Baseball Hall of Fame 2005
The ballots for election to the shrine in Cooperstown were sent out a few days ago, containing the names of a few new individuals that could garner a spot in the baseball hall of fame, as well as some old faces that are still looking to get in through the hallowed halls.
The first-year people on the ballot are Jim Abbott, Wade Boggs, Tom Candiotti, Chili Davis, Mark Langston, Jack McDowell, Willie McGee, Jeff Montgomery, Otis Nixon, Tony Phillips, Terry Steinbach and Darryl Strawberry. I'm sure most all of us have memories of these guys one way or another, but the one that seems to stand the best chance of election is Boggs. He was able to collect 3,010 hits in his time with the Red Sox, Yankees and Devil Rays, and every single other player with at least 3,000 hits is in Cooperstown. The best of the rest, it seems to me, might be Davis, Langston and Montgomery.
The return hopefuls are Bert Blyleven, Dave Concepcion, Andre Dawson, Steve Garvey, Rich Gossage, Tommy John, Don Mattingly, Jack Morris, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker, Jim Rice, Ryne Sandberg, Lee Smith, Bruce Sutter and Alan Trammell. A majority of these guys make better cases for the Hall than the newcomers, and a few in particular are puzzling in their absence. Well, at least after I did some reading.
Bert Blyleven, for example, put up similar or better numbers in the important areas than Nolan Ryan and Don Sutton. All three pitched in the same era, and yet those two are in the Hall and Blyleven is not. Alan Trammell gets a raw deal because he retired right before the likes of Alex Rodriguez and Nomar Garciaparra came along to put up huge numbers at the shortstop position. In the 1980s, though, many claim that Trammell had no equal.
The three top people that didn't get in last year stand to have a better shot at getting in this year: Ryne Sandberg, Bruce Sutter and Jim Rice. People like Dawson and John and Blyleven, if voters know what's good for them, should get a better chance, too.
Who would you like to see get voted in? Is there anyone on the list you think doesn't deserve a spot on the ballot? What about people that aren't there and should be?
