The Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot is officially out, and the most talked about Hall of Fame in sports is set for another round of the same two debates that always seem to occur:
How much should sabremetrics matter in comparison to traditional statistics?
Should those who took or are suspected of taking Performance Enhancing be banned from the Hall of Fame?
We have talked about these issues constantly here, and currently another slew of articles in print and online will continue those arguments. Rather than debate it, let’s just mention who is on the ballot in order of their rank here:
#1C: Barry Bonds 2nd Year on Ballot, 36.2% of the vote last year
#2: Roger Clemens 2nd Year on Ballot, 37.6% of the vote last year
#3: Greg Maddux 1st Year on the Ballot
#4: Jeff Bagwell 4th Year on the Ballot, 59.6% of the vote last year
#5: Frank Thomas 1st Year on the Ballot
#6: Mike Piazza 2nd Year on the Ballot, 57.8% of the vote last year
#7: Mike Mussina 1st Year on the Ballot
#8: Tim Raines 7th Year on the Ballot, 52.2% of the vote last year
#9: Tom Glavine 1st Year on the Ballot
#11: Curt Schilling 2nd Year on the Ballot, 38.8% of the vote last year
#13: Craig Biggio 2nd Year on the Ballot, 68.2% of the vote last year
#14: Mark McGwire 8th Year on the Ballot, 16.9% of the vote of the last year
#15: Alan Trammell 13th Year on the Ballot, 33.6% of the vote last year
#16: Rafael Palmeiro 4th Year on the Ballot, 8.8% of the vote last year
#17: Sammy Sosa 2nd Year on the Ballot, 12.5% of the vote last year
#18: Larry Walker 4th Year on the Ballot, 21.6% of the vote last year
#19: Edgar Martinez 5th Year on the Ballot, 35.9% of the vote last year
#27: Jack Morris 15th Year on the Ballot, 67.7% of the vote last year
#29: Fred McGriff 5th Year on the Ballot, 20.7% of the vote last year
#34: Lee Smith 12th Year on the Ballot, 47.8% of the vote last year
#47: Jeff Kent 1st Year on the Ballot
#64: Don Mattingly 14th Year on the Ballot, 13.2% of the vote last year
#86: Luis Gonzalez 1st Year on the Ballot
#89: Kenny Rogers 1st Year on the Ballot
Unranked and 1st Year on the Ballot:
Moises Alou, Ray Durham, Shannon Stewart, Esteban Loaiza, Jon Leiber, Hideo Nomo, Geoff Jenkins, Keith Foulke, Matt Morris, Jose Vidro, Richie Sexson, Paul Lo Duca, Armando Benitez, Mike Timlin, Sean Casey, Dmitri Young, Eric Gagne, Shawn Estes, J.T. Snow, Todd Jones and Joe Borowski.
The obvious story lines:
Will Greg Maddux and Frank Thomas enter the Hall of Fame on the first try?
What percentage of the ballot will solid contenders, Tom Glavine and Mike Mussina receive?
On a cluttered ballot, does Craig Biggio receive enough votes to put him over the edge?
The same question goes for Jack Morris, who is on his final year of eligibility.
Will the voters continue to punish Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds?
We know this much…we thought last year was the most interesting vote since 1936. This one may just top it.
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