HOF ballot

Of the newly eligible players, Jeter is a foregone conclusion and the only one in that group I would vote for.

Among players with no PED issues who are returnees on the ballot, I would go with Schilling and Walker and Rolen and Wagner and Vizquel.

Schilling is one of the top post-season pitchers ever -- a rare case of someone who seriously elevated his game in the clutch. Plus his career ERA+ of 127 is the same as Tom Seaver and Bob Gibson, and nobody questions their credentials.

I know he wasn't terribly likeable, but I don't understand why Billy Wagner doesn't get more notice. His career ERA+ of 187 is the only one I know of that is even close to the same solar system as Mo's. Maybe because at 903 IP he fell short of the 1,000 mark? Whatever, he was an elite reliever who belongs in the same conversation with Hoffman and Gossage and Sutter, all of whom arein the Hall.

I just don't have time to do a deep numbers dive on Larry Walker,Scott Rolen or Omar Vizquel. Eye test stuff. All three were off the charts defensively. Obviously some of Walker's offensive stats were helped by Coors, but if you look at what he did when he played in Montreal and St. Louis, he was putting up great numbers there as well. He was a GREAT outfielder.

Rolen was about as good as it got at third, ditto Vizquel at SS. We all saw those guys play, we don't need to tally up range factor or whatever. They are for sure in the top handful I ever saw. Rolen was always dangerous with the stick, and while you wouldn't say that about Vizquel, he was steady enough to make a run at 3,000 hits. I know we don't care about counting numbers any more, but if you are a glove wizard like Vizquel and can still put up that many hits, you are in elite company.

I have no problem with Lou Whitaker, but it seems out of alignment that he wouldn't go in with Trammell. Trammell is more deserving IMO, but those guys are so indelibly connected that I'm surprised Lou didn't go in when Alan did.

Clemens and Bonds for sure, and maybe Manny, are among the greatest players of all time and probably were even without PEDs. But they put the question marks there, and we will never know with certainty what their careers would have been without their little helpers. They will most likely be voted in at some point, but actually I'm glad they have had to spend time in purgatory for their transgressions.

I did note those stats, Inger. In the case of Walker, he did play about 45 percent of his home games at parks other than Coors. He seemed to be one of those players who made the most of whatever his home field was.

I have long said that no significant home run hitter took more advantage of his home stadium than Mel Ott, and your stats bear that out. Ott was a left-handed pull hitter who had a 250 foot right field fence to shoot at in the Polo Grounds. He was still a great player; nobody else on the Giants was putting up those numbers.

I think most great Red Sox hitters have fared much better at Fenway than on the road. In the case of Ted Williams, that road average of .328 alone would have put him in the Hall. That guy was such an insanely great hitter that I think he would have put up ridiculous numbers in whatever his home park was.

Thank you. I think that’s where I’d stop, too. Whitaker is tempting, but is that auld lang syne or reality?...

You know what people tend to forget as well? They forget that players play either a significant number of road games at hitters parks or pitchers parks and that can be dependent upon the division they play in. Each “in division” opponent plays nine or ten games in each other’s parks, which makes up 10-12% of the 81 road games. I don’t have numbers for the divisions, but surely some are more pitching friendly and others more hitting friendly on the road.

I feel like I’ve worded this so clumsily that everyone is now scratching their heads and figuring that I’ve finally joined Karl1958s Mensa group. Hopefully you get what I mean. It all affects the home-away comparisons.

Bud-Wise-Er. There. I feel like I finally said something meaningful...

I bet he gets a vote from some guy who thought he was friends with him when he played. Which will again illustrate that the system is broken.

Since no one is standing up for Manny Ramirez here, and he had an OPS of 154...I think it’s pretty obvious that proof or no proof, most think he was using PEDs. I do. PEDs, steroids, crazy pills. Anything he could find. Dude was weird...