2019 Hall Of Fame Ballot – The Holdovers


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The BBWAA released their ballot for the Hall of Fame class of 2019 yesterday. The results of the vote are due to be revealed on January 22nd, with induction taking place next July. After Chipper Jones, Jim Thome, Vladimir Guerrero, and Trevor Hoffman were elected in last year’s voting, the new ballot contains 15 holdovers along with 20 newcomers, which may continue the logjam caused by the current BBWAA rules which limit the number of votes on one ballot to 10 and the ongoing refusal by some writers to vote for players tainted by PEDs, leaving too many qualified candidates fighting for limited spots.

Let’s take a look at the returning candidates today before moving on to the newcomers.

Barry Bonds
Years on ballot: 6
2018 Percentage: 56.4

The all time home run champion saw his vote percentage rise for the fourth straight time last year, so the PED bias holding him back may be subsiding.  With only 4 more shots with the writers, it remains to be seen if he has enough time to get up to 75%.

Roger Clemens
Years on ballot: 6
2018 Percentage: 57.3

Roger Clemens, he of the 354 career victories and 7 Cy Young awards, also found himself with a fourth consecutive rise after his sixth run through the voting process.  For some odd reason, perhaps by having played for more teams, Clemens continues to get marginally more support than his fellow PED poster child Barry Bonds.

Andruw Jones
Years on ballot: 1
2018 Percentage: 7.3

If voters were to stick to his first 11 seasons, Jones looks like a shoe-in for the Hall.  His last 7 seasons, though, were so bad that it makes it hard to consider him.  Based on his initial vote total, those final seasons seem to be holding sway.

Jeff Kent
Years on ballot: 5
2018 Percentage: 14.5

The 2000 NL MVP saw his vote percentage go in the wrong direction last year.  He still has a long way to go and not a whole lot of time left, so the future does not look good for him.

Edgar Martinez
Years on ballot: 9
2018 Percentage: 70.4

The longtime DH for the Mariners saw another big jump last year, but has 1 last shot to make up that remaining 5%.

Fred McGriff
Years on ballot: 9
2018 Percentage: 23.2
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2018 Hall Of Fame Ballot – The Newcomers

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The BBWAA released their ballot for the Hall of Fame class of 2018 on Monday.  The results of the vote are due to be revealed on January 24th, with induction taking place next July.  After Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, and Ivan Rodriguez were elected in last year’s voting, the new ballot contains 14 holdovers along with 19 newcomers, which may continue the logjam caused by the current BBWAA rules which limit the number of votes on one ballot to 10 and the ongoing refusal by some writers to vote for players tainted by PEDs, leaving too many qualified candidates fighting for limited spots.  Once again, the BBWAA and the Hall may find themselves with a mess on their hands.  And that doesn’t even take in to account Joe Morgan’s letter.

Yesterday, we looked at the returning candidates.  Today, it’s time to look at the newcomers and who may be thankful come January.

Chris Carpenter

He put together some monster seasons, but lost nearly 4 1/2 seasons due to injury, leaving his numbers well short of enshrinement.

Johnny Damon

Probably would not get anywhere near enough support, but he spent many years in a Red Sox or Yankees uniform, so who knows.

Livan Hernandez

The Cuban ex-pat may get a vote or two, but it should be one and done for him.

Orlando Hudson

I can’t imagine a world where Orlando Hudson, who finished out his career with the White Sox in 2012, earns a Hall of Fame vote.

Aubrey Huff

Not that he was going to garner any support anyway, but his recent social media posts, falling for the worst of the right wing conspiracies, certainly aren’t helping.

Jason Isringhausen

This has been a weak batch of newly eligible players. no?

Andruw Jones

Now here is an interesting conundrum.  If we stick to his first 11 seasons, it seemed like he was destined for the Hall.  His last 7 seasons, though, were so bad that it makes it hard to consider him.  This would be a tough choice.

Chipper Jones

Ah, there we go.  A sure-fire, first ballot selection for the long time Brave.

Carlos Lee

The former White Sox outfielder may get a little support, but not enough to keep him on the ballot for a second go-around.

Brad Lidge

Lidge was on the mound when the Phillies won the World Series in 2008, but that won’t erase the memories of the huge home runs he gave up in the 2005 post-season, to Albert Pujols and Scott Podsednik.

Hideki Matsui
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Braves All Time Leaders – Through 2015

bravesWith 5 months until baseball in Chicago returns, I thought it would be interesting to look at the all time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. We continue today with the Atlanta Braves.

The Braves began life in Boston, moving to Milwaukee in 1953 and landing in Atlanta in 1966.  I’ve seen them play 16 times, including games 3 and 4 of the 2003 NLDS against the Cubs.

Home Runs

Name Total
Chipper Jones 3
Brian McCann 2
9 tied with 1

Hits

Name Total
Chipper Jones 10
Vinny Castilla 9
Brian McCann 8

Runs

Name Total
Chipper Jones 6
Andruw Jones 6
3 tied with 3

RBI

Name Total
Chipper Jones 7
Brian McCann 7
Rafael Furcal 5

Doubles

Name Total
Brooks Conrad 2
Gary Sheffield 2
15 tied with 1

Triples Continue reading →

#170 – Andruw Jones

andruw-jonesName: Andruw Jones

Rank: 170

Position: RF/DH

Year With White Sox: 2010

After the disappointing 2009 season, the White Sox looked to improve their bench by signing outfielder Andruw Jones to a 1 year contract.  Jones, just 3 years removed from his last All Star Game, had seen his production fall of a cliff after leaving the Braves and was hoping to turn his career around.

His White Sox career got off to a good start, as he showed up to training camp 30 pounds lighter than the previous few seasons.  As the White Sox worked towards a second place finish in the AL Central, Jones continued to show flashes of power but struggled to regain an ability to hit consistently.  His personal highlight came on July 11, when he hit his 400th career home run against Royals.

Following the season, Jones moved on as a free agent.

Jones’ numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

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#182 – Mark Kotsay

kotsay

Name: Mark Kotsay

Rank: 182

Position: 1B/DH

Years With White Sox: 2009-2010

Mark Kotsay came to the White Sox in a deadline deal on July 28, 2009 which sent Brian Anderson back to the Red Sox.  He finished strong for a disappointing White Sox team that finished in 3rd place and 4 games under .500, hitting .292 in 40 games for the south siders.

Kotsay returned to the White Sox in 2010, in an ill-fated attempt to split the DH duties with Andruw Jones.  Appearing in over 100 games, Kotsay’s production fell off, as he hit only .239 with 8 home runs.  Following the season, he became a free agent, ending his association with the White Sox.

Kotsay’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

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2010 Final Batting Leaders

An ultimately disappointing season did have some offensive fireworks.  Following up on our midseason look, here are the final stat leaders in games I attended this year.

 

Home Runs
Name TOtal
Paul Konerko 17
Carlos Quentin 8
Alex Rios 6
Andruw Jones 5
Gordon Beckham 4
Alexei Ramirez 4

 

Hits
Name TOTal
Paul Konerko 48
Juan Pierre 46
Alex Rios 43
Alexei Ramirez 40
Carlos Quentin 32

 

Runs
name total
Paul Konerko 31
Alex Rios 25
Juan Pierre 23
Carlos Quentin 22
Gordon Beckham 19

 

RBI
Name total
Paul Konerko 35
Carlos Quentin 28
Alex Rios 21
Juan Pierre 17
Andruw Jones 17

 

Doubles
Name total
Alex Rios 9
Carlos Quentin 7
A.J. Pierzynski 7
Mark Teahen 7
Alexei Ramirez 6

 

Triples
name Total
Jeff Baker 2
15 tied with 1

 

Batting Average (> 15 AB)
Name Total
Johnny Damon 0.500
Alex Avila 0.389
Shin-Soo Choo 0.375
Paul Konerko 0.366
Mitch Maier 0.350