When deciding whom to vote for on the 2015 National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, many factors come into play. While I am not old enough or established enough to vote, I still know most of the players on the ballot, including some that played the end of their careers during my lifetime. Every now and then I saw a shadow of whom they used to be. Even still, I have read stories and watched videos about most of the players on the ballot, so I will try to give you my best judgement on the ten players I picked.
You can view my ballot from last year here, but I made a few changes to it. I voted for seven players last year, and three (Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, and Frank Thomas) made it into the Hall. My four other selections, Craig Biggio, Mike Piazza, Curt Schilling, and Jeff Bagwell, will be on my ballot once again. That leaves six spots, three of which have to go to first-timers Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, and John Smoltz. Those pitchers were three of the best pitchers to step on the field.
In terms of steroids, I left Barry Bonds off last year's ballot, but really he is the greatest home run hitter, and the Hall of Fame is meant to preserve history and Bonds' feat is very historic. Bonds will be on my ballot. I'm still scratching at my head as to why they won't put Pete Rose on the ballot, but that is a separate issue. In terms of other alleged "steroid" users, none, maybe except for Roger Clemens, were as dominant, or as prominent, as Bonds. He is the only of those players to go on my ballot.
My 2015 Hall of Fame Ballot with Career Highlights:
Randy Johnson, Left-Handed Pitcher
Pitched from 1988 to 2009
Five-Time Cy Young Award Winner (2002 Unanimous)
Ninth All-Time in rWAR for pitchers (Baseball Reference)
4,875 strikeouts (2nd All-Time)
Career Adjusted 135 ERA+
Pedro Martinez, Right-Handed Pitcher
Pitched from 1992 to 2009
Three-Time Cy Young Award Winner (Twice Unanimous)
Seventeenth All-Time in rWAR for pitchers (Baseball Reference)
Averaged 4.15 strikeouts per walk (3rd All-Time)
Career 154 Adjusted ERA+ (2nd All-Time)
John Smoltz, Right-Handed Pitcher
Pitched from 1988 to 2009
1996 NL Cy Young Award Winner
Eight-Time All-Star
3,084 Strikeouts (16th All-Time)
Only pitcher in MLB history with 200+ wins and 150+ saves
Craig Biggio, Second Base
Played from 1988 to 2007
Seven-Time All-Star
Ninety-Second All-Time in rWAR for Position Players (Baseball Reference)
3,060 Hits (21st All-Time)
414 Stolen Bases (66th All-Time)
Mike Piazza, Catcher
Played from 1992 to 2007
Twelve-Time All-Star
427 home runs (47th All-Time)
.545 Slugging Percentage (29th All-Time)
143 Adjusted OPS+ (62nd All-Time)
Curt Schilling, Right-Handed Pitcher
Pitched from 1988 to 2007
Six-Time All-Star
3,261 innings pitched (96th All-Time)
3,116 strikeouts (15th All-Time)
4.383 strikeouts per walk (2nd All-Time)
Jeff Bagwell, First Base
Played from 1991 to 2005
1991 NL Rookie of the Year
Four-Time All-Star
1994 NL MVP
Thirty-Seventh All-Time in rWAR for position players (Baseball Reference)
Barry Bonds, Left Field
Played from 1986 to 2007
Fourteen-Time All-Star
Seven-Time NL MVP
Second All-Time in rWAR for position players (Baseball Reference)
762 home runs (1st All-Time)
Edgar Martinez, Designated Hitter
Played from 1987 to 2004
Seven-Time All-Star
.933 On-Base Plus Slugging Percentage (33rd All-Time)
.418 On-Base Percentage (20th All-Time)
514 Doubles (51st All-Time)
Tim Raines, Left Field
Played from 1979 to 2002
Seven-Time All-Star
808 Stolen Bases (5th All-Time)
Seventy-First All Time in rWAR for position players
123 Adjusted OPS+ (276th All-Time)
Just because I "voted" for these ten does not make them the only ten worthy of a Hall of Fame choice. I really took into consideration how well each of these players played the game, and most of them ranked in the top 50 of their respective best parts of their game. Sure, Mike Mussina, Alan Trammell, and Larry Walker might deserve to be in the Hall, but with a limit of ten selections, it was hard to put them above Edgar Martinez, above Raines, or above Bagwell.
Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch came up with a great idea on how to revise the Hall of Fame balloting to a binary system, where each voter would decide if a player is "yes" hall worthy or "no" not Hall worthy. This eliminates having to decide who was better between Mussina and Raines. Both deserve yeses. The Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) needs to make a change to the balloting and allow more players to be voted in. That is very evident.
You can view my ballot from last year here, but I made a few changes to it. I voted for seven players last year, and three (Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, and Frank Thomas) made it into the Hall. My four other selections, Craig Biggio, Mike Piazza, Curt Schilling, and Jeff Bagwell, will be on my ballot once again. That leaves six spots, three of which have to go to first-timers Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, and John Smoltz. Those pitchers were three of the best pitchers to step on the field.
In terms of steroids, I left Barry Bonds off last year's ballot, but really he is the greatest home run hitter, and the Hall of Fame is meant to preserve history and Bonds' feat is very historic. Bonds will be on my ballot. I'm still scratching at my head as to why they won't put Pete Rose on the ballot, but that is a separate issue. In terms of other alleged "steroid" users, none, maybe except for Roger Clemens, were as dominant, or as prominent, as Bonds. He is the only of those players to go on my ballot.
My 2015 Hall of Fame Ballot with Career Highlights:
Randy Johnson, Left-Handed Pitcher
Pitched from 1988 to 2009
Five-Time Cy Young Award Winner (2002 Unanimous)
Ninth All-Time in rWAR for pitchers (Baseball Reference)
4,875 strikeouts (2nd All-Time)
Career Adjusted 135 ERA+
Pedro Martinez, Right-Handed Pitcher
Pitched from 1992 to 2009
Three-Time Cy Young Award Winner (Twice Unanimous)
Seventeenth All-Time in rWAR for pitchers (Baseball Reference)
Averaged 4.15 strikeouts per walk (3rd All-Time)
Career 154 Adjusted ERA+ (2nd All-Time)
John Smoltz, Right-Handed Pitcher
Pitched from 1988 to 2009
1996 NL Cy Young Award Winner
Eight-Time All-Star
3,084 Strikeouts (16th All-Time)
Only pitcher in MLB history with 200+ wins and 150+ saves
Craig Biggio, Second Base
Played from 1988 to 2007
Seven-Time All-Star
Ninety-Second All-Time in rWAR for Position Players (Baseball Reference)
3,060 Hits (21st All-Time)
414 Stolen Bases (66th All-Time)
Mike Piazza, Catcher
Played from 1992 to 2007
Twelve-Time All-Star
427 home runs (47th All-Time)
.545 Slugging Percentage (29th All-Time)
143 Adjusted OPS+ (62nd All-Time)
Curt Schilling, Right-Handed Pitcher
Pitched from 1988 to 2007
Six-Time All-Star
3,261 innings pitched (96th All-Time)
3,116 strikeouts (15th All-Time)
4.383 strikeouts per walk (2nd All-Time)
Jeff Bagwell, First Base
Played from 1991 to 2005
1991 NL Rookie of the Year
Four-Time All-Star
1994 NL MVP
Thirty-Seventh All-Time in rWAR for position players (Baseball Reference)
Barry Bonds, Left Field
Played from 1986 to 2007
Fourteen-Time All-Star
Seven-Time NL MVP
Second All-Time in rWAR for position players (Baseball Reference)
762 home runs (1st All-Time)
Edgar Martinez, Designated Hitter
Played from 1987 to 2004
Seven-Time All-Star
.933 On-Base Plus Slugging Percentage (33rd All-Time)
.418 On-Base Percentage (20th All-Time)
514 Doubles (51st All-Time)
Tim Raines, Left Field
Played from 1979 to 2002
Seven-Time All-Star
808 Stolen Bases (5th All-Time)
Seventy-First All Time in rWAR for position players
123 Adjusted OPS+ (276th All-Time)
Just because I "voted" for these ten does not make them the only ten worthy of a Hall of Fame choice. I really took into consideration how well each of these players played the game, and most of them ranked in the top 50 of their respective best parts of their game. Sure, Mike Mussina, Alan Trammell, and Larry Walker might deserve to be in the Hall, but with a limit of ten selections, it was hard to put them above Edgar Martinez, above Raines, or above Bagwell.
Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch came up with a great idea on how to revise the Hall of Fame balloting to a binary system, where each voter would decide if a player is "yes" hall worthy or "no" not Hall worthy. This eliminates having to decide who was better between Mussina and Raines. Both deserve yeses. The Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) needs to make a change to the balloting and allow more players to be voted in. That is very evident.
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