I always get worked up over Hall of Fame voting, especially baseball, even though I say I won't. This year there are a lot of interesting candidates. I don't want to analyze stats on them, just give a quick reaction to them:
Roberto Alomar - YES, best at his position during his era.
Jeff Bagwell - YES, phenenomenal offensive stats. His numbers hold up compared to players over other generations even when adjusted for era. I am pretty sure he was juiced but since his name has never even come up, even I find that hard to hold against him.
Bert Blyleven - NO, good pitcher for a long time, never great, too many negative stats.
Juan Gonzalez - NO, really good for too short a time, and an obvious steroid user.
Barry Larkin - YES, he wasn't quite Cal Ripken but he was second best shortstop during his playing career and that includes an MVP award -- rare for a shortstop.
Edgar Martinez - YES, his offensive stats are beyond compare. If you aren't going to allow designated hitters into the the Hall now matter how good they are, then you shouldn't have the designated hitter. Closers get in, and they only pitch one inning.
Mark McGwire - NO, a marginal Hall of Famer otherwise, but now that we know he cheated, I say no way
Rafael Palmeiro - NO, the only one of these guys actually caught by the testing. It would be impossible to keep someone with his numbers out of the Hall if not for the steroids.
Larry Walker - YES, but for purely selfish reasons
Here's the big problem with how I voted and the way many real Hall of Fame voters are voting: if you keep out known steroid users, what happens if someone you voted in, whom you had no prior reason to suspect of steroid use, later admits usage, do you revoke their induction?
Tsk, tsk. You should know better than to have a dangling preposition. "For whom would you vote" would be the proper title for this blog post.
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