Welcome to the first annual Bill James Online Hall of Fame vote.
I’ve listed the candidates on this year’s baseball Hall of Fame ballot, along with a few thoughts about the players. Read them over and then, in the comments section of the article, cast a ballot for the players you’d like to vote for.
You can vote for up to ten players on your ballot, and please cast only one ballot. On January 12th I’ll tally the votes and announce who the BJOL readers would elect to the baseball HOF.
Let the voting begin.
Harold Baines – A compiler of numbers, Baines had a Hall-of-Fame length career, but without any of the peaks. He led the league in a statistical category once (slugging percentage, 1984), but was viewed as a consistently solid performer throughout his career. A beloved player, especially in Chicago where he did three stints with the Pale Hose, Baines stayed around as a designated hitter long enough to compile an impressive career line of 2866 hits, 384 homeruns, 1628 RBI’s, and a .289 batting average.
Jay Bell – Where does Bell’s 1999 campaign stand among the most unlikely seasons of all-time? Bell was something of a slap-hitter, a great bunter, and then out of the blue he hit 38 homeruns and 112 RBI for Arizona. Must’ve been something in the water, I guess.
I’ll always remember Bell as the bunting shortstop for the dynastic Pirate teams of 1990-1992. In 1990 and 1992 Bell was the team’s #2 hitter, the contact guy who set the table for Van Slyke, Bonds, and Bonilla. But in 1991 Jim Leyland did something unusual with the Bucs lineup: he slotted Jay Bell in the #5 spot, right between Bonilla and Bonds. More amazingly, Andy Van Slyke usually batted 7th that year. It was one of the strangest lineups of the last twenty years. I should write an article about it.
Bert Blyleven – The Beast from Zeist is something of a litmus test between those who seek objectively measure for players and those who prefer subjective analysis. Critics wonder why he didn’t win a Cy Young, or lead the league in ERA or wins, or have a better record than 287-250. Supporters point out the 287 games he did win (on lousy teams), the 3701 strikeouts he notched, and his complete and utter superiority to Jack Morris.
As a side note, Blyleven is the winningest pitcher born in the eastern hemisphere, but only by a hair over Tony Mullane (287-284). And like Blyleven, Mullane is a pitcher whose career deserves a second look. Known as the ‘Count of the Box’, Mullane won 30 games five years in a row. Interestingly, he was famous for pitching ambidextrously, which was easier to do back then because pitchers didn’t wear gloves, and people weren’t so entrenched in their thinking. Coming full circle, Mullane had the exact same ERA+ as Blyleven.
David Cone – In 1996, in his first start after going on the DL to deal with a brain aneurism, David Cone pitched seven innings of no-hit baseball. In the 8th, with the Yanks up 5-0, Cone was pulled out for a reliever. That reliever, some nobody named Rivera, gave up a single and cost Cone the no-hitter.
Cone, just coming off the DL, was on a tight pitch count and had tossed 85 pitches. Still, Torre's decision to pull Cone is surprising: here is a veteran pitcher having just come back from a dramatic injury, and he finds himself two innings away from baseball immortality. And his manager pulls him.
I think we need a term for something like that. Something along the lines of “Ruining the Story.” It can be applied to situations when a player or manager makes a decision that shows a willful disregard for the story that is unfolding. When he pulled Cone out of that game because of the pitch count, Joe Torre ruined a pretty good story.
Andre Dawson – Of the great outfielders of the 1975-1985 generation, isn’t it surprising that Jim Rice is the one who has gotten the most attention from the writers?
Think about it: Andre Dawson is Jim Rice plus. As a hitter, Hawk has the exact same characteristics as Rice does: they’re both power hitter with high batting averages and low on-base percentages who aged poorly. But Dawson was also a) a fine baserunner with 300 steals, and b) a great outfielder who won eight Gold Gloves.
Yet Rice is going to the Hall, while Hawk will have to wait.
As I’ve stated previously, I think Rice is a crummy candidate for the Hall of Fame. Some folks will disagree with that, which is fine. What I don’t understand is how anyone could think Jim Rice is a better candidate than Andre Dawson.
Dawson’s career on-base percentage would be the lowest, by far, of any Hall of Fame outfielder. The current worst is Tony Perez at .341.
Ron Gant – In some respects, a similar player to Andre Dawson: good power with low secondary average, fast on the bases, fast enough to play center, but played left because the Braves had Andruw Jones and Justice.
Mark Grace – Do you ever sort of pair players together in your mind? Because I do. It’s the way my brain works, the way it organizes things. I’m a twin: that might be the problem right there.
Anyway, whenever I think about Mark Grace I think about Steve Garvey. They’re clockwork players, the guys who did the same thing year after year: hit .300 with a little pop, play first base well. And like Garvey, Grace always seemed to embody a kind of good-hearted wholesomeness that has a way of making one’s own failings stand in sharper contrast.
Or maybe it’s just a name thing: Steve Garvey. Mark Grace. Both have wholesomely American first names, and last names that call to mind sitting down to Sunday dinner. Say Grace and pass the Garvey.
Rickey Henderson – Pass.
Tommy John – Like Baines, Tommy John is a compiler of numbers. You look at his career line and think “Damn, that’s impressive.” Then you look at his individual record and wonder how the hell anyone could ever vote for the guy. An interesting case.
Don Mattingly – Most of you are probably aware that Don Mattingly and Kirby Puckett have nearly identical career lines. And I mean really identical.
The differences are small. Mattingly had a slightly higher adjusted OPS, because Yankee Stadium was a tougher hitter’s park than the Dome. Mattingly had 130 more walks. Puckett had 134 steals to Mattingly’s nine, but Puckett was caught stealing an abysmal 76 times. Puckett’s career ended early because of bad eyes. Mattingly’s career ended early because of a bad back. Small differences.
So why Puckett and not Mattingly? The argument most frequently posited is that Puckett was a centerfielder, while Mattingly was a first baseman. To my mind it’s a fair and accurate point to make.
What I’d love to know is this: if HOF voters are willing to use the defensive spectrum as a measure to keep Mattingly out of the Hall of Fame, why can’t they use that same measure to put guys like Whittaker and Grich and Trammell into the Hall of Fame?
Mark McGwire – A fine player, I can’t understand why he hasn’t been elected yet. Probably some extenuating circumstances that I’ve forgotten about.
Jack Morris – The anti-Blyleven. People like to say that Morris was the best pitcher of his generation. I’d just like to point out: a) it’s a damned crummy generation, and b) he wasn’t the best of it.
Dale Murphy – Going back to my point about Dawson, Murphy is another outfielder who I’m amazed hasn’t gotten more attention that Jim Rice. People, I think, have forgotten about this, but for most of my baseball watching life everyone assumed Murphy was going to the Hall of Fame. He was a centerfielder who won two straight MVP awards and five Gold Gloves. He was also one of the most admired and charitable athletes in baseball, a clean-liver (pun intended) at a time when drug use among players was rampant.
So you have the best centerfielder of his era, a two-time MVP, a fine defensive player who stole bases, and a guy who was lionized, for good reason, by the press. Yet he’s drawn far fewer votes than Rice and Dawson, and is about even with Dave Parker. It’s a surprise.
Jesse Orosco – Orosco has 141 Win Shares, which is actually a good total for a relief pitcher. Dan Quisenberry had 157. Bruce Sutter had 168. Hoffman has 176.
Orosco won’t make the Hall, but he pitched in more games than anyone in history, and was deadly against lefty hitters. Some notable players who had 20+ plate appearances against Orosco: Tim Raines hit .200 off Orosco. Wade Boggs hit .182. Ozzie Smith hit .163. Dave Parker hit .095. Mike Schmidt hit .176. Barry Bonds hit .143 in 30 at-bats, with just two homeruns. Jim Thome was 0-for-14 against Orosco.
Dave Parker – Like Rice, Parker had pronounced home/road splits during his years with the Pirates, though they weren’t quite as pronounced.
Not to beat a dead horse, but Parker was another Rice plus: same hitting characteristics, plus a cannon arm in right field and a little more speed on the bases.
In 1978 Parker had his cheek fractured during a collision at home plate. He came back wearing a hockey goalie mask, and then went on to wear a batting helmet with a special cage over it, sort of like a catcher’s mask. It was an interesting innovation, the precursor to the body armor that players have now, but it didn’t stick.
Here’s a question: how long until we start seeing major league pitchers wearing facemasks? I mean, every year someone gets badly hurt by a liner up the box. It happened to Chris Young this year.
Maybe I’m wrong, but I think it happens pretty soon, and I pray it doesn’t take a Herb Score incident for it to happen. It makes fiscal sense: if I’m an owner I don’t want my $20 million dollar arm going out because of an errant line drive.
Dan Plesac - Tom Ayers, who sponsors the Dan Plesac page on baseballreference.com, points out that Plesac is the Brewers All-Time leader in ERA, fewest hits allowed per 9 IP, most strikeouts per 9 IP, games, and saves. I wonder if the Brewers give the Dan Plesac Award to the team’s best pitcher.
We have two LOOGY’s on the ballot, Plesac and Orosco. Orosco pitched in more games than anyone else in baseball history, and Plesac is sixth on that list. What’s surprising is that neither guy was ever given any chance to make it as a starting pitcher. Between them they pitched in 2316 games, with only 14 starts.
There’s no way to know this, but I’d bet that one of them would’ve been a fine major league starter.
Tim Raines – Next to Rickey, Tim Raines is the best outfielder on this list, and frankly it isn’t even close. If I had to rank ‘em I’d go Henderson, Raines, Murphy, Dawson, Parker, and Rice.
Jim Rice – As a player, probably on par with Gene Tenace.
Lee Smith – The only stat in which Lee Smith is clearly ahead of Orosco and Plesac is saves. In every other category he’s a similar pitcher to both men.
I don’t know if he should get in, but I think Smith will get elected to the Hall of Fame. It’s been tough for him to get elected, in part, because there were other closers (Eck, Sutter, Gossage) on the ballot. But he has a window now: it’ll be at least five years before a slam-dunk closer (Hoffman, Riviera) appears on the ballot, so Smith will have no competition for votes.
Alan Trammell – Another case where voters haven’t caught on to positional importance. Bill ranked Trammell #9 all-time among shortstops, a ranking I can’t argue. Here are the #9 ranked players at each position, from the Historical Baseball Abstract:
C – Gabby Hartnett
1B – Willie McCovey
2B – Rod Carew
3B – Stan Hack
SS – Alan Trammell
LF – Willie Stargell
CF – Billy Hamilton
RF – Paul Waner
P – Kid Nichols
Greg Vaughn – Finished fourth in the MVP voting in 1998 and 1999. Only guy to hit 50 homers and then get traded.
Mo Vaughn – Mark McGwire has the highest OPS+ of any player on the ballot. Any guess who has the second highest OPS+?
One of my favorite players.
Matt Williams – I mentioned Jay Bell’s spectacular power hitting for Arizona in 1999. Interestingly, Matt Williams also had a spectacular hitting year for the D’Backs in 1999, hitting .303 with 45 homers and 142 RBI’s.
Sort of a poor man’s Graig Nettles, I suppose: good pop, good glove. Like Nettles, Williams played on a lot of winning teams, but was eclipsed, to an extent, by better players.