Part One of this series was easy—picking the five recently-retired players who will waltz into the Baseball Hall of Fame once they are eligible, probably during their first year of eligibility. Part Two is not going to be as easy: Yes, these players would, during any other time, be on the express train to Cooperstown. But the Hall of Fame ballot for the next several years is going to be overstuffed with worthy candidates; there are already several qualified candidates waiting for their call to lasting baseball greatness. Will we see surefire Hall of Famers overlooked and even discarded?

Every major sport has them: All-star games: An exhibition game comprising the sport's biggest stars that is essentially a wet dream for fans—the chance to see the best players in the game playing against each other. All the talented eggs in one shiny basket, as it were. But does being chosen as an all-star equate to lasting glory? In other words, how much weight should be given to being chosen as an all-star in determining whether a player is worthy of the Hall of Fame?

Ah! With summer here, thoughts naturally turn to . . . being stranded on a desert island. That might not be such a bad situation if you're marooned with Penelope Cruz (as in the latest Pirates of the Caribbean installment), but for our purposes it heralds that deathless chestnut beloved of writers short on time or ideas: If you were stuck on a desert island, what [music, books, films, etc.] would you want with you?

The first in a two-part series profiling future candidates for the Baseball Hall of Fame, this article outlines five players who I think are going to waltz into Cooperstown in upcoming years—more than likely in their first year of eligibility.