Index
In Part 1 of this two-part series, we examined in detail the two salient qualities of the 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot: It is a ballot overstuffed with not just candidates—37 players!—but with qualified candidates, and it is a referendum on performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) because of the presence of the two most dominant players of the last 20 years: Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.
Part 2 concentrates solely on the merits of all 37 players on the ballot. With respect to PEDs, they are part of the sometimes-tawdry, sometimes-laudatory history of baseball, and the witch-hunt mentality surrounding them has obscured the fact that no part of baseball history has ever been pure or pristine. In short, there is no stigma here regarding PEDs. They are a part of baseball history as much as institutional racism marked the game before 1947, as much as allegations of widespread amphetamine usage marked the game during the "Golden Era" of the 1950s and 1960s, and as much as Gaylord Perry marked his baseball before he threw it.
The bottom line is this: You evaluate the baseball you have, not the baseball you wish you had.
Part 2 concentrates solely on the merits of all 37 players on the ballot. With respect to PEDs, they are part of the sometimes-tawdry, sometimes-laudatory history of baseball, and the witch-hunt mentality surrounding them has obscured the fact that no part of baseball history has ever been pure or pristine. In short, there is no stigma here regarding PEDs. They are a part of baseball history as much as institutional racism marked the game before 1947, as much as allegations of widespread amphetamine usage marked the game during the "Golden Era" of the 1950s and 1960s, and as much as Gaylord Perry marked his baseball before he threw it.
The bottom line is this: You evaluate the baseball you have, not the baseball you wish you had.
Candidates for the 2013 Hall of Fame Ballot
The following two tables list the 37 candidates on the 2013 ballot, first the 27 position players, and then the 10 pitchers. They are ranked by their career Wins Above Replacement from Baseball Reference (bWAR) along with other representative qualitative statistics (explained below each table).Here are the 27 position players on the 2013 Hall of Fame ballot, ranked by bWAR.
| Position Players on the 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot, Ranked by bWAR |
|||||
| Position Player |
Slash Line |
bWAR |
fWAR |
OPS+ |
wRC+ |
| Bonds, Barry |
.298/.444/.607 |
158.1 |
168.0 |
182 |
172 |
| Bagwell, Jeff |
.297/.408/.540 |
76.7 |
83.9 |
149 |
149 |
| Walker, Larry |
.313/.400/.565 |
69.7 |
73.2 |
141 |
141 |
| Trammell, Alan |
.285/.352/.415 |
67.1 |
69.5 |
110 |
111 |
| Raines, Tim |
.294/.385/.425 |
66.2 |
70.6 |
123 |
126 |
| Palmeiro, Rafael |
.288/.371/.515 |
66.1 |
74.2 |
132 |
130 |
| Lofton, Kenny |
.299/.372/.423 |
64.9 |
66.2 |
107 |
110 |
| Martinez, Edgar |
.312/.418/.515 |
64.4 |
69.9 |
147 |
148 |
| Biggio, Craig |
.281/.363/.433 |
62.1 |
70.5 |
112 |
115 |
| McGwire, Mark |
.263/.394/.588 |
58.7 |
70.6 |
163 |
157 |
| Piazza, Mike |
.308/.377/.545 |
56.1 |
66.8 |
143 |
141 |
| Sosa, Sammy |
.273/.344/.534 |
54.8 |
64.1 |
128 |
123 |
| McGriff, Fred |
.284/.377/.509 |
48.2 |
61.0 |
134 |
134 |
| Williams, Bernie |
.297/.381/.477 |
45.9 |
47.5 |
125 |
126 |
| Murphy, Dale |
.265/.346/.469 |
42.6 |
47.3 |
121 |
120 |
| Finley, Steve |
.271/.332/.442 |
40.4 |
44.2 |
104 |
104 |
| Mattingly, Don |
.307/.358/.471 |
39.8 |
45.8 |
127 |
124 |
| Franco, Julio |
.298/.365/.417 |
39.7 |
48.6 |
111 |
112 |
| Sanders, Reggie |
.267/.343/.487 |
36.7 |
41.8 |
115 |
115 |
| Cirillo, Jeff |
.296/.366/.430 |
32.0 |
36.4 |
102 |
104 |
| Green, Shawn |
.283/.355/.494 |
31.4 |
34.9 |
120 |
118 |
| White, Rondell |
.284/.336/.462 |
25.5 |
26.2 |
108 |
108 |
| Klesko, Ryan |
.279/.370/.500 |
24.6 |
32.7 |
128 |
127 |
| Clayton, Royce |
.258/.312/.367 |
16.4 |
21.7 |
78 |
76 |
| Conine, Jeff |
.285/.347/.443 |
16.2 |
24.4 |
107 |
107 |
| Alomar, Jr., Sandy |
.273/.309/.406 |
11.6 |
15.7 |
86 |
85 |
| Walker, Todd |
.289/.348/.435 |
8.3 |
11.5 |
98 |
98 |
Slash Line: Grouping of the player's career batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage.
bWAR: Career Wins Above Replacement as calculated by Baseball Reference.
fWAR: Career Wins Above Replacement as calculated by FanGraphs.
OPS+: Career on-base percentage plus slugging percentage, league- and park-adjusted, as calculated by Baseball Reference. Positively indexed to 100, with a 100 OPS+ indicating a league-average player, and values above 100 indicating the degrees better a player is than a league-average player.
wRC+: Career weighted Runs Created, league- and park-adjusted, as calculated by FanGraphs. Positively indexed to 100, with a 100 wRC+ indicating a league-average player, and values above 100 indicating the degrees better a player is than a league-average player.
Here are the 10 pitchers on the 2013 Hall of Fame ballot, ranked by bWAR.
| Pitchers on the 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot, Ranked by bWAR |
|||||
| Pitcher |
W-L (S), ERA |
bWAR |
fWAR |
ERA+ |
ERA- |
| Clemens, Roger |
354-184, 3.12 |
133.1 |
145.5 |
143 |
70 |
| Schilling, Curt |
216-146, 3.46 |
76.9 |
86.1 |
127 |
80 |
| Wells, David |
239-157, 4.13 |
49.4 |
61.2 |
108 |
93 |
| Morris, Jack |
254-186, 3.90 |
39.3 |
56.9 |
105 |
95 |
| Smith, Lee |
71-92 (478), 3.03 |
27.9 |
29.0 |
132 |
73 |
| Williams, Woody |
132-116, 4.19 |
25.0 |
19.8 |
103 |
97 |
| Sele, Aaron |
148-112, 4.61 |
17.2 |
33.6 |
100 |
99 |
| Hernandez, Roberto |
67-71 (326), 3.45 |
17.2 |
15.2 |
131 |
77 |
| Stanton, Mike |
68-63 (84), 3.92 |
12.6 |
13.7 |
112 |
90 |
| Mesa, Jose |
80-109 (321), 4.36 |
9.5 |
13.5 |
100 |
100 |
W-L (S), ERA: Grouping of the pitcher's career win-loss record (and career saves, if applicable) and career earned run average (ERA).
bWAR: Career Wins Above Replacement as calculated by Baseball Reference.
fWAR: Career Wins Above Replacement as calculated by FanGraphs.
ERA+: Career ERA, league- and park-adjusted, as calculated by Baseball Reference. Positively indexed to 100, with a 100 ERA+ indicating a league-average pitcher, and values above 100 indicating the degrees better a pitcher is than a league-average pitcher.
ERA-: Career ERA, league- and park-adjusted, as calculated by FanGraphs. Negatively indexed to 100, with a 100 ERA- indicating a league-average pitcher, and values below 100 indicating the degrees better a pitcher is than a league-average pitcher.
The table below combines both position players and pitchers into a ranking by bWAR.
| All 2013 Hall of Fame Candidates, Ranked by bWAR |
|||
| Rank |
Player |
bWAR |
fWAR |
| 1 |
Bonds, Barry |
158.1 |
168.0 |
| 2 |
Clemens, Roger |
133.1 |
145.5 |
| 3 |
Schilling, Curt |
76.9 |
86.1 |
| 4 |
Bagwell, Jeff |
76.7 |
83.9 |
| 5 |
Walker, Larry |
69.7 |
73.2 |
| 6 |
Trammell, Alan |
67.1 |
69.5 |
| 7 |
Raines, Tim |
66.2 |
70.6 |
| 8 |
Palmeiro, Rafael |
66.1 |
74.2 |
| 9 |
Lofton, Kenny |
64.9 |
66.2 |
| 10 |
Martinez, Edgar |
64.4 |
69.9 |
| 11 |
Biggio, Craig |
62.1 |
70.5 |
| 12 |
McGwire, Mark |
58.7 |
70.6 |
| 13 |
Piazza, Mike |
56.1 |
66.8 |
| 14 |
Sosa, Sammy |
54.8 |
64.1 |
| 15 |
Wells, David |
49.4 |
61.2 |
| 16 |
McGriff, Fred |
48.2 |
61.0 |
| 17 |
Williams, Bernie |
45.9 |
47.5 |
| 18 |
Murphy, Dale |
42.6 |
47.3 |
| 19 |
Finley, Steve |
40.4 |
44.2 |
| 20 |
Mattingly, Don |
39.8 |
45.8 |
| 21 |
Franco, Julio |
39.7 |
48.6 |
| 22 |
Morris, Jack |
39.3 |
56.9 |
| 23 |
Sanders, Reggie |
36.7 |
41.8 |
| 24 |
Cirillo, Jeff |
32.0 |
36.4 |
| 25 |
Green, Shawn |
31.4 |
34.9 |
| 26 |
Smith, Lee |
27.9 |
29.0 |
| 27 |
White, Rondell |
25.5 |
26.2 |
| 28 |
Williams, Woody |
25.0 |
19.8 |
| 29 |
Klesko, Ryan |
24.6 |
32.7 |
| 30 |
Sele, Aaron |
17.2 |
33.6 |
| 31 |
Hernandez, Roberto |
17.2 |
15.2 |
| 32 |
Clayton, Royce |
16.4 |
21.7 |
| 33 |
Conine, Jeff |
16.2 |
24.4 |
| 34 |
Stanton, Mike |
12.6 |
13.7 |
| 35 |
Alomar, Jr., Sandy |
11.6 |
15.7 |
| 36 |
Mesa, Jose |
9.5 |
13.5 |
| 37 |
Walker, Todd |
8.3 |
11.5 |
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