The BBWAA released their ballot for the Hall of Fame class of 2014. The results of the vote are due to be revealed on January 8th, with induction taking place next July. After nobody was elected in last year’s voting, the new ballot contains 17 holdovers along with 19 newcomers, which may start to cause a bit of a problem. The current BBWAA rules limit the number of votes on one ballot to 10, and there may be more than 10 deserving candidates. As they start to pile up, and even more deserving candidates become eligible, the BBWAA and the Hall may find themselves with a mess on their hands.
Let’s take a look at the returning candidates today before moving on to the newcomers.
Jeff Bagwell
Years on ballot: 3
2013 Percentage: 59.6
Bagwell is going to be one of those candidates that, I think, gets hurt due to 10 vote limit. He would have been elected already were it not for seemingly unfounded PED rumors.
Craig Biggio
Years on ballot: 1
2013 Percentage: 68.2
Biggio was the highest vote getter in last year’s election, only 39 votes shy of getting elected. You would think he could make up that total this year as voters who have some inane theories on when someone deserves to be elected add him to their ballot. It would be a boost to the Astros if both he and Bagwell were to go in together.
Barry Bonds
Years on ballot: 1
2013 Percentage: 36.2
Barry Bonds, he of the 7 MVP awards and 762 career home runs, found himself on the outside looking in after his initial run through the voting process. Due to his connection to BALCO and PEDs, he’s unlikely to do much better this year.
Roger Clemens
Years on ballot: 1
2013 Percentage: 37.6
Roger Clemens, he of the 354 career victories and 7 Cy Young awards, also found himself on the outside looking in after his initial run through the voting process. The interesting thing is that, despite his inclusion in the Mitchell Report and his connection to Andy Pettitte’s PED confession, Clemens picked up 8 more votes than Bonds.
Edgar Martinez
Years on ballot: 4
2013 Percentage: 35.9
The longtime DH for the Mariners has had plenty of support from the Internet but not as much from the BBWAA. His long career as a DH may be holding him back.
Don Mattingly
Years on ballot: 13
2013 Percentage: 13.2
Back in 2010, I said that “being the best Yankee in a decade of bad Yankee teams does not a Hall of Famer make.” Nothing that has happened since then would change my, or, seemingly, the voters, mind.
Fred McGriff
Years on ballot: 4
2013 Percentage: 20.7
A very good argument could be made that Fred McGriff has been hurt by the PED users more than anyone else. Had he stuck around to hit an additional 7 home runs, he would likely have been elected thanks to his 500 home runs. Without them, he gets penalized for not putting up better numbers than the PED users, who are also being penalized. Doesn’t seem right.
Mark McGwire
Years on ballot: 7
2013 Percentage: 16.9
McGwire finds himself over 100 votes behind fellow PED users Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. Even if the voters do start to reverse track and start to vote for the convicted users, I think McGwire might still have trouble getting elected.
Jack Morris
Years on ballot: 14
2013 Percentage: 67.7
Morris enters his final year on the ballot needing only 42 additional votes to get enshrined, but with the influx of new, and exceptionally deserving, candidates, I don’t see how he gets them. Not that I would be too disappointed in that, as Morris, while a very good pitcher, falls short in my estimation.