For folks new to the site, we’ve been running a parallel Hall-of-Fame vote here at the BJOL for the last three seasons. We run it with the same rules that the annual BBWAA ballot has: you can vote for up to ten players, 75% of votes gets a player elected, and falling below 5% gets a player dropped from future ballots.
Please cast your ‘ballots’ in the comments section on this page. We can debate the pros and cons about each candidate over at the Reader’s Section. Anyone keen to argue the merits of their favorite candidates should feel free to post a thread over there.
Previous Voting Results, 2009-2011
We’ve elected eight players in three year: their names are highlighted in bold, along with their percentages of the vote:
2009
|
%
|
2010
|
%
|
2011
|
%
|
Rickey Henderson
|
100%
|
Roberto Alomar
|
93%
|
Jeff Bagwell
|
95%
|
Tim Raines
|
89%
|
Barry Larkin
|
90%
|
|
|
Bert Blyleven
|
86%
|
Mark McGwire
|
85%
|
|
|
Alan Trammell
|
76%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mark McGwire
|
64%
|
Edgar Martinez
|
50%
|
Edgar Martinez
|
73%
|
Andre Dawson
|
21%
|
Lee Smith
|
35%
|
Lee Smith
|
40%
|
Tommy John
|
18%
|
Dale Murphy
|
27%
|
Rafael Palmeiro
|
33%
|
Dale Murphy
|
17%
|
Andre Dawson
|
25%
|
Fred McGriff
|
25%
|
Lee Smith
|
14%
|
Fred McGriff
|
18%
|
Larry Walker
|
23%
|
Don Mattingly
|
10%
|
Dave Parker
|
15%
|
Jack Morris
|
22%
|
Jack Morris
|
10%
|
Don Mattingly
|
12%
|
Kevin Brown
|
22%
|
Jim Rice
|
6%
|
Jack Morris
|
10%
|
Andre Dawson
|
18%
|
Harold Baines
|
5%
|
Harold Baines
|
7%
|
Dale Murphy
|
15%
|
Dave Parker
|
5%
|
Kevin Appier
|
3%
|
Don Mattingly
|
12%
|
Jesse Orosco
|
3%
|
Andres Galarraga
|
3%
|
Jim Rice
|
10%
|
David Cone
|
2%
|
Robin Ventura
|
2%
|
Dave Parker
|
7%
|
Mo Vaughn
|
2%
|
Ellis Burks
|
0%
|
John Olerud
|
5%
|
Jay Bell
|
0%
|
Pat Hentgen
|
0%
|
Harold Baines
|
2%
|
Ron Gant
|
0%
|
Mike Jackson
|
0%
|
John Franco
|
2%
|
Mark Grace
|
0%
|
Eric Karros
|
0%
|
Juan Gonzalez
|
0%
|
Dan Plesac
|
0%
|
Ray Lankford
|
0%
|
Tino Martinez
|
0%
|
Greg Vaughn
|
0%
|
Shane Reynolds
|
0%
|
Raul Mondesi
|
0%
|
Matt Williams
|
0%
|
David Segui
|
0%
|
Al Leiter
|
0%
|
Todd Zeile
|
0%
|
Carlos Baerga
|
0%
|
Bret Boone
|
0%
|
Marquis Grissom
|
0%
|
Lenny Harris
|
0%
|
Bobby Higginson
|
0%
|
Charles Johnson
|
0%
|
Kirk Reuters
|
0%
|
Benito Santiago
|
0%
|
B.J. Surhoff
|
0%
|
Last year, Jeff Bagwell was the only player elected by the BJOL readers, though Edgar Martinez came tantalizingly close to joining him, garnering a ‘yes’ on 73% of ballots casts.
It is important for new readers/voters to note: our ballot is different from the BBWAA ballot: once a player is elected by the BJOL Readers, that player is taken off future ballots, even if the actual Hall of Fame hasn’t elected him (see: Raines, Tim).
There has been talk of going backward…of retroactively voting on earlier ballots. It’s being considered, but I’d like to see this get some traction before we start working backwards.
The 2012 BJOL HOF Ballot
Name
|
Career WAR (b-r)
|
Career Win Shares
|
% of Prev. BJOL Vote
|
Larry Walker
|
67.3
|
308
|
23%
|
Edgar Martinez
|
67.2
|
305
|
73%
|
Rafael Palmeiro
|
66.0
|
394
|
33%
|
Kevin Brown
|
64.0
|
242
|
22%
|
Andre Dawson
|
57.0
|
340
|
18%
|
John Olerud
|
56.8
|
302
|
5%
|
Fred McGriff
|
50.5
|
326
|
25%
|
Bernie Williams
|
47.3
|
312
|
--
|
Dale Murphy
|
44.2
|
230
|
15%
|
Jim Rice
|
41.5
|
282
|
10%
|
Brad Radke
|
41.4
|
157
|
--
|
Don Mattingly
|
39.8
|
263
|
12%
|
Jack Morris
|
39.3
|
225
|
22%
|
Dave Parker
|
37.8
|
327
|
7%
|
Tim Salmon
|
37.6
|
232
|
--
|
Brian Jordan
|
33.5
|
166
|
--
|
Lee Smith
|
29.7
|
198
|
40%
|
Javy Lopez
|
27.9
|
194
|
--
|
Bill Mueller
|
22.6
|
140
|
--
|
Jeromy Burnitz
|
17.6
|
165
|
--
|
Eric Young
|
17.0
|
162
|
--
|
Vinny Castilla
|
16.4
|
153
|
--
|
Phil Nevin
|
15.9
|
143
|
--
|
Ruben Sierra
|
13.6
|
222
|
--
|
Ter.Mulholland
|
10.3
|
114
|
--
|
Tony Womack
|
1.2
|
119
|
--
|
I’m going to run through the pros and cons about each candidate, descending by career WAR:
Name
|
Career WAR (b-r)
|
Win Shares
|
% of Prev. BJOL Vote
|
Larry Walker
|
67.3
|
308
|
23%
|
Pros: An elite right fielder (seven Gold Glove), who could hit for power (383 HR) and average (.313). Three-time batting champ. 1997 NL MVP (deserved it). Five-time All-Star. Never showed up on any reports about using steroids. Canadian, eh?
 
Cons: Cooooors. Coors. Posted a .381/.462/.710 career line at Coors, which is the sort of bat-guano insane statistic that will make it hard to objectively judge Rockies players. Part of a generation of players difficult to judge objectively because of steroids.
Name
|
Career WAR (b-r)
|
Win Shares
|
% of Prev. BJOL Vote
|
Edgar Martinez
|
67.2
|
305
|
73%
|
Pros: Almost certainly the best DH in history, and one of the top-5 hitters of his era. Career slash-line of .318/.415/.518, with an OPS+ of 147. Seven-time All-Star, two-time batting champion. No links to steroids. Spent 18-year career with one team. Extremely generous/charitable…won the Roberto Clemente Award for his off-the-field contributions. And apparently the MLB’s annual award for ‘Best DH’ is named after him…I didn’t know that award existed.
Cons: The whole designated hitter thing, which Edgar Martinez is single-handedly responsible for instituting in 1973, even though he was ten years old. So hold it against him. Short-ish career, partially because the Mariners kept him in the minors until he was twenty-six (276 games in AAA, .450 on-base percentage).
Name
|
Career WAR (b-r)
|
Win Shares
|
% of Prev. BJOL Vote
|
Rafael Palmeiro
|
66.0
|
394
|
33%
|
Pros: 3020 hits, 560 homers, 1865 RBI’s, .288 batting average…a batting line that is typically indicative of an inner-circle Hall-of-Famer. Received MVP votes during ten seasons. Received three Gold Gloves. Played on four All-Star teams. Had seasons of 47 homers, 43 homers (twice), 39 homers (three times), 38 homers (twice). Swapped places with Will Clark (twice, not counting college). Had a mutant turtle named after him.
Cons: Where to begin? Told Congress that he hadn’t taken steroids. Never. Period. Then tested positive for steroids. Has a career arc that sort of screams ‘steroid user’ (season-by-season homer totals, ages 35-38: 39, 47, 43, 38). Was a spokesperson for Viagra (not sure if this is a ‘con’ or a ‘pro’). One of his Gold Gloves was awarded when he was a designated hitter (1999: 28 games at first, 128 at DH).
Name
|
Career WAR (b-r)
|
Win Shares
|
% of Prev. BJOL Vote
|
Kevin Brown
|
64.0
|
242
|
22%
|
Pros: Staggeringly high career WAR, which puts him among lofty pitchers like Carl Hubbell (63.6), Bob Feller (63.3), and Juan Marichal (62.7). A 211-144 W-L record, with a 3.28 ERA during a high-offense era. Six-time All-Star, two-time ERA leader.
Cons: Not the nicest guy ever. Name listed on the Mitchell Report, and there are numerous reports that he was using HGH and steroids. Kind of a jerk.
Name
|
Career WAR (b-r)
|
Win Shares
|
% of Prev. BJOL Vote
|
Andre Dawson
|
57.0
|
340
|
18%
|
Pros: In the actual Hall-of-Fame. 340 career Win Shares, which clears the 300 bar comfortably. Impressive 438 career homers, 314 stolen bases, eight Gold Gloves. Won the 1987 MVP (emphatically did not deserve it), and a Rookie-of-the-Year. Finished second in the MVP vote twice in the 1980’s. Eight-time All-Star. Has a great nickname.
Cons: Career on-base percentage of .323 is pretty low for a corner outfielder. Umm…that’s it.
Name
|
Career WAR (b-r)
|
Win Shares
|
% of Prev. BJOL Vote
|
John Olerud
|
56.8
|
302
|
5%
|
Pros: Played at an MVP-level in 1993 and 1998 (WAR of 8.2 and 8.1), which is very good. One of the most underrated players of his era: has the same number of Win Shares as Larry Walker (308) and Edgar (305), but doesn’t get the same love from voters. Won batting title in 1993. Nice guy.
Cons: Career numbers aren’t impressive for a first baseman: 255 homers, 1230 RBI, .298 batting average, all tallied in a high-offense era. Was not generally perceived as a great player; got votes on just two MVP ballots, finishing 3rd and 12th.
Name
|
Career WAR (b-r)
|
Win Shares
|
% of Prev. BJOL Vote
|
Fred McGriff
|
50.5
|
326
|
25%
|
Pros: Legitimate slugger before the offensive surge of the early 1990’s. Impressive career numbers of 493 homers, 1550 RBI’s, 134 OPS+. Appeared on eight MVP ballots, led the league in homers twice. Great nickname. 300+ Win Shares, 50+ WAR.
Cons: We’ve had three first basemen listed: Raffy, Olerud, and McGriff. Here are their five best seasons by WAR:
Palmeiro
|
Olerud
|
McGriff
|
7.4
|
8.2
|
6.6
|
6.2
|
8.1
|
6.1
|
6.0
|
5.3
|
5.2
|
5.5
|
5.3
|
4.9
|
4.9
|
5.2
|
4.7
|
4.3
|
5.1
|
3.7
|
McGriff’s best seasons were never comparable to the best seasons of either Olerud or Raffy, at least according to WAR.
Name
|
Career WAR (b-r)
|
Win Shares
|
% of Prev. BJOL Vote
|
Bernie Williams
|
47.3
|
312
|
--
|
Pros: Good guitarist. Integral part of 12 playoff teams. Five-time All-Star and received votes on six MVP ballots. Won a batting title, had a career slash-line of .297/.381/.477, good for an OPS+ of 125. Won four Gold Gloves. Career Yankee. Contender for the title of third-best CF in Yankee history, with Earle Combs. 300+ career Win Shares.
Cons: Maybe not as great a centerfielder as people thoughts. Career batting line is a little underwhelming: 287 homers, 1366 runs scored, 1257 RBI in a high offense era, for a good baseball team.
Name
|
Career WAR (b-r)
|
Win Shares
|
% of Prev. BJOL Vote
|
Dale Murphy
|
44.2
|
230
|
15%
|
Pros: Two-time NL MVP, and one of the more famous players of the 1980’s. Five-time Gold Glove winner and a seven-time All-Star. Had an excellent peak (better that Bernie Williams) from 1980-1987. Led the majors in HR and RBI from 1981-1990. An upstanding player known for his charitable contributions.
Cons: Declined quickly, at the age of thirty-two. Benefited from playing the majority of his career in Atlanta, when that was a homer haven (away batting line: .250/.324/.444). Career Win Share total of just 230, which is unimpressive.
Name
|
Career WAR (b-r)
|
Win Shares
|
% of Prev. BJOL Vote
|
Jim Rice
|
41.5
|
282
|
10%
|
Pros: A member of the actual baseball Hall-of-Fame. One of the most feared sluggers of his era (whatever that means), Rice was a three-time HR champ who averaged a .298/30/113 line per 162 games played. Eight-time All-Star, appeared on eight MVP ballots (finished 1st, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 4th, 5th, 13th, and 19th). Once broke his bat on a check-swing.
Cons: Was just a .277/.330/.459 hitter away from Fenway Park, which inflated his numbers dramatically. Wasn’t a bad defensive player, but didn’t walk a lot and wasn’t terrific on the bases.
A poor man’s Gene Tenace, frankly.
Name
|
Career WAR (b-r)
|
Career Win Shares
|
% of Prev. BJOL Vote
|
Brad Radke
|
41.4
|
157
|
--
|
Pros: A really high career WAR (ahead of Lee Smith and Jack Morris). Usually finished in the top-ten in fewest walks per 9 innings pitched. Reliably effective pitcher.
Cons: Tended to give up a lot of dingers. Doesn’t rate nearly as well according to Win Shares.
Name
|
Career WAR (b-r)
|
Career Win Shares
|
% of Prev. BJOL Vote
|
Don Mattingly
|
39.8
|
263
|
12%
|
Pros: Donnie Baseball! Stole popcorn from a kid in the stands. Appeared on ‘The Simpsons.’ Probably the most popular player in baseball in the mid-1980’s. 1985 AL MVP, 1986 runner-up. Career batting average of .307. A nice guy, by all accounts.
Cons: Short career: 1785 games. Low career marks in WAR and Win Shares, and his peak was about six seasons, if we’re being really generous. Yankee.
Name
|
Career WAR (b-r)
|
Career Win Shares
|
% of Prev. BJOL Vote
|
Jack Morris
|
39.3
|
225
|
22%
|
Pros: 254 career wins, which is a lot. Three 20-win seasons and three other seasons that were close. Winningest pitcher of the 1980’s, and he pitched brilliantly in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series. Received Cy Young votes in seven seasons. A lot of people thought he was a Hall-of-Famer when he was active…he’s received a good deal of support from BBWAA voters.
Cons: High era (3.90). Was never really the best pitcher in the league, or particularly close to being the best in the league. Similar career to Mark Buehrle, actually: an innings eater who could anchor a rotation and keep a team in the game.
Name
|
Career WAR (b-r)
|
Career Win Shares
|
% of Prev. BJOL Vote
|
Dave Parker
|
37.8
|
327
|
7%
|
Pros: If we ranked these players by career Win Shares, Parker would be third, behind Palmeiro and Dawson and a tick ahead of Fred McGriff. He was a dynamic player in his youth: an excellent hitter with solid speed and a great throwing arm. Awesome nickname: Cobra. Wore a face guard for a little while.
Cons: Cocaine problems derailed his career significantly: 1980-1984, when he should’ve been padding his resume for Cooperstown, Parker was ineffectual, posting an OPS+ of just 106, after five excellent seasons when he’d averaged a 147 OPS+. He rates much lower by WAR than by Win Shares.
Name
|
Career WAR (b-r)
|
Career Win Shares
|
% of Prev. BJOL Vote
|
Tim Salmon
|
37.6
|
232
|
--
|
Pros: Sort of like J.D. Drew, without the baggage: a good hitter who helped his team. Rookie-of-the-Year in 1993, five 30+ homerun seasons. Has a fish named after him.
Cons: Never made an All-Star team and retired with 299 career homers. Probably not a Hall-of-Famer.
Name
|
Career WAR (b-r)
|
Career Win Shares
|
% of Prev. BJOL Vote
|
Brian Jordan
|
33.5
|
166
|
--
|
Pros: Excellent defensive player, good speed, some power. Was a defensive back for the Atlanta Falcons. Was an All-Star caliber player in 1995, 1996, and 1998. The third wheel of the Bo Jackson/Deion Sanders troika.
Cons: Almost certainly not a Hall-of-Famer. Either Cooperstown or Canton.
Name
|
Career WAR (b-r)
|
Career Win Shares
|
% of Prev. BJOL Vote
|
Lee Smith
|
29.7
|
198
|
40%
|
Pros: For a time, the all-time leader in saves. A reliable closer who had eleven 30+ save seasons, Smith was the best of the generation of closers who transitioned to the one-inning usage pattern. A hard thrower who averages 8.7 strikeouts per 9 innings, Smith made seven All-Star teams, led the league in saves four times, and received CY and/or MVP votes during five seasons. Career 132 ERA+. Would be the second Lee Smith in the baseball Hall-of-Fame.
Cons: His career statistics (1289 IP, 132 ERA+) are not marginally different than the statistics of, say, John Franco (1246 IP, 138 ERA+), Jeff Reardon (1132 IP, 122 ERA+), Mike Marshall (1386 IP, 119 ERA+). His career statistics are the same as Kent Tekulve’s, except Tek pitched 150 more innings (1436 IP, 132 ERA+). Probably opens the door for Billy Wagner to get elected in 2024.
Name
|
Career WAR (b-r)
|
Career Win Shares
|
% of Prev. BJOL Vote
|
Javy Lopez
|
27.9
|
194
|
--
|
Pros: Had some big seasons, including a 2003 season during which he hit 43 homeruns in just 129 games. Had three seasons with a .300+ batting average, and two seasons of 100+ RBI.
Cons: Almost certainly not a Hall-of-Famer, unless we’re really generous to catchers.
Name
|
Career WAR (b-r)
|
Career Win Shares
|
% of Prev. BJOL Vote
|
Bill Mueller
|
22.6
|
140
|
--
|
Pros: 2003 batting champion; one of the most unlikely champs to win a batting title, as he was a career .286 hitter coming off a .262 season in 2002. A member of the 2004 Red Sox.
Cons: Almost certainly not a Hall-of-Famer. This applied for everyone else to come.
Name
|
Career WAR (b-r)
|
Career Win Shares
|
% of Prev. BJOL Vote
|
Jeromy Burnitz
|
17.6
|
165
|
--
|
Pros: A big, sluggardly hitter in a high offense era. Burnitz had six 30+ homeruns seasons over a seven-year stretch, and averaged an impressive 30 homers per 162 games played. A lone bright spot during the last years the Brewers were in the AL. Spelled his name wrong.
Name
|
Career WAR (b-r)
|
Career Win Shares
|
% of Prev. BJOL Vote
|
Eric Young
|
17.0
|
162
|
--
|
Pros: A speedy leadoff guy, one of the original Rockies. Young led the NL in stolen bases (and caught stealing) in 1996, and retired with 465 career swipes. Had more steals than strikeouts (465 to 462).
Name
|
Career WAR (b-r)
|
Career Win Shares
|
% of Prev. BJOL Vote
|
Vinny Castilla
|
16.4
|
153
|
--
|
Pros: Like Young, a member of the inaugural Rockies team in 1993. Had three consecutive seasons of 40+ homers in 1996-1998, and hit 191 homers in the five seasons between 1995 and 1999. Came back for two more stints with the Rockies: had a career batting line of .333/.380/.609 in Coors.
Name
|
Career WAR (b-r)
|
Career Win Shares
|
% of Prev. BJOL Vote
|
Phil Nevin
|
15.9
|
143
|
--
|
Pros: Was an effective hitter during his prime, a fact masked partially by the fact that QualCom and Petco were terrific pitchers’ parks. Interesting tidbit from Wikipedia: Nevin was picked first overall by the Houston Astros in the 1992 draft. Hal Newhouser (I’m assuming the Hal Newhouser) wanted Houston to pick Derek Jeter, and quit his job when management went with Nevin.
Name
|
Career WAR (b-r)
|
Career Win Shares
|
% of Prev. BJOL Vote
|
Ruben Sierra
|
13.6
|
222
|
--
|
Pros: Was, for a while, one of the bright young stars of the game. Had an impressive season at Age-23, finishing second to Robin Yount in the MVP vote (the only time, incidentally, that a Rangers player has lost a close MVP vote). He never got better than that; he is one of those weird players who peaks at a young age, and spends what ought to be his best seasons drifting backwards. Once traded straight-up for Jose Canseco.
Name
|
Career WAR (b-r)
|
Career Win Shares
|
% of Prev. BJOL Vote
|
Ter. Mulholland
|
10.3
|
114
|
--
|
Pros: Had a long career of little note. Led the league in complete games in 1992, and was one of the better control pitchers of his day. Threw a no-hitter in 1990, and started the 1993 All-Star game, making him one of many quixotically chosen pitchers to start the All-Star game.
Name
|
Career WAR (b-r)
|
Career Win Shares
|
% of Prev. BJOL Vote
|
Tony Womack
|
1.2
|
119
|
--
|
Pros: Took a while to reach the majors, but when he did was one of the best base stealers in the game. Led the NL in steals for three consecutive seasons, 1997-1999. His batting lines look like they belong in the American Association. Beat the Yankees in 2001.
Cast your votes.
Dave Fleming is a writer living in Wellington, New Zealand. He welcomes questions, comments, and suggestions here and at dfleming1986@yahoo.com.