January 4, 200521 yr returnees: Bert Blyleven Dave Concepcion Andre Dawson Steve Garvey Rich Gossage Tommy John Don Mattingly Willie McGee Jack Morris Dale Murphy Dave Parker Jim Rice Lee Smith Bruce Sutter Alan Trammell First years Rick Aguilera Tim Belcher Ken Caminiti Will Clark Alex Fernandez Gary Gaetti Dwight Gooden Ozzie Guillen Juan Guzman Orel Hershiser Gregg Jefferies Lance Johnson Doug Jones Roberto Kelly Mickey Morandini Hal Morris Jaime Navarro Luis Polonia Mike Stanley Walt Weiss John Wetteland Mark Whiten vote for up to 5
January 4, 200521 yr The only first years on the ballot I like are Gooden and Clark, they'll have the best shot As far as the returnees... Dawson Blyleven (It's a crime that this guys not in the hall yet) Rice
January 5, 200521 yr Orel Hershiser Tommy John Jim Rice Don Mattingly Goose Gossage Honorable mention: Ken Caminiti
January 5, 200521 yr Blyleven 5th all-time in K's with more shut-outs than either Sutton or Carlton Dawson 300+ HR, 300+ SB on some of the worst knees in the game Rice had some monster seasons when 30 HR's were a lot for a year Dale Murphy definetly fits the honorable character part of requirement, plus 398 HR's Concepcion 8 time all-star, 5 gold gloves NO ONE from 2006 list
January 5, 200521 yr I don't think Will Clark has a chance. In the 15 years he played, he probably wasn't in the Top 5 First Basemen, and he might not have been Top 10. Just saying... No on Hershiser too. 2 amazing seasons, 3 good ones. You take out those 5 seasons, and he's a game below .500, actually. I doubt there's any other starter in the HOF you could say that about.
January 5, 200521 yr Gossage Dawson Sutter Blyeven Mattingly (Not not such strong group to choose from though.)
January 5, 200521 yr John Wetteland Ozzie Guillen Don Mattingly Goose Gossage Will Clark Personally, I wouidn't vote for some of the druggies on the list, such as Doc Gooden or Ken Caminiti
January 5, 200521 yr Caminiti wont be eligible until 2007 - along with Big Mac and Jose. That will be the ultimate test of roids versus numbers. Of course, 2007 will also feature guys like Gwynn and Ripken who will overshadow everybody. I can't believe how little respect Donnie Baseball gets from the voters. He put up crazy good numbers on really bad teams. That's 1/2 the reason Ryno got in! Rice, Parker, Murphy, Mattingly, Dawson - in that order. Hersheiser, Gooden, and Clark should count their blessings if they even get 5%.
January 5, 200521 yr By the way, can I remind everyone of Dave Parker's accomplishments? The guy is a 7 time all star and a 2 time batting champ [77 and 78] with an MVP [78] and 5 other appearances on the top 10 in MVP voting. That means that for 1/3 of his career, he was considered one of the top 10 players in his league. He also led the league in slugging twice, hits, rbi, doubles, and ops, AND won 2 gg's and an All-Star MVP award. When he left, he was top 50 all time in 6 categories: hits, sac flies, ibbs, xbh's, doubles, and total bases. He should get in.
January 5, 200521 yr While I'm campaigning, I may as well make an argument for one of my favorite baseball players of all time, Donnie Baseball. The bottom line is that Don Mattingly has better numbers than Dale Murphy, Andre Dawson, and a host of HOFers including Jackie Robinson, Brooks Robinson, and Robin Yount! He went to 6 consecutive All Star games despite playing for a team that posted a .538 win percentage during that time period. The only thing that stopped him was a back injury at the beginning of the 1990 season. I can't even imagine what he would have done. Despite this, he won 9 gold gloves in 10 years - and it wasn't even close and a batting title. He finished top 10 in mvp voting 4 years in a row and won an MVP in 85. He led the league in doubles THREE times, hits twice, xbh's twice, total bases twice, slugging, batting, rbi, ops, and sac flies. More importantly, he was a gamer, an ambassador of the sport, and a humble hero at a time when you had guys like Ricky Henderson flapping their gums. I know he'll never make the cut-off, but I wanted to make sure his achievements were known. Amen.
January 5, 200521 yr Author Caminiti wont be eligible until 2007 - along with Big Mac and Jose. That will be the ultimate test of roids versus numbers. 648391[/snapback] if you die the waiting period is waived
January 6, 200521 yr from the returnees: Blyleven Dawson Goose Sutter Will Clark will always be my favorite player. Does he belong in the Hall? I wish. Injuries have helped to give his arch-nemesis, Rafael "Limp Noodle" Palmiero (a defenseless fence-swinging hack on perennially losing teams), a better chance. Not one of these new guys looks like he'll cut it, which is good because it will force some guilty minded voters to reasess their stinginess this time 'round.
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