Who's headed to the Hall of Fame?

Ichiro makes it. Kent does not. Sheffield makes it if he gets to 500 (not looking like it right now).

Otherwise -- Maddux, Johnson, Glavine, Smoltz (I'm personally on the fence, but I think he'll get in), Pudge, A-Rod, Jeter, Hoffman, Rivera, Jones, Thomas, Griffey, Ramirez, Martinez.

Thome probably makes it, but I wouldn't vote for him.

If Vladimir Guerrero has another 3-4 Vlad-like years, he's in too.

 

He's at 488 right now.

And he did hit 25 last year, despite numerous injuries. And he still has a year left on his contract after this year.

Even with 500 tho, I don't know if he's a lock.

 

Considering his recent seasons, when he's been considered one of the most feared hitters in the game, if he manages to put up a few more years of the same (which, granted, is a big if), then we might have a real argument.

 

Jim Rice was "one of the most feared hitters in the game" for a decade. He'll never get in. He didn't rack up the counting stats.

Ortiz got himself started too late in terms of putting up the big numbers. I can't imagine him getting to 450 HR and 1500 RBI -- he's already starting to break down a bit physically.

Of course the clutch moments and the championships put him in a better place. But I think time is against him.

 

Yeah, I agree, he's definitely a late-bloomer, and he probably won't get there. I just don't think he can be so easily dismissed.

 

If Ortiz gets in without ever really putting on a glove, then Dave Parker and his two MVPs and three GGs has a gripe.

Oh, neither of these two guys should be in the HOF.

Ortiz needs at least 550 HRs, and that is not going to happen.

 

Is that possible?

 

Well, we all know you won't need them. :-*

 

Maybe.

But I go back to Edgar Martinez, another DH I really hated.

Martinez was the best right-handed hitter in baseball for multiple years and he didn't get a sniff at the HOF, so Ortiz will have to hit a whole mess of homers in the next couple of years to even have a chance.

 

The City of Chicago will win a professional title before the City of Detroit. Book it.

 

No Ichiro, 'gola? Why the hell not? He's a huge lock in my book.

 

If it is based on his American stats, I'm cool, I guess. He's been the best hitter in baseball for awhile, though all of those hits were singles which sours it a bit in my mind.

My problem is the Mariners broadcasters, who keep saying he is nearing 3,000 hits. The Japanese stats don't count if they are up for Rookie of the Year awards, though if the Japanese stats count then Matsui is closing in on 500 and is also a lock for the HOF.