Hall of Fame
Five years ago there were three players who were definite first ballot hall of famers in 2007, now there are only two. Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripkin Jr. are beyond reproach, they represent two of the greatest players to ever play their respective position and the cream of the crop for this generation of baseball players. Both of these players are over 3000 hits and if they don’t make the hall this year there is something serious wrong with the voters, but there is no way this will be an issue.
Mark McGwire is the most interesting players on the ballot since, only a few years ago he was a definite first ballot hall of famer. He is most famous for his monster homers. His 583 home runs are the seventh most all time, and once held the single season homer record at 70. He led the league in homers four times while being in the top 10, ten times. Big Mac hit a home run every 10.6 at bats which is the best ratio ever. His career OPS is the thirteen best all time. He won a ROY award and a gold glove, and finished second in the MVP vote once. If it wasn’t for the steroids issue, there is not doubt in my mind that McGwire would be a first ballot hall of famer. Since steroids were so prevalent in the game and the baseball administration was really an enabler at the steroids problem, I find it hard to hold it against McGwire, especially since it wasn’t illegal at the time and there is no real proof he took them.
There are three other players who would get my vote this year. Goose Gossage, Andre Dawson, and Bert Blyleven. Now that Sutter is in there is no doubt that Gossage should be in, since his numbers stack up very comparably. Dawson has the numbers, over 1500 RBIs, over 430 homers, 1 MVP and 2 second place finishes, a rookie of the year, and over 300 stolen bases. He was the dominate player in the league for too many years not to get in. Same with Blyleven, he has 287 wins for mostly bad team and his 3701 strikeouts is fifth all time. He never won a Cy-Young but finished top 10 four times and he is ninth of the career shutout list.
Five years ago there were three players who were definite first ballot hall of famers in 2007, now there are only two. Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripkin Jr. are beyond reproach, they represent two of the greatest players to ever play their respective position and the cream of the crop for this generation of baseball players. Both of these players are over 3000 hits and if they don’t make the hall this year there is something serious wrong with the voters, but there is no way this will be an issue.
Mark McGwire is the most interesting players on the ballot since, only a few years ago he was a definite first ballot hall of famer. He is most famous for his monster homers. His 583 home runs are the seventh most all time, and once held the single season homer record at 70. He led the league in homers four times while being in the top 10, ten times. Big Mac hit a home run every 10.6 at bats which is the best ratio ever. His career OPS is the thirteen best all time. He won a ROY award and a gold glove, and finished second in the MVP vote once. If it wasn’t for the steroids issue, there is not doubt in my mind that McGwire would be a first ballot hall of famer. Since steroids were so prevalent in the game and the baseball administration was really an enabler at the steroids problem, I find it hard to hold it against McGwire, especially since it wasn’t illegal at the time and there is no real proof he took them.
There are three other players who would get my vote this year. Goose Gossage, Andre Dawson, and Bert Blyleven. Now that Sutter is in there is no doubt that Gossage should be in, since his numbers stack up very comparably. Dawson has the numbers, over 1500 RBIs, over 430 homers, 1 MVP and 2 second place finishes, a rookie of the year, and over 300 stolen bases. He was the dominate player in the league for too many years not to get in. Same with Blyleven, he has 287 wins for mostly bad team and his 3701 strikeouts is fifth all time. He never won a Cy-Young but finished top 10 four times and he is ninth of the career shutout list.
