Off Wing Opinion

This year's ballot for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame was published today. Here's the complete list with my vote in parentheses:

Rick Aguilera (nice career, but no), Albert Belle (no chance), Bert Blyleven (Matt Welch said yes last year, and now I say yes too), Will Clark (no), Dave Concepcion (no), Andre Dawson (overshadowed by later offensive surge, yes), Gary DiSarcina (ah, no), Alex Fernandez (no), Gary Gaetti (no), Steve Garvey (if you asked me in 1980, I would have figured yes, but now, no), Dwight Gooden (could have been yes, but decided to put his career up his nose, an incredible waste) , Rich Gossage (yes -- absolutely fearsome in his prime), Ozzie Guillen (no), Orel Hershiser (best pitcher in baseball in 1988, gritty second coming with Cleveland, but no), Gregg Jefferies (no, and I wonder if he still listens to WFAN), Tommy John (historically significant -- the surgery -- but injuries to the back end of his career took away his shot at 300, no), Doug Jones (beneficiary of closer inflation, no), Don Mattingly (sadly, no), Willie McGee (no), Hal Morris (no), Jack Morris (how can I say yes when I said no to Tommy John who had more wins? -- 3 World Series rings with three different teams, and a start for the ages in Game Seven in 1991, yes) Dale Murphy (could have been, but no), Dave Parker (another could have been), Jim Rice (no), Lee Smith (yes), Bruce Sutter (dominant relief pitcher when that meant 2-3 innings, yes), Alan Trammell (doomed to be ovvershadowed by Ripken for all eternity, no), Walt Weiss (no), John Wetteland (no).

POSTSCRIPT: Almost forgot: Pete Rose's eligibility for the Hall has expired, which means that any entry into the Hall will have to come through the Veterans Committee. I'll try not to cry myself to sleep.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 28th, 2005 at 11:28 pm by Eric McErlain and is filed under Baseball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.