Hall of Fame Part 5

I am finishing up Phase 2 of my series on the 2010 hall of fame vote. In my last post, I introduced 8 of the 15 players on the writers ballot for the first time this year. I will address the last 7 today. In my next post I will tell you who I would vote for if given the chance.



Barry Larkin SS played 19 seasons for the Cincinnati Reds. Over 2300 hits 2 shy of 200 homers and a lifetime batting average of .295 and over 350 stolen bases. A 12 time All Star, with 3 Golden Gloves and 9 Silver Sluggers, Larkin was the 1995 National League MVP.



Edgar Martinez DH played 18 seasons for the Seattle Mariners. Over 2200 hits, 9 above the 300 HR mark and a career batting average of .312. Martinez was selected to 7 all star games, and won 5 silver slugger awards. Best MVP voting = 3rd.

Fred McGriff 1B played for 6 teams (Rays, Braves, Blue Jays, Braves, Cubs, Dodgers) over 19 seasons. McGrifff posted a lifetime batting average of .284 with 10 shy of 2,500 hits and missing the 500 homer mark by 7. A 5 time all star with 1 all star MVP award and 3 Silver Sluggers. Best MVP Voting = 4th.

Shane Reynolds P played for 3 teams (Astros, Diamond Backs, Braves) over 13 seasons. Career ERA of 4.09 with 114 wins and 1403 strikeouts. 1 All Star game, Best Cy Young Voting = 9th.

David Segui 1B played for 7 teams (Orioles, Expos, Mets, Mariners, Rangers, Indians, Blue Jays) over 15 seasons. A career .292 hitter with 1412 hits and 139 homers.


Robin Ventura 3B played for 4 teams (White Sox, Mets, Dodgers, Yankees) over 16 seasons. Finished career just 15 hits away from 1900 and 6 dingers shy of 300. Lifetime batting average of .267. 2 All Star appearances and 6 Gold Gloves. Best MVP Voting = 6th.

Todd Zeile 3B played for 11 teams (Cardinals, Mets, Rangers, Dodgers, Rockies, Phillies, Expos, Cubs, Yankees, Marlins, Orioles) over 16 seasons. A .265 Major League batting average with 4 over the 2000 hit threshold and 3 more than 250 homers.

Maybe This Year

There is something fundamentally hopeful about New Years Day. New Years Day reminds me of the do-over speech from the movie City Slickers. Sure the world may be run by Murphy and his Law firm and anything that can go wrong may just do that. But on New Year's Day it feels, at least to me, just the opposite. Anything that can go right, probably will. In short it's hard not to get on the mountain top and shout for the world to hear "This will be the year ...".

Now, I know I have my own sports blog now and don't have to mess up these pages with my January First induced optimism. But I am going to anyway and since Saturday is right around the corner I am going to do so in 6 words.

White Sox 2010 World Series Winners

No explanation needed and by the time Spring Training rolls around I may have already changed my tune. But Today that's my story and I am sticking with it.

Head over to Show My Face dot com where six word saturday is celebrating its 1 year anniversary for other six words.

Next Time: Addressing the President

Hall of Fame Part 4

Happy New Year!

I promise this blog will not always be this baseball intensive. Especially in the winter. But if this blog is still kicking a year from now, I expect you will see a few weeks of Hall of Fame analysis and prognostication.

Today we enter into phase 2 of our look at the 2010 road to Cooperstown.

Phase 1 was to review the accomplishments and the writers voting patterns of the 11 players returning to the ballot from last year. Phase 2 is to review the accomplishments of the 15 players on the ballot for the first time.

Analysis of previous 5 Hall of Fame nominee classes.

In the past 5 years there have been 62 players to find their way on the ballot for the first time. Of those 62, 4 have been elected to the hall on their first opportunity. 6 received more than 5% of the vote but less than the 75% needed for enshrinement. 1/2 of those 6 received less than 5% of the vote in their second year and the other half are still on the ballot for this year. Forty of the 62 players received under 5% of the vote but at least one vote. The remaining 12 players did not receive any votes at all.

If we assume that the 15 players on the ballot for the first time this year will fare in the same pattern as the last 5 years then ...

1 player will be elected to the hall on their first ballot. 1 player will receive more than 5% but less than 75% of the vote and will have a 50/50 shot of being voted off the island in the next election. 10 players will receive at least 1 vote but not enough consideration to return to the ballot next year. 3 players will receive no votes whatsoever.

I'll let you all know on the 6th if the votes followed the pattern or not. Here are the first 8 first time candidate profiles. I'll finish the rest in the next HOF installment.

Roberto Alomar 2B played for 7 teams (Padres, Blue Jays, Orioles, Indians, Mets, White Sox, Diamond Backs) over 17 seasons. Lifetime .300 batting average. More than 2700 hits. More than 200 home runs. Within 25 of the 500 steal mark. 12 All Star appearances. 1 All Star MVP. 10 gold gloves, 4 silver sluggers and 1 alcs MVP. Best MVP voting = 3rd

Kevin Appier P played for 4 teams (Royals, A's, Mets, Angels) over 16 seasons. Won 169 games with lifetime era of 3.74. 6 strikeouts shy of 2000. 1 all star game. Best Cy Young Voting =3rd.

Ellis Burks OF played with 5 teams (Red Sox, Rockies, Giants, Indians, White Sox) over 18 seasons. Life time .291 hitter with over 2100 hits, more than 350 homers and less than 20 steals from the 200 mark. 2 All Star Games, 1 Gold Glove, 2 Silver Sluggers. Best MVP voting =3rd

Andres Galarraga 1B played for 7 teams (Expos, Cardinals, Rockies, Braves, Rangers, Giants, Angels) over 19 seasons. With More than 2300 hits and 1 homer shy of the 400 mark Galaragga hit .288 with 128 stolen bases. Played in 5 all star games, won two gold gloves and two silver sluggers. Best MVP voting 6th (twice).

Pat Hentgen P played for 3 teams (Blue Jays, Cardinals, Orioles)over 14 seasons. Hentgen had 131 career wins, a lifetime era of 4.32 and 1,290 strike outs. 3 All Star appearance winner of the AL Cy Young award in 1996.

Mike Jackson P played for 8 teams (Mariners, Giants, Indians, Phillies, Twins, Reds, Astros, White Sox) over 17 seasons. 3.42 ERA 142 Saves and 1006 Strikeouts. Best MVP voting = 21st.

Eric Karros 1B played for 3 teams (Dodgers A's Cubs) over 14 seasons. A life time .268 hitter Karros ended his career with over 1700 hits and 284 homers. Won the 1992 NL rookie of the year award, 1 Silver Slugger Best MVP Voting Award = 5th.

Ray Lankford OF played for 2 teams (Cardinals, Padres) over 14 seasons. More than 1500 hits with a life time batting average of .272. Hit over 200 homers while swiping over 200 bags. 1 all star game, best MVP voting = 16th.

New Look for a New Year

It is already the new year on the east coast. But it's still 2009 here in the Midwest.

So here are 3 things for the end of 1 year and the beginning of another.

1. Saw Sherlock Holmes with my wife, her brother, uncle and cousin last night. The 4 of us boys liked it, Amy did not. Actually, she hated it.

2. I will be making some changes to the blog in the weeks to come. I will probably experiment with a few looks before hopefully unveiling a more permanent new look next Thursday on my 1 year blog-o-versary.

3. 2009 was a rough year for our family. Losing my brother in April had a profound impact on the entire year. God is still blessing us, however, and I look forward to what's ahead in 2010.
If you'd like to blog about 2009 or 2010 you can add it to Mr. linky below.



Next Time: Maybe This Year.