Baseball Hall of Fame--not much to complain about

The vote for admission to the Baseball Hall of Fame was announced, and it is hard to dispute any of the inductees.  You can gripe about some of the players left out, but the Hall had a huge backlog of deserving players and a field of three is about as large a class as is manageable.

Jeff Bagwell was elected in his 7^th try, a ridiculously high number given his numbers, but he had the dreaded “steroid” tag looming over his candidacy even though there was never any evidence.  He had 1,500 runs batted in and 1,500 runs scored, so he could drive people in and score once on base.  He had 2,300 hits and 1,400 walks, so he was on base a lot.  His home run total of 449 is short of the magic 500, but a lot for a guy who walked a lot.  Through in the fact he was considered a good glove man at first, and having to go through 7 ballots is just silly.

The only thing sillier than Bagwell waiting 7 times for induction was Tim Raines waiting ten.  He had the misfortune of playing in the shadow of Rickey Henderson, but he is still the second greatest leadoff hitter of all time.  He had a better success rate at stealing bases than Henderson and a career OPS over .800, so he had some pop in his bat.

Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez is an easy first ballot choice.  The premiere fielding player at his position (and catcher is a key defensive position), he also over 2,800 hits and an OPS of .798.  He also has an MVP award, which is a major indication of Hall-worthiness.

Someone on ESPN opined that the election of Bagwell and Rodriguez, who had vague links to steroids, and the election of Raines, who was busted for cocaine use, means that Hall voters no longer care about drugs.  I think nothing could be further from the truth.  It was widely speculated that Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens would make major strides toward enshrinement, but both fell far short at 54.1% and 53.8%.  The difference is this: people like Rodriguez, Bagwell and Raines, while no one likes Clemens and Bonds.  Also, the issue isn’t just drugs, but performance enhancing drugs, so while Raines’ cocaine use isn’t a point in his favor, it isn’t a disqualifier like steroids.

To me the most surprising result is Vlad Guerrero finishing 5^th in his first year of eligibility with 71.7% of the vote, extremely close to the 75% needed.  Not that Guerrero wasn’t a great player, but he lacks several Hall intangibles, like an MVP award, post-season heroics, or any specific statistical achievement like 500 homers (he’s at 449) or 3,000 hits (2,590).  Maybe this is a sign that voters are looking more at advanced metrics than flashy stats.

If so, I have a problem with that.  Mike Mussina came in 9^th with 51.8% of the vote, and several people at places like MLB.com tout him as a Hall candidate because of advanced metrics.  To that I say, it’s called the Hall of FAME and not the Hall of Advanced Metrics.  Some say Reggie Jackson doesn’t belong in the Hall because of his low batting average and high number of strikeouts, but how can you keep “Mr. October” out of the Hall of Fame?  Raphael Palmeiro may have 500 homers and 3,000 hits, but what did he ever do?  Lead a team to a World Championship?  Lead the league in home runs five years in a row?  Start an All-Star Game (at a position other than DH)?  Nope, nope and nope.  He no longer eligible because of his link to steroids and the finger wagging, but I didn’t think he warranted inclusion before that.

Trevor Hoffman missed by ten votes in his second year of eligibility.  Sure he has 601 saves, but he only pitched in 1,089 innings in 1,058 games.  That’s not making a lot of effort.   That’s 1.03 innings per game.  How many batters are in the Hall for playing one inning a game?  At least Hall of Famer Goose Gossage averaged nearly two innings per appearance.  The closer is the most overrated position in baseball, but the save statistic going away.  On the other hand, the all-time save leader Lee Smith failed to get elected in his final year of eligibility, coming in far short at 34%, so maybe there is hope.

If voters overestimate the contribution of closers, they diminish the contribution of DHs simply because they don’t hurt their teams by being inept at fielding.  Edgar Martinez deserves to be in the Hall, but only got 58.6%, largely because he never fielded.  Harmon Killebrew is not in the Hall because of his fielding; neither is Ted Williams.  David Ortiz may become the first DH to be elected to the Hall, but I hope Martinez gets there first.

Hoffman and Guererro look likes locks for next time.  Chipper Jones is probably a lock first time winner, and Jim Thome should get substantial support (612 home runs is nothing to sneeze at).  2018 might be an even more crowded class at the Hall of Fame.