Last week we here at Notinhalloffame.com were thrilled to unveil the 2014 Rock and Roll list at a timeframe much quicker than we did last year. With that completed, we were able to focus on the Baseball section, which we have now finished and are happy to unveil today.
As happy as we are to present it to all of you, we know that the debate on the Baseball Hall of Fame will remain the hottest debate among such institutions and we welcome the polarizing opinions that comes with it.
As with all of the other lists we do, we alter rankings based on the input that you give us. The votes and comments mean a lot to us and we certainly encourage all of you to keep making this website as interactive as possible. As for the new entries, we base that first ranking on as much statistical analysis as possible, though of course in the sport of Baseball, stats are constantly being evaluated and re-evaluated and far too often the magical element of the sport is forgotten when we look at the eligible players.
The top of the list remained the same as we continue to have the banned Pete Rose and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson at 1A and 1B and PED tainted Barry Bonds at 1C, making him the top eligible player. His support on our site is mostly positive, though in dealing with him and many of the other PED users (or suspected users), we are dealing with absolutes as you have told us you definitely want him in, or definitely want him out. Until it shifts that more of you want him out, Bonds will likely maintain the top spot.
The same is said for Roger Clemens, who won more Cy Young Awards than anyone else, who remains at number 2. Like Bonds, he is a position where it appears that the Baseball Writers will not be selecting them for the Hall of Fame, and we wonder how long we will see Bonds and Clemens remain 1 and 2 on this list.
Although the top is unchanged, there are four former players who are entering the top 25, two of which we think will be first ballot Hall of Fame entries, with a strong possibility of a third.
“The Big Unit” Randy Johnson is the highest ranking new entry, taking over the number 3 spot, which was owned last year by first year inductee and fellow Pitcher, Greg Maddux. It is on the Pitcher’s mound where we will also find Pedro Martinez who enters at number 5, again a position which inducted another first year entry last year in Frank Thomas.
John Smoltz did not make our top ten, though he enters at number 13 and is a very strong Hall of Fame contender. The others in the top ten are Mike Piazza (4), Jeff Bagwell (6), Mike Mussina (7), Tim Raines (8), Bill Dahlen (9) and Curt Schilling (10). Among the “Eligible” top ten, only Dahlen is not on next year’s ballot and would have to enter based on the support of the Veterans Committee.
Also now eligible is Gary Sheffield makes his debut at 22, and we are very eager to see what the Baseball Writers do with him. The fifth and final new entry to the list is Carlos Delgado who we have slotted in at 63.
You know what we want from all of you! Check out these new entries and cast your vote or offer a comment.
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