Baseball Hall of Fame: How Paste BN Sports voted
The Baseball Hall of Fame will announce results of its 2018 balloting on Wednesday evening (6:15 ET, MLB Network). Candidates must appear on 75% of ballots to earn induction July 29 in Cooperstown, N.Y; voters may vote for no more than 10 candidates on the 33-player ballot.
Paste BN Sports has five writers who are at least 10-year members of the Baseball Writers' Assn. of America. Here is how they voted:
HALL OF FAME COVERAGE
- Hall countdown: The case for and against the top candidates
- Nightengale: It's time for Bonds, Clemens to be inducted
- No. 1: Bonds our runaway choice
Peter Barzilai
My choices: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Vladimir Guerrero, Chipper Jones, Edgar Martinez, Mike Mussina, Scott Rolen, Curt Schilling, Jim Thome, Larry Walker.
Nothing personal, Trevor Hoffman. You were a great pitcher and, from all I know, a very nice person. But I’m in the minority when it comes to your Hall of Fame credentials. Closers are specialists, and specialists need to go beyond being among the best of their era to get my vote. Hoffman was great at pitching one inning at time for teams that were more often than not mediocre.
I’m also likely in the minority in voting for Rolen. Third basemen are underrepresented in the Hall of Fame. Jones will make it 17. Meanwhile there are 25 shortstops and 21 second basemen. Even more important is Rolen’s strong case. His counting stats may be low because of several injury-shortened seasons, but he still managed 316 home runs, 13th among retired players and just behind Hall of Famer George Brett. He was also the best defensive third basemen of his time with eight Gold Gloves.
And finally, I may not like it, but I’ll keep voting for Bonds and Clemens until they get in. Neither tested positive or was suspended. Like most people, I have no doubt they doped, but unlike Manny Ramirez, they were never caught violating the rules.
Steve Henson
My choices: Bonds, Clemens, Guerrero, Trevor Hoffman, Jones, Fred McGriff, Mike Mussina, Manny Ramirez, Thome, Omar Vizquel.
More than 10 players on this ballot deserve to be in Cooperstown, especially when steroid users remain in the conversation. And they do for me. They played with and against probably hundreds of other users, and it was an era that ought to be represented in the Hall like any other era. I have zero doubt that we elected steroid users into Cooperstown the last two years, and probably more before then. Can’t stop now (sorry, Joe Morgan). That someone tested positive (Ramirez, late in his career) and other obvious users didn’t (Bonds, Clemens) isn’t a valid reason to withhold a vote. For me, anyway.
I dropped Sammy Sosa off my list this year because, with the addition of Jones, Thome and Vizquel to the ballot, he no longer makes my top 10. Setting aside the PED issue, the guys I’m rooting for to eventually get in are Mussina, McGriff and Vizquel. Were they clean? Everybody seems to assume so. I just love their sustained excellence, and if they were clean, good for them.
Gabe Lacques
My choices: Bonds, Clemens, Guerrero, Hoffman, Jones, Mussina, Rolen, Schilling, Thome, Walker.
Apologies to Gary Sheffield, but Mussina was my No. 11 last year and his case looks better every year, particularly when you consider park- and league-adjusted ERA-plus rather than his ordinary 3.68 ERA. Strategic bump? Perhaps. Rolen figures to be a longshot, too, but has a strong and deserving case, particularly an .855 OPS as a third baseman, 316 home runs and 70 career Wins Above Replacement that stack up well against players who will do much better than him at the ballot box. Hoffman's 89% career save percentage is identical to Mariano Rivera, who will cruise to induction next year.
As for perhaps my penultimate unchecked box for Edgar Martinez, his counting numbers (309 homers, 2,247 hits) don't move the needle for a specialist in the way Hoffman's 601 saves (second all-time, 123 more than No. 3) do. His amazing .418 on-base percentage ranks 18th in the modern era, but came over just 8,674 plate appearances, fewer than any Hall of Famer above him on that list save for Mickey Cochrane, an everyday catcher for 11 seasons. A compelling but borderline case who remains a near-miss for me.
Bob Nightengale
My choices: Bonds, Clemens, Guerrero, Hoffman, Jones, McGriff, Mussina, Sammy Sosa, Gary Sheffield, Thome.
Simply, I voted for the greatest players of their era, which just so happened to be the steroid era.
I voted for the maximum 10 players on this year’s ballot, four who were linked to performance-enhancing drugs, but none who were ever suspended for drug use: Bonds, Clemens, Sosa, and Sheffield. They won’t get in this year, but one day, Bonds and Clemens will make it.
Four others I voted for should be elected Wednesday: Newcomers Jones and Thome, and holdovers Hoffman and Guerrero. Once again I voted for McGriff, who I believe has been punished more than any player in the steroid era for simply not taking steroids, somehow having his 493 homers and 1,500 RBI dwarfed simply because of his juiced peers. My 10th pick was Mussina, who I wanted to include for the last two years for racking up 270 wins despite spending his entire career in the powerful AL East. Shortstop Omar Vizquel, the modern-day version of Ozzie Smith, barely got left off my ballot. He’ll be on it next year and won’t come off.
Jorge L. Ortiz
My choices: Jones, Guerrero, Hoffman, Mussina, Jeff Kent, Vizquel.
Jones is an automatic as one of the greatest third basemen and switch-hitters of all time. Guerrero was a breathtaking player who in his prime was worth the price of admission all by himself. Hoffman was the second-best closer of his generation and, as much as I hate the save stat, compiling 601 of them is a rare feat.
Mussina consistently excelled despite pitching in a charged offensive environment. Kent was one of the most productive second basemen ever (first in home runs, second in RBI). And Vizquel was a defensive magician at a premium position who racked up more than 2,800 hits and 400 steals.
My most controversial omission, other than the obvious steroid guys, is Thome. I understand the arguments in his favor and I’m sure he’ll get in. But Thome always struck me as a one-dimensional player who was not even the most consequential figure on those great Indians teams of the '90s. Ramirez and Sandy Alomar Jr. were bigger factors. In 22 seasons, Thome had one top-five MVP finish (fourth in 2003 with the Phillies). That sticks out to me.