With the baseball transaction wire going unusually slowly this year- aside from a few questionable signings by the Washington Hebrew Nationals- we turn our attention to the Hall of Fame ballot, released the other day.
Of first-time eligibles, the only shoo-in appears to be Wade Boggs, leaving whether he’ll actually go through with having a Devil Rays cap on his plaque as the only mystery. Boggs won the AL batting title just about every year of the ‘80s, and while batting average is now “overrated,” as we now know, I still say Boggs is a first-ballot guy.
Also new to the ballot are Darryl Strawberry- whose pissing away of a certain Hall career is one of the sadder baseball developments of the past two decades- and the not-quite-good-enough Willie McGee. On the no-chance-in-hell list, we’ve got Jeff Montgomery, Otis Nixon, Terry Steinbach, and Tom Candiotti.
As for holdovers, I’m not convinced that Bert Blyleven deserves induction, nor the closer trio of Lee Smith, Bruce Sutter, and Rich Gossage. I do, however, support the inclusion of Jack Morris (the winningest pitcher of the ‘80s), as well as Ryne Sandberg, who would be a shoo-in too if it weren’t for that 18-month retirement he took.
And no, I'm still against the induction of Pete Rose. Notice no one's talking about it this year?
Good year for Tony O and the vets committee, i'd say. Weak class helps Bert too. If jack Morris makes, wow three twins in one year.
Posted by: J. Lichty at December 1, 2004 03:02 PMYour no homer. Blyleven deserves to be in the hall. Except for 300 wins he's got the numbers.
Posted by: Jeff S at December 1, 2004 08:00 PM