Much like the end-of-season awards, I do not get a vote for who gets into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. That belongs to the Baseball Writers Association of America members with at least ten years of seniority. But what I can tell you is that if I did meet the criteria, there would be a half-dozen retired players with a check next to their names on my ballot.
Barry Bonds
Yes, baseball’s all-time home run leader has plenty of controversy surrounding him, whether it’s the size of his head, his affiliation with Victor Conte and BALCO, or the stories about how he was a bad teammate. But there is one thing that isn’t in dispute: if a pitcher needed to get one out, the person they wanted to see the least coming to the plate was Bonds.
Roger Clemens
Much like Bonds, Clemens is not without his fair share of controversy in regards to possible use of performance-enhancing drugs, but there is no doubt that Clemens may have been the most dominant right-hander for close to fifteen years, and as such, gets my vote to get in to Cooperstown.
Jeff Kent
I’m not sure why Kent gets overlooked as he is perhaps the best offensive second baseman ever. His 377 home runs are the most of any player who played a majority of his career at second base. He played three fewer seasons and 558 fewer games than Craig Biggio, but hit 86 more home runs (377-291) and drove in 343 more runs (1,518-1,175). But most importantly, he and Bonds did not like each other at all (a fact Kent has not made a secret), and so having them get inducted at the same time could make for a seriously cringe-worthy ceremony.
David Ortiz
He tortured the Rays for years, and always seemed to come up with clutch hit after clutch hit against Tampa Bay. But you have to give credit where it’s due, and the fact is that David Ortiz may be the best designated hitter the game has ever seen.
Gary Sheffield
Right now, Fred McGriff may be the best player that Hall of Fame voters failed to elect during his eligible time on the ballot. But Gary Sheffield, is getting up there, and with just two more years before he is no longer eligible and being named just 40.6 percent of ballots in 2021, Sheffield could overtake McGriff in that category.
Billy Wagner
Closers are hugely underrepresented in the Hall, but with how important relief pitching has become, I have a feeling that guys like Wagner will get their due sooner rather than later. He had some of the nastiest stuff, and the way he threw from the left side, you know guys were going up there and just guessing.
Left Off My Ballot (This Time)
- Scott Rolen: I think Rolen gets elected in the next couple of years, but he’ll always be in the shadow of Chipper Jones, who is a Top 3 all-time third baseman. In my mind, he’s a better defensive third baseman than a lot of people think, and not as good of an offensive third baseman as a lot of people think.
- Andruw Jones: Yes, he had plenty of power, as evidence by his 434 career homers, but Jones is a guy that I think as advanced defensive metrics become more mainstream, you’ll see gets more and more recognition.
- Sammy Sosa: This is Sammy’s last year on the ballot, and there has to be some larger reason why only 17 percent of ballots had his name on them last year.
- Alex Rodriguez: The fact that he admitted to his PED use and was banned for one season is enough for me to put him in the same category as guys like Rafael Palmeiro and Manny Ramirez and not give him my vote.
Steve Carney is the founder and publisher of St. Pete Nine. One of the people most associated with baseball coverage in Tampa Bay, he spent 13 seasons covering the Rays for flagship radio station WDAE, first as producer of Rays Radio broadcasts, then as beat reporter beginning in 2011. He likes new analytics and aged bourbon, and is the owner of one of the ugliest knuckleballs ever witnessed by baseball scouts.
