Hall of Fame Ballot...

[rmiller]

Any thoughts on this? The 23 players on this year's Hall of Fame ballot:

Harold Baines
Jay Bell
Bert Blyleven
David Cone
Andre Dawson
Ron Gant
Mark Grace
Rickey Henderson
Tommy John
Don Mattingly
Mark McGwire
Jack Morris
Dale Murphy
Jesse Orosco
Dave Parker
Dan Plesac
Tim Raines
Jim Rice
Lee Smith
Alan Trammell
Greg Vaughn
Mo Vaughn
Matt Williams

I'd love to see Dale Murphy, Jim Rice and Andre Dawson in.

Rickey Henderson's induction speech should be a beauty!

[Goldy the Gopher]

Blyleven. It's a great injustice that he has been shunned for all of these years.

If not as a player, then surely as an announcer.

[wjr953]

...

[JC]

Mo Vaughn???
Yikes!

[opticsp]

Please, lets not mention Mo V. The Mets have done a good job of signing free agents since him. His name gives me the creeps in this hot stove season.

[yankees23]

The only true lock to get in looks to be Rickey Henderson.

[MVALZ]

Henderson's a lock.

Jim Rice should have been in a long time ago:
Rice from 1975 to '86. He ranked first in the AL in games (1,766), first in at-bats (7,060), first in runs (1,098), first in hits (2,145), first in home runs (350), first in runs batted in (1,276), first in slugging percentage (.520), first in total bases (3,670), first in extra-base hits (752), first in go-ahead RBIs (325), first in multihit games (640), fourth in triples (73) and fourth in batting average (.304). He also was first in outfield assists with 125.

[oldballfan]

Bert Blyleven - lets hope so this year, maybe Goose will help him since he has been inducted

Andre Dawson - borderline HOF'er, although consistent, and clutch

Rickey Henderson - as mentioned above, the only true lock

Jim Rice - an oversight for years

Lee Smith - could be another Blyleven

[drzubia8]

Gracie led all of baseball in 1b and 2b hits in the nineties. I'd say that presents a pretty strong case for the hall.

[Goldy the Gopher]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/alltime/playercard?playerId=1170&type=1

[robin_buckeye]

I agree that Henderson is a lock -- he's the greatest leadoff hitter in history. Funny thing, Raines is probably the second greatest, but I think he'll come up short. Murphy is a two-time MVP -- every eligible two (or more) MVP winner is in the Hall except Maris.

[Glovenut 1]

I don't understand it- Tommy John is THE winningest Lefty not in the Hall of Fame. Had he not required the surgery now named after him, he'd have had 300 plus wins- EASILY!

In my eyes, he's a true hero. He showed pro players that you can come back from what was thought- until then, to be career-ending surgery. Through sheer determination, he proved that you could continue.

Add to that the fact that he's a family man, a decent man, and still involved in baseball (helping minor league players live their dream) and you can readily see that he has all the ingredients needed to be in the Hall.

While so many worthy players are overlooked just as John has been- I think this is a very special situation. It's NOT just about numbers!

Cheers,

Glovenut 1

[cubfaithful]

I think Jim Rice will go in ...finally

Glovenut 1....a well said and accurate veiw of Tommy John

[1glove2many]

Dave Parker.Check his stats.He's got all the numbers plus the championship rings,He played in small market cities til he made it to Oakland.I think too many associate him with the steroid crowd.