. What makes Trammell’s case for induction stronger is the inclusion of Ozzie Smith into the Hall of Fame in 2002. Smith was a lifetime .262 hitter, won 13 Gold Gloves, had 15 All-Star appearance and won one World Series with the 1982 St. Louis Cardinals. Trammell had to contend with the likes of Tony Fernandez, Cal Ripken Jr., and Robin Yount for American League shortstop awards in the 1980s. Smith had to compete with Barry Larkin after 1986, and you could probably make the case that Larkin was a better shortstop than Smith. Trammell is one of those above average players that should be in based on who is already in.
Jeff Bagwell
This is Bagwell’s first-time on the ballot, and he should not have to wait for his plaque. Bagwell hit 449 home runs, batted .297, won the 1991 National League Rookie of the Year, the 1994 NL MVP, was a four-time All-Star and won one Gold Glove. He also averaged 100 RBIs and runs a season. He did all this playing for the Houston Astros. Easily during the greatest period of that franchise’s existence, but it was still in Houston and not Boston or New York.
There are a couple of players who fall just short for me. Barry Larkin was just as good, if not better, than Ozzie Smith, and falls into the same criteria as Trammell. If Trammell gets in then Larkin deserves a closer look. Edgar Martinez was a lifetime .312 hitter with 309 home runs, in a different era Martinez would probably be first ballot material. The same argument could probably be made for Larry Walker. Walker also would have gained my vote if he was just as good a player before he went to Colorado.
I still have problems with the performance enhancing drug players. That is why it will be some time before I am OK with players like Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmiero gaining induction. McGwire’s admission of using PEDs is a step in the right direction, Palmiero’s steadfast denial is a step backward. In the coming years as more and more players from that era fill the ballot it will only be a matter of time before one of them gains enough votes for induction.
Lastly, here are the players that should earn zero votes: Lenny Harris, Bobby Higginson and Kirk Rueter. Seriously, how do these guys end up on the ballot? Though I do have to admit as a life-long Tigers fan that Higginson had some great seasons here.
The Hall of Fame inductees will be announced at 2pm on January 5th. They will join former Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies general manager Pat Gillick, who was voted in by the Veterans Committee.
