How many of the following active players would you vote into the HOF?

[Mizzougrad96]

This is if their careers ended today... I think Jones and Guerrero have 10 years,if not, they're damn close... I don't think Pujols has 10 yet...

If I'm leaving someone off, please let me know...

 

[mike311gd]

I voted for 21 players, and I don't think it was a generous vote. The players I didn't vote for were Mussina, Sosa, Andruw or Chipper Jones, Delgado, Sheffield, Wells, Edmonds or Garciaparra. Give both Andruw and Chipper a few more years, and my votes might change. The same goes with Delgado and Sheffield -- no matter how big a douche he is.

 

[Jim Tom Pinch]

No or not yet on:
Sammy Sosa
Mike Mussina
David Ortiz
David Wells
Andruw Jones
Jeff Kent
Nomar Garciaparra
Ivan Rodriguez
Gary Sheffield
Carlos Delgado
Chipper Jones
Vladimir Guerrero
Jim Edmonds

 

[Songbird]

22 of 30

Ortiz
Wells
Andruw with a U
Nomar
Thome
Delgado
Chipper *
Edmonds

* I hope he can put together a solid final 6-8 years, and then I'll decide.

 

[dreunc1542]

My question after 10 voters is: Who didn't vote for A-Rod and Junior? I don't see how those guys aren't first ballot all the way.

 

[statrat]

Players I voted in:
A-Rod-most spectacular offensive player of his generation, and not to shabby with the glove either

Clemens-great pitcher even now

Maddox
Smoltz-These three should all go in together
Glavine

Randy Johnson- Fading now, but possibly the scariest pitcher of his era

Biggio-gets in thanks to 3,000 hits

Hoffman
Rivera-have defined the closer role for this era

Piazza- best offensive catcher ever despite his weak defense

Griffey Jr.- Any explanation needed?

Chipper Jones- Will go down as one of the best 3B ever. .306/.403./.544 with 2000+ hits and 375 homers is plenty enough for me.

 

[Alma]

Do you paint Sosa with the same brush as Bonds? I mean, we can suppose, but there's not nearly the anecdotal evidence against him as there is Bonds.

Sosa's numbers would put him in the Hall. Christ, if Tony Gwynn's first ballot...

 

[Chi City 81]

I'm disheartened by the lack of support for Sosa. For those who think he was a roided-out, one-dimensional player, keep in mind he was a 30-30 guy with a cannon for a right arm; the poor man's Barry Bonds (without the plate discipline) or Reggie Jackson (without the postseason success).

He's also the only guy with three 60-homer seasons. If Bonds is a Hall of Famer (and he is, IMO), then so is Sosa.

 

[dreunc1542]

I'm disheartened by the lack of support for Sosa. For those who think he was a roided-out, one-dimensional player, keep in mind he was a 30-30 guy with a cannon for a right arm; the poor man's Barry Bonds (without the plate discipline) or Reggie Jackson (without the postseason success).

He's also the only guy with three 60-homer seasons. If Bonds is a Hall of Famer (and he is, IMO), then so is Sosa.

The sense I get regarding the difference between the two is this: Bonds was a HOFer anyway before his home run numbers jumped whereas Sosa didn't have the numbers before his HR's jumped drastically.

 

[Alma]

Christ, if Tony Gwynn's first ballot...

??? ??? ???

Well, seriously. Are you honestly going to argue Gwynn had more impact as a hitter than Sosa? The guy used glorified fungo bats and slapped singles. I mean, yes, sure, he was wonderful. But he didn't have more impact as a hitter than Sosa.

 

[Alma]

I'm disheartened by the lack of support for Sosa. For those who think he was a roided-out, one-dimensional player, keep in mind he was a 30-30 guy with a cannon for a right arm; the poor man's Barry Bonds (without the plate discipline) or Reggie Jackson (without the postseason success).

He's also the only guy with three 60-homer seasons. If Bonds is a Hall of Famer (and he is, IMO), then so is Sosa.

The hell he's a poor man's Reggie Jackson. Put Sosa and frickin As and Yanks in those days, and see how many world series he could have won.

 

[pressboxramblings07]

Derek Jeter - First-ballot
Barry Bonds - First-ballot
Sammy Sosa - First-ballot
Alex Rodriguez - First-ballot
Roger Clemens - First-ballot
Greg Maddux - First-ballot
Tom Glavine - First-ballot
John Smoltz - Yes, but not first-ballot
Mike Mussina - No.
Pedro Martinez - First-ballot
Randy Johnson - First-ballot
Frank Thomas - I'm still on the fence, but leaning no.
Craig Biggio - Will he get in? Yes. Do I think he should? No.
Trevor Hoffman - He can get in when Lee Smith does. No.
Mariano Rivera - Yes, but maybe not first-ballot.
David Ortiz - If his career ended today, no.
Manny Ramirez - Yep.
David Wells - Heck no.
Andruw Jones - Nope.
Jeff Kent - He he, no.
Nomar Garciaparra - Uh, big no.
Ivan Rodriguez - First-ballot
Gary Sheffield - Nope.
Mike Piazza - Hmm, that's a tough one. Right now, I guess yes.
Ken Griffey Jr. - First-ballot
Jim Thome - No way.
Carlos Delgado - Even bigger no way.
Chipper Jones - Nope.
Vladimir Guerrero - Same boat as a few others. Not if his career ended today. He will be one day, though.
Jim Edmonds - Nope.

-----------------------------------

That's 16 for me.

 

[mike311gd]

Christ, if Tony Gwynn's first ballot...

??? ??? ???

Well, seriously. Are you honestly going to argue Gwynn had more impact as a hitter than Sosa? The guy used glorified fungo bats and slapped singles. I mean, yes, sure, he was wonderful. But he didn't have more impact as a hitter than Sosa.

He also won eight batting titles, went to 15 All-Star Games, won five Gold Gloves, led the National League in hits seven times and has the highest career batting average since Ted Williams. Yeah, I'd say Gwynn is better than Sosa.

 

[Chi City 81]

I'm disheartened by the lack of support for Sosa. For those who think he was a roided-out, one-dimensional player, keep in mind he was a 30-30 guy with a cannon for a right arm; the poor man's Barry Bonds (without the plate discipline) or Reggie Jackson (without the postseason success).

He's also the only guy with three 60-homer seasons. If Bonds is a Hall of Famer (and he is, IMO), then so is Sosa.

The sense I get regarding the difference between the two is this: Bonds was a HOFer anyway before his home run numbers jumped whereas Sosa didn't have the numbers before his HR's jumped drastically.

His numbers jumped, though, when he was entering his late-20's, which has been any athlete's prime.

These are his numbers during that prime:

1995 26 CHC NL 144 564 89 151 17 3 36 119 34 7 58 134 .268 .340 .500 123 282 0 2 11 5 8
1996 27 CHC NL 124 498 84 136 21 2 40 100 18 5 34 134 .273 .323 .564 128 281 0 4 6 5 14
1997 28 CHC NL 162 642 90 161 31 4 36 119 22 12 45 174 .251 .300 .480 99 308 0 5 9 2 16
1998 29 CHC NL 159 643 134 198 20 0 66 158 18 9 73 171 .308 .377 .647 160 416 0 5 14 1 20
1999 30 CHC NL 162 625 114 180 24 2 63 141 7 8 78 171 .288 .367 .635 141 397 0 6 8 3 17
2000 31 CHC NL 156 604 106 193 38 1 50 138 7 4 91 168 .320 .406 .634 169 383 0 8 19 2 12
2001 32 CHC NL 160 577 146 189 34 5 64 160 0 2 116 153 .328 .437 .737 201 425 0 12 37 6 6
2002 33 CHC NL 150 556 122 160 19 2 49 108 2 0 103 144 .288 .399 .594 160 330 0 4 15 3 14
2003 34 CHC NL 137 517 99 144 22 0 40 103 0 1 62 143 .279 .358 .553 135 286 0 5 9 5 14

He wasn't Bonds, jumping way past his career averages in his mid-30's. He did it during his prime.

 

[statrat]

I just want to say thank you to everyone for not using All-Star games and Gold Gloves as hall of fame qualifications. This stat head thanks you.

Also, I add Sosa and Bonds to my list.

 

[JayFarrar]

I vote none, I'm not in BBWA, but if Clemens gets in on the first ballot and with no discussion of his PEDs use, then Bonds gets in and everybody should STFU about Barry.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Clemens is clearly using PEDs so if he's in so is Sosa.

 

[beefncheddar]

Alex Rodriguez
Roger Clemens
Greg Maddux
Tom Glavine
John Smoltz
Pedro Martinez
Randy Johnson
Frank Thomas
Craig Biggio
Mariano Rivera
Manny Ramirez
Andruw Jones
Ivan Rodriguez
Ken Griffey Jr.

And in hindsight, I probably should have listed Sosa.

 

[dreunc1542]

I'm disheartened by the lack of support for Sosa. For those who think he was a roided-out, one-dimensional player, keep in mind he was a 30-30 guy with a cannon for a right arm; the poor man's Barry Bonds (without the plate discipline) or Reggie Jackson (without the postseason success).

He's also the only guy with three 60-homer seasons. If Bonds is a Hall of Famer (and he is, IMO), then so is Sosa.

The sense I get regarding the difference between the two is this: Bonds was a HOFer anyway before his home run numbers jumped whereas Sosa didn't have the numbers before his HR's jumped drastically.

His numbers jumped, though, when he was entering his late-20's, which has been any athlete's prime.

These are his numbers during that prime:

1995 26 CHC NL 144 564 89 151 17 3 36 119 34 7 58 134 .268 .340 .500 123 282 0 2 11 5 8
1996 27 CHC NL 124 498 84 136 21 2 40 100 18 5 34 134 .273 .323 .564 128 281 0 4 6 5 14
1997 28 CHC NL 162 642 90 161 31 4 36 119 22 12 45 174 .251 .300 .480 99 308 0 5 9 2 16
1998 29 CHC NL 159 643 134 198 20 0 66 158 18 9 73 171 .308 .377 .647 160 416 0 5 14 1 20
1999 30 CHC NL 162 625 114 180 24 2 63 141 7 8 78 171 .288 .367 .635 141 397 0 6 8 3 17
2000 31 CHC NL 156 604 106 193 38 1 50 138 7 4 91 168 .320 .406 .634 169 383 0 8 19 2 12
2001 32 CHC NL 160 577 146 189 34 5 64 160 0 2 116 153 .328 .437 .737 201 425 0 12 37 6 6
2002 33 CHC NL 150 556 122 160 19 2 49 108 2 0 103 144 .288 .399 .594 160 330 0 4 15 3 14
2003 34 CHC NL 137 517 99 144 22 0 40 103 0 1 62 143 .279 .358 .553 135 286 0 5 9 5 14

He wasn't Bonds, jumping way past his career averages in his mid-30's. He did it during his prime.

I was more pointing out what seems to be the general consensus. Although, I tend to lean towards Sosa not getting in. It's one thing for Sosa's numbers to jump, but he went from hitting 36 to 66 HR's in one year, that's a HUGE jump. Before that season he never finished higher than 8th in the MVP voting. Bonds won 3 MVPs in 4 years and it should have been 4 straight. You bring up Sosa being a 30-30 guy, but he only stole more than 30 bases 3 times whereas Bonds did it 9 times. Either way, Bonds was a clearcut HOFer before 1998, Sosa is much more suspect. Even as I type this I'm up in the air when it comes to him.

 

[Alma]

Christ, if Tony Gwynn's first ballot...

??? ??? ???

Well, seriously. Are you honestly going to argue Gwynn had more impact as a hitter than Sosa? The guy used glorified fungo bats and slapped singles. I mean, yes, sure, he was wonderful. But he didn't have more impact as a hitter than Sosa.

He was a .338 hitter who won eight (8! :o) batting titles and had nearly 1,000 more hits than Sosa (including 150 more doubles and 40 more triples), stole 300+ bases (100 more than Sosa), a five-time Gold Glover, etc., etc., etc.

Yeah, I'm going to argue he had more impact as a hitter -- not as a run-producer, obviously -- and I'm not going to have to work hard to do it.

How is this even a discussion? ???

It's a discussion because Sosa hit nearly <b> 500 </b> more home runs than Gwynn.

I know how much of a favorite Gwynn is with seamheads. Fact is, he chose bats that were glorified fungoes. The advantage was he could swing them fast and easy, make a lot of contact. The disadvantage was that the ball usually went about 190 feet.