So who is on your 2015 HOF ballot?

jbhofmann · Jan 6, 2015

Barry Lamar Bonds with or without steroids was one of the greatest players to ever play, period. I legitimately believe he was clean until at least 1999. When he saw the 98' Big Mac and Sammy fiasco his ego got the best of him and he wanted to see what he could do if he got a little boost.

His career up to that point was Hall of Fame worthy. Just look through his baseball-reference page if you haven't in a while. It's disgusting.

WCTYSON · Jan 6, 2015

jbhofmann said:
Barry Lamar Bonds with or without steroids was one of the greatest players to ever play, period. I legitimately believe he was clean until at least 1999. When he saw the 98' Big Mac and Sammy fiasco his ego got the best of him and he wanted to see what he could do if he got a little boost.

His career up to that point was Hall of Fame worthy. Just look through his baseball-reference page if you haven't in a while. It's disgusting.

And he threw his legacy away, because being one of the best ever was not good enough. He wanted to be considered the best ever and became a total freak show. I have zero sympathy for him not being inducted into the HOF. His accomplishments will be recognized there but I do not think he will ever be inducted, like Clemens and Palmeiro. He was the extremely rare balance of speed and power, one that had not been seen since his father and Mays. It would have been great to see it play out.

jbone17 · Jan 6, 2015

Here are my four, as well as one with a brief breakdown of each:

1.) Pedro Martinez. You can ask the following question to someone who has a faint idea of baseball: "Do you know Pedro?" Everyone and their brother knows whom you're talking about. I consider Pedro to be in the top three as one of the greatest pitchers that has ever thrown a baseball on the mound. His dominance in the AL East was hard to ignore and the "Reverse the Curse" team was the nail in the coffin for his legacy. He only won 219 games, but he only lost 100 games. The absolute chaos that he caused on a mound was mind blowing. I cowarded in fear, whenever this guy pitched against my Yankees.

2.) Randy Johnson. There is literally no arguments against Pedro, as well as "The Big Unit." Over 300 wins and near 5,000 strikeouts will make the persuasion easy.

3.) John Smoltz. He is the only pitcher in the game's history to win at least 200 games as a starter and save at least 150 games. The difficulty in preparing mentally for both roles, as well as succeeding in both roles is hard to classify as moot. The days under Bobby Cox at Atlanta's 13 straight division titles were a large part of Smoltz. Maddux is in another realm, but this guy was incredible.

4.) Craig Biggio. Yes, Biggio never came close to an MVP award. The last time that I checked, this wasn't the only criteria for the Hall of Fame. Biggio stayed with the Astros for a damn good majority of his big league career. He is a member of the 3,000 hit club. He was controversey free (Yes, that's easy to do in Houston). The man was a pure leader. He might not have been the best, but he was consistent. He never won a World Series and there never was a huge moment with the guy. However, you cannot ignore 3,000 hits.

CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR

5.) Mike Piazza. Now, Piazza was the best offensive catcher to ever suit up. He has the most homers ever by a backstop. However, he is going to be lumped in with PED users, which adds to the uncertainty. He is going to fall into the same category as Bagwell, Edgar Martinez, and the like. Even though direct links are nonexistent, Piazza is going to be thrown into this cloud of maybe. I, for one, feel that he does belong. This man defied all odds. He was a 62nd round pick in 1989. He never won the big game, but if writers elected: Johnny Bench, Gary Carter, and Carlton Fisk, you cannot exclude Piazza. He will get in, I'm thinking as early as next year. If he gets in this year, kudos!

homerun28aa · Jan 6, 2015

WCTYSON said:
And he threw his legacy away, because being one of the best ever was not good enough. He wanted to be considered the best ever and became a total freak show. I have zero sympathy for him not being inducted into the HOF. His accomplishments will be recognized there but I do not think he will ever be inducted, like Clemens and Palmeiro. He was the extremely rare balance of speed and power, one that had not been seen since his father and Mays. It would have been great to see it play out.

I agree with this, I feel very similarly about A-Rod. IMO, and I'm no expert by any means, A-Rods swing is one of the cleanest I've ever seen. He can turn on the ball and drive it out of the park like very few people his size and weight can but again the PEDs taint the legacy as they should because after that it becomes pure speculation. I agree with jbhoffman that Bonds was a HOF player before steroids and that's just a shame for him, I think he'll get in eventually but either way his legacy is tainted at this point.

homerun28aa · Jan 6, 2015

jbone17 said:
Here are my four, as well as one with a brief breakdown of each:

1.) Pedro Martinez. You can ask the following question to someone who has a faint idea of baseball: "Do you know Pedro?" Everyone and their brother knows whom you're talking about. I consider Pedro to be in the top three as one of the greatest pitchers that has ever thrown a baseball on the mound. His dominance in the AL East was hard to ignore and the "Reverse the Curse" team was the nail in the coffin for his legacy. He only won 219 games, but he only lost 100 games. The absolute chaos that he caused on a mound was mind blowing. I cowarded in fear, whenever this guy pitched against my Yankees.

2.) Randy Johnson. There is literally no arguments against Pedro, as well as "The Big Unit." Over 300 wins and near 5,000 strikeouts will make the persuasion easy.

3.) John Smoltz. He is the only pitcher in the game's history to win at least 200 games as a starter and save at least 150 games. The difficulty in preparing mentally for both roles, as well as succeeding in both roles is hard to classify as moot. The days under Bobby Cox at Atlanta's 13 straight division titles were a large part of Smoltz. Maddux is in another realm, but this guy was incredible.

4.) Craig Biggio. Yes, Biggio never came close to an MVP award. The last time that I checked, this wasn't the only criteria for the Hall of Fame. Biggio stayed with the Astros for a damn good majority of his big league career. He is a member of the 3,000 hit club. He was controversey free (Yes, that's easy to do in Houston). The man was a pure leader. He might not have been the best, but he was consistent. He never won a World Series and there never was a huge moment with the guy. However, you cannot ignore 3,000 hits.

CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR

5.) Mike Piazza. Now, Piazza was the best offensive catcher to ever suit up. He has the most homers ever by a backstop. However, he is going to be lumped in with PED users, which adds to the uncertainty. He is going to fall into the same category as Bagwell, Edgar Martinez, and the like. Even though direct links are nonexistent, Piazza is going to be thrown into this cloud of maybe. I, for one, feel that he does belong. This man defied all odds. He was a 62nd round pick in 1989. He never won the big game, but if writers elected: Johnny Bench, Gary Carter, and Carlton Fisk, you cannot exclude Piazza. He will get in, I'm thinking as early as next year. If he gets in this year, kudos!

Why will Piazza be lumped in with the PED users? He never tested positive for a banned substance and he denied using banned substances, you're just going to "lump him in" with the other guys on speculation and deny him of a HOF spot that he would otherwise deserve? I don't think the baseball writers will take this approach as that screams total injustice.

jbone17 · Jan 6, 2015

homerun28aa said:
Why will Piazza be lumped in with the PED users? He never tested positive for a banned substance and he denied using banned substances, you're just going to "lump him in" with the other guys on speculation and deny him of a HOF spot that he would otherwise deserve? I don't think the baseball writers will take this approach as that screams total injustice.

I should have clarified. I think the suspicion around Piazza will keep him out. I even stated in my reasoning that no direct link exists, so therefore, don't agree that Piazza did. He should have been first ballot. I think he misses because of suspicion, not evidence. Bonds, and Clemens also stated they didn't use steroids, so writers have taken their words with a grain of salt.

homerun28aa · Jan 6, 2015

jbone17 said:
I should have clarified. I think the suspicion around Piazza will keep him out. I even stated in my reasoning that no direct link exists, so therefore, don't agree that Piazza did. He should have been first ballot. I think he misses because of suspicion, not evidence. Bonds, and Clemens also stated they didn't use steroids, so writers have taken their words with a grain of salt.

A couple hours ago he was at 75.49% and the official numbers will come out at 2 PM, which is less than two hours away so we shall see. The thing with Clemens and Bonds was that Clemens was caught up in lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie and Bonds lied quite a bit and c'mon, Bonds was a freaking speedster when he came into the league he was a stolen base guy and came out as the HR King. Clemens' personal trainer swore that he injected Clemens with steroids, I think Clemens just went with the deny till you die approach but it's really a joke he took them and everyone and their mother knows it. Piazza was more honest about it (or at least from what we know/can prove). He said ok I took this but once it was introduced to the banned substance list I immediately stopped and then I did this which was later banned as well. No trainers have come out saying they injected him with HGH, no positive tests for PEDs. To me there's a distinct difference between Piazza and then Clemens and Bonds. Again the fact that he's right on that bubble speaks to the fact that the writers are not viewing him as a steroid guy IMO I think they're genuinely voting based on the HOF criteria and it may just turn out that he's a second or third ballot inductee but we'll find that out soon.

gojacks63 · Jan 6, 2015

19braves77 said:
I think the following four get in tommorow: Martinez, Johnson, Smoltz, and Biggio

My guesses at their vote %

96.9 - R. Johnson
94.8 - P. Martinez
82.7 - Smoltz
77.1 - Biggio

Piazza missing with 73.9 %

Wow man! Your percentages weren't too far off! Nice!

Johnny G · Jan 6, 2015

Can we ban Bud Selig from ever being put in the HOF?

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