This is definitely our favorite time of year and one of the days that shows the reason why this website was created. Today, the Baseball Hall of Fame have announced the Class of 2014 and there will be three new members as Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas have all been selected on their first year of eligibility. They will join a Tony LaRussa, Joe Torre and Bobby Cox who have already been selected by the Veterans Committee, making this a loaded class and one that should draw significantly better than the sad sack Class of 2013 which inducted one player (Deacon White) who last played in 1890.
We are going to take at this year’s ballot in order of their percentage of the vote.
Greg Maddux 97.2% Ranked #3 by NIHOF 1st Year on the Ballot
There is no shock here, as Maddux was clearly the biggest “untainted” name on the ballot. The only question here that we have is how many left their ballot blank or avoided this era completely (ie: Ken Gurnick) as we can’t see how the name Greg Maddux does not get written down. Frankly, anyone who didn’t should probably have his ballot revoked.
Tom Glavine 91.9% Ranked #9 by NIHOF 1st Year on the Ballot
Maddux’ long time Atlanta Braves teammate completes a Braves trifecta with Bobby Cox. Glavine statistically belongs here too as a first ballot inductee, though a look at some of the first ballot pitchers who did not get nearly the support shows that they are not far from some of the numbers that Glavine put up. Still, there is something that has to be sweet for Atlanta fans to see this happen.
Frank Thomas 83.7% Ranked #5 by NIHOF 1st Year on the Ballot
Thomas was very vocal about PED users and how they should not go in. He got his wish as not only are they not HOF bound this year, they are not going in with him on his first year on the ballot. Thomas is another that the Hall got right and statistically is worthy of a first ballot choice.
Craig Biggio 74.8 % Ranked #13 by NIHOF 2nd Year on the Ballot
Ouch! Up from his 68.2% from last year, the Houston Astro came as close as you can get without getting in. Biggio is the victim of the logjam on the ballot, though he is one of those players who although is a rare member of the 3,000 Hit Club and did so relatively speaking recently, he is one of those players you don’t always think about unless you are in Houston. He will get in soon though.
Mike Piazza 62.2% Ranked #6 by NIHOF 2nd Year on the Ballot
The good news for the greatest hitting Catcher of all time is that his tally went up by four percent. The bad news is that he should be in already and there is a PED suspicion around him that is keeping him from getting in.
Jack Morris 61.5% Ranked #27 by NIHOF 15th Year on the Ballot
You had to see this coming. Morris for some is a controversial choice as his signature performances and traditional statistics make him a Hall of Fame choice. His advanced metrics put him well out. He had worked his way to 67.7% last year, but rather than get over the hump, he fell due to the glut of new pitching talent that entered the ballot; namely Maddux and Glavine. Jack Morris will have to rely on the Veterans Committee from here on in, but our bet is that he won’t get in that way either.
Jeff Bagwell 54.3% Ranked #4 by NIHOF 2nd Year on the Ballot
See Piazza, Mike. Bagwell is another suspected (though unproven) of taking PEDs. However, unlike Piazza, Bagwell saw his support drop by about four percent from the previous year. Frankly, we are the most curious about following Bagwell’s future pattern than anyone else on this ballot.
Tim Raines 46.1% Ranked #8 by NIHOF 7th Year on the Ballot
The Rock’s HOF support has risen every year...until now. Last year he had over 52% and his drop has nothing to do with PEDs, just with the high amount of quality players on the ballot. More and more journalists have been writing about Tim Raines and the Hall of Fame, and we suspect that trend to continue. Expect him to again grow support next year and resume his climb.
Roger Clemens 35.4% Ranked #2 by NIHOF 2nd Year on the Ballot
This is not a shock as there was no reason to suspect that support was going to change for the known PED users. Clemens actually saw his percentage dip by 2 percent from last year, indicating that might follow the pattern of the first known PED guy on the ballot, Mark McGwire whose vote totals dip annually.
Barry Bonds 34.7% Ranked 1C by NIHOF 2nd Year on the Ballot
Like Clemens, Bonds’ support dropped by approximately two percent from the previous year. Do we really think that in thirteen years the climate will change for these guys to get in? Hey, that is a lifetime in sports and in public opinion!
Lee Smith 29.9% Ranked 34 by NIHOF 12th Year on the Ballot
Here is the guy we feel the worst for. Whether or not you think Lee Smith should be in for eleven years he had to think there was some kind of shot. His support has been from 36.6 to as high as 50.6 two years ago. For the first time, he has dropped to below 30 percent, and with three years left, he will be lucky to get back to the 50 mark. He won’t be that lucky.
Curt Schilling 29.2% Ranked 11 by NIHOF 2nd Year on the Ballot
Huh? Schilling dropped from 38.8 from last year which is either due to the mild PED speculation or mostly from the addition of Maddux and Glavine on the ballot. His JAWS is actually higher than Tom Glavine. We did not think he would get in this year, but we did not expect a near ten percent drop in voting percentage.
Edgar Martinez 25.2% Ranked 19 by NIHOF 5th Year on the Ballot
Edgar dropped ten percent on the ballot from last year and here we are forty years after the creation of the Designated Hitter it is clear that the establishment doesn’t respect it yet. Seattle fans, we know how important he was to you, but it doesn’t look good.
Alan Trammell 20.8% Ranked 15 by NIHOF 13th Year on the Ballot
Trammell also took a double digit drop and is way down from his 36.8% from two years ago. Perhaps the Veterans Committee will take a look at him (and Lou Whitaker) and give that duo a stronger look. Trammell will be fortunate to even get back the 16 percent back he lost in his final two years of eligibility.
Mike Mussina 20.3% Ranked 8 by NIHOF 1st Year on the Ballot
Are you kidding us? We did not think that Mussina would get on the first ballot, but this total is an insult. His 270 Wins and 2,813 Strikeouts should put him on the fence with traditionalists and his 83.0 WAR makes him a lock with sabremetricians. Let’s get some of these Baseball Writers to explain this one as even with this loaded ballot, this is a joke.
Jeff Kent 15.2% Ranked 47 by NIHOF 1st Year on the Ballot
This is at the high end of the spectrum of where we thought he would fall. A first year debut here usually means that this is where he will stay. Unless, the Baseball Writers watch reruns of Survivor.
Fred McGriff 11.7% Ranked 29 by NIHOF 5th Year on the Ballot
This isn’t good for the Crime Dog. This is McGriff’s lowest total by far, as two years ago he reached 23.9%. We aren’t saying that he should be in the Hall of Fame, but doesn’t it seem like he would have been higher than this?
Mark McGwire 11.0% Ranked 14 by NIHOF 8th Year on the Ballot
This is McGwire’s lowest total on his eight years on the ballot. Big Mac said that he shouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame because he took PEDs. Apparently more writers listened this year.
Larry Walker 10.2% Ranked 18 by NIHOF 4th Year on the Ballot
Walker also dropped ten percent in voting. Want to what is worse than Performance Enhancing Drugs to the Baseball Writers? Playing in Coors Field.
Don Mattingly 8.2% Ranked 64 14th Year on the Ballot
Donnie Baseball is really just riding the pines on this one, though this is his lowest level of support. Incidentally, his highest vote percentage was 28.2 which occurred on his first year of eligibility.
Sammy Sosa 7.2% Ranked 17 2nd Year on the Ballot
We wonder if Sammy needs an interpreter to tell him that he won’t get in?
Rafael Palmeiro 4.4% Ranked 16 4th Year on the Ballot
Palmeiro doesn’t need an interpreter as he saw this coming a long time ago. In our eyes, this is the biggest victim of the PED backlash, or at least the one who comes off looking the saddest.
So...what have we learned?
We know that the PED users are still screwed in regards to Cooperstown.
We know that those suspected (Bagwell, Piazza, Schilling) still have a long haul to go.
We know that Mike Mussina was screwed.
We know that he will be screwed next year because Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz now enter the ballot.
We would like to hear from you and your thoughts on the Class of 2014.
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