2017 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot

You know who got the shaft, bad? Mark McGwire.

 

yeah, he led the league in nothing for the last 15 years of his career. He made no All-Star games after 1987 and he played till 2002, which tells you that neither fans or contemporaries considered him a future hall of famer.

I understand how great he was in the 1980s, but he hung on forever as a part-time player and so, yeah, he eventually got on base as many times as tony gwynn and all that. I know he had a great peak, I've read all the Jonah Keri pieces, but he still falls short for me. The highest he finished in an MVP race for the last 2/3rds of his career was 17th in 1989. Just a weird career, but yeah, he had a great peak.

EDIT: Also, his rookie cards were always worth jack shit compared to Rickey Henderson's.

 

Going to join Cd Boogie on this one as well. For years, I felt Raines was way overdue, but that was based on distorted memories on my part. I remember his great rookie year, I remembered a batting title, I remembered him leading the NL steals every year...I elevated him to being very close to being Ricky Henderson.

He wasn't. His peak wasn't that great nor long. Only three top 10 finishes in mvp voting, never higher than fifth. Never led in WAR. Has a good OPS, but not phenomenal.

Still, he is in and the Hall is no worse for it.

 

What did Raines do as a hitter that the "stats thing" does not reveal? Do tell.

 

He generated "excitement." Duh.

 

He did. But if somehow there could be one guy taking the PED fall, and then all the debating about unproved B.S. stopped, I would be OK with him taking the fall.

 

He fouled off a lot of pitches. Did they track those back then?

 

Him and Sosa both belong in the Hall of Fame. Two guys who dominated the league for the better part of a decade, stats-wise and charisma-wise. Seems like high-horse BS to keep them out.

 

You guys are kidding, right? He had a seven-year stretch where he had six years with an OPS of .820 or higher AND 50 or more steals. His SB success rate was well above 80 pct. in all of those years. I dare say if we do what you want to do now and retrofit his career into what we value today, he would have fared a lot better in MVP voting. In 1987 for instance, his OPS was 55 points higher than Dawson's, and he stole 50 bases in 55 attempts.

If you're quoting OPS+, you're missing the point as it doesn't count steals.

 

Don't forget his intense stare.

 

he obviously wasn't as feared as Jim Rice...