Last call: Baseball Hall of Fame ballot is announced

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This year’s baseball Hall of Fame ballot was announced, and Rickey Henderson heads 10 first-time candidates on this year’s Hall of Fame ballot, joining holdovers from last year’s ballot, including Jim Rice, who is eligible for the final time.
Other newcomers are Jay Bell, David Cone, Ron Gant, Mark Grace, Jesse Orosco, Dan Plesac, Greg Vaughn, Mo Vaughn and Matt Williams.
Just 23 players are on the ballot, the smallest group ever. Holdovers include Harold Baines, Bert Blyleven, Andre Dawson, Tommy John, Don Mattingly, Mark McGwire, Jack Morris, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker, Tim Raines, Lee Smith and Alan Trammell.
A 10-time All-Star, Henderson holds the career records for steals (1,406) and runs (2,295), and his 2,190 walks are second to Barry Bonds’ 2,558. Henderson also is first in caught stealing with 335.
Henderson played for nine teams, winning the 1990 AL MVP award with Oakland.
Vote totals will be announnced Jan. 12. But let’s take a closer look. Who deserves to be in on this list?

First, the ‘Why are they even on the ballot’ list: Jay Bell, Ron Gant, Dan Plesac, Greg Vaughn.

The definite no’s, guys who had good careers, just not quite Hall of Fame careers: David Cone, Mark Grace, Jesse Orosco, Dave Parker, Mo Vaughn, Matt Williams.

Guys you can make a case for, but don’t quite make the Hall of Fame list:

Harold Baines: Did you realize that the baseball strikes/work stoppages in probably will keep Baines out of the Hall of Fame? He missed about 140 games (a conservative estimate) because of work stoppages. Baines ended his career with 2,866 hits. If there were no strikes, he would have passed 3,000 hits easily.

Don Mattingly: However, why is Mattingly not in the Hall of Fame, while Kirby Puckett was voted in easily? Their numbers are almost indentical. Click here and compare them for yourself, you’ll see what I mean.

Others on the ‘almost’ list: Andre Dawson, Jack Morris, Dale Murphy, Tim Raines, Jim Rice, Lee Smith, Alan Trammell.

That leaves us with the top four candidates:

Rickey Henderson: A definite yes. There’s no need to go over all of Rickey’s accomplishments, because Rickey always did a great job of that himself. Suffice to say, he was the greatest leadoff hitter of all time.

Bert Blyleven: It’s a crime the Blyleven isn’t already in the Hall of Fame. He won 287 games despite spending most of his career with bad teams. He is fifth in career strikeouts with 3,701 and ninth in shutouts with 60. The active leader in shutouts? Randy Johnson, with 36.

Tommy John: Yes. He won 288 games, the most of any eligible modern pitcher not in the Hall of Fame. He also was the first guy who had what is now called Tommy John surgery, and I’m sure the decision to let a doctor, even one as respected as Frank Jobe, perform an experimental surgical technique on your arm wasn’t and easy one.

That brings us to Mark McGwire. McGwire’s claim to the Hall of Fame rests almost entirely on his home runs. There’s a great question as to whether he hit all those home runs without help. Unlike Barry Bonds, who was a Hall of Famer before the steroids era, McGwire didn’t become a Hall of Famer until he had his best seasons in the heart of the steroids era. So, Mark McGwire gets a big no vote for the Hall of Fame.

So that leaves us with 3 Hall of Famers: Bert Blyleven, Rickey Henderson and Tommy John.

-- Houston Mitchell