For the first time, I have an official Hall of Fame ballot in my hands. I’m about to mail it. I have done a virtual truckload of homework in anticipation of this and it all started when I was a little kid. For my whole story there, I’ve already laid it out.
Specific to this ballot, I’ve done several months worth of work and I’ll link off to everything pertinent as we walk through my selections and non-selections.
Feel free to scroll to the bolded names to find who I’m voting for or even just to the end to see my ballot. In the meantime, I’m going to do some explaining, because part of my process is to be such an open book that I’m accountable for my ballots.
First things first, I feel compelled to explain my “Big Hall” voting stance. Remember, I’m but one voter of around 400. Players need to get 75% of the vote to make the Hall of Fame. Given that, essentially, one “no” vote nearly cancels out three “yes” votes, I’m going to be lenient with my votes. This doesn’t necessarily mean that I believe every single player I vote for should definitely be in the Hall of Fame. It means I think they are worthy of my vote and we’ll see how the rest of the voting body feels.
Next up, the rules mailed to us say that “voting shall be based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.”
The obvious start is that little PED thing that continues to linger over the ballot. I’ve been saying for years what my stance will be and I’m a man of my word. If a player was caught by MLB to be violating the Joint Drug Agreement and suspended once the system was put into place, he’s a no for me. If a player was alleged to have used or even admitted use before any system for suspension was put into place, I’m not holding it against him, as it was a league-wide issue and the league itself was benefitting while looking the other way (plus, Bud Selig is in the Hall of Fame).
Basically, I believe it is poor enough sportsmanship to try and skirt the rules agreed upon by the players association for individual benefit — to the point that it was risking hurting the team — that I’m willing to withhold my Hall of Fame for those busted. When there weren’t rules in place, it was the wild west and I’m not worried about the players who were singled out in reports.
This means that I would have been a yes for the likes of Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire but also a no for Rafael Palmeiro. I will be a no for players like Ryan Braun and Robinson Canó in the future.
As for anything in the realm of off-field behavior, I’ve chosen to ignore. The voting rules can be interpreted in many ways, but they read to me the voting should be based on the “player’s record” and “contributions” to the team, in that we’re only talking about in the baseball world. I could see how there’s an argument against a player who draws a suspension for domestic violence hurting the team, but no one that I strongly considered fits that criteria, so I guess we don’t have to dive in just yet.
Right off the top, we can eliminate Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez, thanks to my PED rule. A-Rod was doing nefarious stuff for years to get around the rules and was handed a 211-game suspension. He has a very complicated case, but I’m comfortable leaving him off. Ramirez’s case isn’t quite as complicated. He was busted twice. He’s out.
What a downer to start on the negative, huh? Let’s get to the YES! votes.
Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia, come on down. The only question for Ichiro is if he’s unanimous and while I’m pretty sure he will be, I’m not going to stand in the way. CC’s case is very strong and I’m ecstatic to be part of the movement in his favor.
I can see why there would be questions on Carlos Beltrán due to the 2017 Astros sign-stealing scandal. For me, a team-wide operation with the goal of achieving team success by reading catcher signs is a lot less disqualifying for the Hall of Fame than individually juicing despite the possibility of a 50-game suspension. I can understand why mileage would vary here, but I’m just one voter. We aren’t all going to agree and that’s acceptable. With him clearing the hurdle here for me, he’s an easy yes.
Billy Wagner is one of the greatest closers in baseball history and I’ve been driving this train for 10 years. I’m very pleased to be part of getting him inducted into the Hall in his final try.
Andruw Jones might be the single greatest defensive center fielder ever and he also hit 434 career home runs. There’s a domestic violence incident in his background, but it happened after he was done playing. I don’t like it at all, but I’m trying to establish consistency as best I can and I’m sticking to the on-field product here. That means he’s in.
Chase Utley had one of the greatest five-year runs in MLB history for a second baseman and put up enough production the rest of his career to justify becoming a Hall of Famer one day. He won’t make it this year, but he has a chance and he’ll be getting my vote every year until it happens.
I have come to very strongly believe we need to loosen the standards a bit — again, only a bit! — for starting pitchers, given the current climate. That means that I am voting for Mark Buehrle and Andy Pettitte. There’s a PED connection on Pettitte, but keep in mind this happened before there was a testing system in place and he played nine seasons with a testing system and was never nailed. I’m comfortable with a vote for him.
I have two spots left and some of the players in the group I’ve considered are Félix Hernández, Ian Kinsler, Dustin Pedroia, Jimmy Rollins and David Wright.
I ended up going with Bobby Abreu, who was long underappreciated and deserves a long look. And I stopped at nine. I just can’t get there with Pedroia, Rollins or Wright and those were the closest ones for me. There’s also been a bit a long-standing tradition among voters when they have open spots to throw votes on personal favorites. As a die-hard, life-long Cubs fan, I’m eternally grateful for Ben Zobrist, notably the monstrously clutch hit and MVP in the 2016 World Series. I just didn’t feel like it was right in my first ballot to go with such a homer move when there were justifications for votes for people like Pedroia, Rollins and Wright, so it’s a no.
The official ballot:
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