This year, ninety-one ballots were cast for the Bill James Online Hall-of-Fame. From a crowded pool of 32 candidates, the brilliant readers of the BJOL elected a record-setting five players to our group:
Player
|
Total
|
2014%
|
Greg Maddux
|
89
|
97.8%
|
Frank Thomas
|
88
|
96.7%
|
Tom Glavine
|
85
|
93.4%
|
Mike Mussina
|
71
|
78.0%
|
Lou Whitaker*
|
69
|
75.8%
|
These five players join thirteen previous entrants to the BJOL Hall-of-Fame:
2009- Rickey Henderson, Tim Raines, Bert Blyleven, and Alan Trammell
2010 – Roberto Alomar, Barry Larkin, and Mark McGwire
2011 – Jeff Bagwell
2012 – Edgar Martinez
2013 – Craig Biggio, Mike Piazza, Barry Bonds, and Roger Clemens.
A few notes:
-Greg Maddux fell two votes short of joining Rickey Henderson as the only player to be unanimously elected to the BJOL Hall of Fame. His credentials are beyond reproach: four Cy Young Awards, four ERA titles, 355 career victories, a 3.16 ERA, and more Gold Gloves (18) than any player in baseball history.
-Tom Glavine, Maddux’s longtime teammate, was also elected by an overwhelming majority. His qualifications include two Cy Young Awards, 305 career victories, four Silver Slugger Awards, and ten All-Star appearances.
-The third pitcher elected was Mike Mussina: though he has fewer trophies than Maddux and Glavine, Mussina was reliably excellent pitcher, who spent his career pitching in the maelstrom of the American League East. He won seven Gold Glove Awards, and showed up on the Cy Young ballot in nine seasons. He retired with a career record of 270-153, and an ERA+ of 123.
-Frank Thomas, a strong candidate for the best hitter of the 1990’s, retired with a .301 career batting average, 521 homeruns, and 1704 RBI’s. A first baseman/designated hitter, The Big Hurt won two AL MVP Awards, and finished in the top-ten in the ballot eight times in his career. He is the White Sox all-time leader in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, runs scored, doubles, homeruns, RBI, and walks.
-Finally, Lou Whittaker, joins his long-time keystone partner Alan Trammell in our Hall of Fame. The first write-in candidate added to the BJOL ballot, Sweet Lou was the premier second baseman of the 1980’s. Whitaker was a versatile player: an excellent defensive infielder who had plus power and good speed, and knew how to draw a walk. Though his counting stats are not astonishing, Whittaker’s career rWAR of 74.8 rates behind just five second basemen in baseball: Eddie Collins, Nap Lajoie, Joe Morgan, Rod Carew, and Charlie Gehringer.
For their accomplishment, the players will receive a gift basket featuring a rusty piece of rebar pulled from old Comisky Park and wrapped in medical tape, Will Shortz’s unpublished autobiography "The Puzzler", a musical montage that raises questions of steroid use among two of the elected players, and a complete box set of the television series Magnum P.I..
Congratulations to the members of the BJOL HOF, Class of ‘14!
* * *
Checking in on the rest of the results:
Player
|
2014
|
2013
|
2012
|
2011
|
2010
|
2009
|
Curt Schilling
|
73.6%
|
54.4%
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
After a strong showing in 2013, Curt Schilling jumped an impressive twenty points, coming within two votes of being the sixth player (and fourth pitcher) elected.
Player
|
2014
|
2013
|
2012
|
2011
|
2010
|
2009
|
Larry Walker
|
54.9%
|
49.5%
|
50%
|
23%
|
x
|
x
|
Rafael Palmeiro
|
46.2%
|
48.5%
|
48%
|
33%
|
x
|
x
|
Andre Dawson
|
44.0%
|
38.8%
|
52%
|
18%
|
25%
|
21%
|
Larry Walker and Rafael Palmeiro continue to hang around the 50% mark. Both players have impressive numbers, but Walker’s home numbers at Coors leave some voters unsure of where to peg his true talent level. And Palmeiro’s comments to Congress aside, there is strong evidence suggesting that Will Clark’s alter-ego not only used performance enhancing drugs, but participated in commercial endorsement for them.
A year after losing ground on the crowded 2013 ballot, Andre Dawson makes a steady climb back towards the 50% mark. He isn’t the darling of the sabermetric community, but I’m rooting for him. We’ll see how the wind blows for Hawk in 2015
Comfortably Treading Water
Player
|
2014
|
2013
|
2012
|
2011
|
2010
|
2009
|
Sammy Sosa
|
31.9%
|
33.0%
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
Jeff Kent
|
33.0%
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
Fred McGriff
|
28.6%
|
28.2%
|
36%
|
25%
|
18%
|
x
|
Kenny Lofton
|
26.4%
|
25.2%
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
Kevin Brown
|
20.9%
|
18.4%
|
24%
|
22%
|
x
|
x
|
Jeff Kent has a respectable first showing, netting a third of the votes. The other four players treaded water for the year, waiting for the crop of elite candidates to drop away before their cases are fully heard.
Player
|
2014
|
2013
|
2012
|
2011
|
2010
|
2009
|
Dale Murphy
|
14.3%
|
10.7%
|
15%
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
Bernie Williams
|
14.3%
|
9.7%
|
18%
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
Dale Murphy and Bernie Williams live to see another year: both players picked up a little ground from their 2013 percentages.
Player
|
2014
|
2013
|
2012
|
2011
|
2010
|
2009
|
Jack Morris
|
4.4%
|
8.7%
|
13%
|
22%
|
10%
|
10%
|
John Olerud
|
4.4%
|
5.8%
|
18%
|
5%
|
x
|
x
|
Luis Gonzalez
|
2.2%
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
Moises Alou
|
1.1%
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
I voted for Olerud; I don’t know that he’s really a Hall-of-Famer, but I wanted a bit more time to decide on him. Jack Morris, the Mike Mussina of his era, also slips off the ballot. At least the 1984 Tigers are well-represented (Trammell, Whitaker) in our Hall-of-Fame.
* * *
Our second annual write-in campaign to add a player to next year’s ballot was a compelling campaign. Before I announce the winners, let’s see who received write-in votes for 2015:
Player
|
Write-In Votes
|
Don Mattingly
|
1
|
Kevin Appier
|
1
|
Bob Caruthers
|
1
|
Ted Simmons
|
1
|
Reggie Smith
|
1
|
Wes Ferrell
|
1
|
Joe Jackson
|
1
|
Willie Davis
|
1
|
Dick Allen
|
1
|
Paul O'Neil
|
1
|
A respectable lot: I’m partial to the cases of Mattingly (a favorite player of mine), Dick Allen (as a player, comparable to Frank Thomas), Reggie Smith (comparable to Carlos Beltran), and Parisian Bob Caruthers (just for the nickname).
Player
|
Write-In Votes
|
Pete Rose
|
3
|
David Cone
|
2
|
Minnie Minosa
|
2
|
A campaign for Pete Rose gained some traction this year....
Player
|
Write-In Votes
|
Will Clark
|
7
|
Keith Hernandez
|
5
|
A spirited contingent of Keith Hernandez fans had the Best Defensive First Baseman ahead of the pack for a little while, only to discover that he sometimes smokes. Meanwhile, Rafael Palmeiro’s teammate and alter-ego Will Clark received a steady run of support.
But in the end, the write-in race was a two-horse race between two participants in the 1986 ALCS; two of the most popular players in the sabermetric community:
Player
|
Write-In Votes
|
Dwight Evans
|
11
|
Bobby Grich
|
10
|
Despite a late surge for Grich, Dwight Evans managed to outlast the Angels second-baseman. He’ll make his first appearance next year, on the 2015 BJOL ballot.
Thanks for voting. We’ll see you again next year.
Dave Fleming is a writer living in Wellington, New Zealand. He welcomes comments, questions, and suggestions here and at dfleming1986@yahoo.com.