Thread: TwinsDaily 2013 Hall of Fame Ballot

Tomorrow, MLB and the Baseball Hall of Fame will announce whether or not any players will be inducted into the Hall. The announcement typically comes at 1:00 central time.

Here is the 2013 Hall of Fame Ballot: 2013 Official Hall of Fame Ballot - Baseball-Reference.com

If you had a vote, who would get your vote? Like the writers, you can vote for zero to ten of the candidates. Pete Rose is not on the ballot, so you can write him in if you feel he should. I'd like to have people use the below thread to "cast your vote" and tell us your reasons for your vote. I'll be curious to see how Twins Daily's vote lines up with the actual vote.

So, for me... My vote is for:

Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmiero, Craig Biggio, Curt Schilling, Tim Raines, Mike Piazza, Jeff Bagwell...

If he's reading this, my sincere apologies to Fred McGriff, who I certainly think deserves strong consideration. I just can't put him above any of those above.

Dump Sosa, add Trammell.

I've always said I'd be fine with Trammell being in the Hall of Fame AFTER Lou Whitaker gets in... (and Whitaker didn't even get to a 2nd year on the ballot)

I would write in Pete Rose. That's it. If Rose was in then I could look over the use of steroids. But if I'm expected to overlook breaking rules/integrity flaws, then I refuse until we overlook it for the all-time hits leader also.

As for Morris and Trammell and the other older guys, I think that they are close, but not quite worthy.

Dump most of your list.


And go read Verducci's latest article: Why I'll never vote for a known steroids user for the Hall of Fame - MLB - Tom Verducci - SI.com

Nobody explains it better.

Originally Posted by JB_Iowa

Dump most of your list.


And go read Verducci's latest article: Why I'll never vote for a known steroids user for the Hall of Fame - MLB - Tom Verducci - SI.com

Nobody explains it better.

Doesn't change my vote at all... but my opinion is if the choice is to not vote for any of these guys, then voters shouldn't vote for anyone because no one knows for sure.

I didn't expect that it would change your vote ....; more's the pity.

Yeah, I'm normally a big Verducci fan, but not in this case. I just can't stomach the "sportswriter as morality police" thing. I will say that, considering Verducci was one of the writers perhaps most responsible for eventually exposing the PED culture in baseball (maybe even THE writer most responsible), then if any writer has a right to this position, he's it. But where were the writers in the 1990s when all the juicing was going on? They were raising these same ballplayers up on their pedestals. For them to, now, claim the moral high ground while laying all the blame at the feet of the players, their union, the ballclubs and even the fans... well... that's more hypocracy than I can support.

Any writer who publishes a ballot that excludes the PED users, should be required to start her/his article by reciting all of the work s/he did to expose the problem. At least Verducci can do that. Most others can't.

Morris, Bagwell, Raines, Trammell, McGwire, Bonds, Clemens, Piazza, Biggio, Sosa

Piazza, Biggio, and Trammell.

Bonds, Clemens, Bagwell, Biggio, McGwire, Piazza, Raines, Schilling, Lofton, Trammel

I'd probably vote for Palmeiro, Martinez, and Walker as well if allowed more than 10. I could be talked into Sosa and McGriff too. Yeah, I'm a Big Hall guy. I've never really felt Morris was a Hall of Famer, but it wouldn't bother me to see him make it. His fame was probably higher than his actual performance, and it's called the Hall of Fame for a reason, presumably.

I'll cheat and do an early 2014 ballot.

Maddux, Glavine, Thomas, Bagwell, Biggio, Piazza, Raines, Schilling, Bonds, Clemens

Mine (and the explanation is here)

Hall of Fame Ballot: Bonds, Clemens, Bagwell, Schilling.

Since players like Larkin, Alomar and Dawson have been recently elected, got to add:

(hall of very good) Walker, Trammell, Raines, Palmeiro, Lofton, Martinez

Biggio (even though better than Dawson) is the 11th man and loses by a hair.

Originally Posted by krada1212

I would write in Pete Rose. That's it. If Rose was in then I could look over the use of steroids. But if I'm expected to overlook breaking rules/integrity flaws, then I refuse until we overlook it for the all-time hits leader also.

As for Morris and Trammell and the other older guys, I think that they are close, but not quite worthy.

Then you'd need to dump 90% of the Hall of Famers from DiMaggio to Mantle to Mays for all the amphetamines ("Greenies") taken for over 50 years of the game before they were even outlawed (remember that steroids weren't specifically outlawed - as in tested for - until Barry Bonds was already an easy Hall of Fame choice). Those greenies were illegal in the general public just as steroids have been, and they've actually been proven to improve total performance. There is no such thing as a clean era in the HOF.

Originally Posted by Pius Jefferson

I'll cheat and do an early 2014 ballot.

Maddux, Glavine, Thomas, Bagwell, Biggio, Piazza, Raines, Schilling, Bonds, Clemens

Complete homer pick, but I would LOVE to see Maddux break Seaver's record.

Rose, Bonds and Clemens get it over with they belong more than anyone else, it's baseball!

Originally Posted by biggentleben

Then you'd need to dump 90% of the Hall of Famers from DiMaggio to Mantle to Mays for all the amphetamines ("Greenies") taken for over 50 years of the game before they were even outlawed (remember that steroids weren't specifically outlawed - as in tested for - until Barry Bonds was already an easy Hall of Fame choice). Those greenies were illegal in the general public just as steroids have been, and they've actually been proven to improve total performance. There is no such thing as a clean era in the HOF.

In '91, Vincent's memorandum outlawed all illegal and controlled substances (so that covers greenies and steroids). At that point, Bonds had only played 5, 6 seasons. How was he already an easy HOF choice?

Originally Posted by ThePuck

In '91, Vincent's memorandum outlawed all illegal and controlled substances (so that covers greenies and steroids). At that point, Bonds had only played 5, 6 seasons. How was he already an easy HOF choice?

Note my clarification "as in tested for".

Originally Posted by JB_Iowa

Dump most of your list.


And go read Verducci's latest article: Why I'll never vote for a known steroids user for the Hall of Fame - MLB - Tom Verducci - SI.com

Nobody explains it better.

I completely agree with Verducci. Listened to his roundtable discusssion on MLB network yesterday--most of the panel(Costas, Verducci, Russo and a few others) did a good job in evaluating the steroid era. Those on the panel were very adamant against admitting steroid users. Only one writer would admit Bonds and Clemens. What bothers me the most is the records. I can remember when we would always say, "Can anybody beat the Babe this year, or can anybody beat Maris' 6l?
Now those types of discussions are over because of Steroids.

Originally Posted by biggentleben

Note my clarification "as in tested for".

I get that, and that's cool, but I don't think we should say it's okay just cause they weren't testing for it. Right is right, wrong is wrong, legal is legal, illegal is illegal. I don't think there's a grey area just because it was banned but not tested for. So while semantically you're correct, I wouldn't say he was a HOFer after 5 or 6 seasons just because they hadn't started testing for the banned stuff he was taking yet. Heck, it was still illegal.