Angel-Laden Hall Ballot Is Less Than Heavenly

The names on the ballot include Bob Boone, Bill Buckner, Johnny Ray, Jerry Reuss, Don Sutton and Claudell Washington.

And this ballot is for what?

“Outstanding Angels of the Moose Stubing Era”?

“Nice Guys I, Cookie Rojas, Have Managed”?

Not quite.

Also listed on the ballot are Bobby Bonds, Tommy John, Fred Lynn, Vada Pinson and Luis Tiant.

“The All-Time ‘I Had A Great Career Going And Then I Joined The Angels’ Squad”?

No. Dave Concepcion also made the ballot and he had a great career going until he tried out for the Angels, was beaten out for a job by Glenn Hoffman, took that to be a valuable piece of vocational guidance and immediately retired in the spring of ’89.

In what must be a first for major league baseball, 11 former Angels are listed on this year’s Hall of Fame ballot.

Coincidentally or not, this year’s Hall of Fame ballot is roundly considered to be the leanest since 1964, when no nominee received the requisite 75% of the vote for election. The Hall of Fame, having already booked a caterer and rented the podium, decided someone had to get up there and say a few words at the ceremony, so a run-off election was held and, finally, Ducky Medwick and Red Ruffing squeaked through.

This year, there is no above-and-beyond-the-pack favorite, such as Mike Schmidt in 1994 or Steve Carlton in 1993. The first-year nominees are Boone, Buckner, Ray, Reuss, Washington, Keith Hernandez, Bob Knepper, Chet Lemon, Fred Lynn, Dan Quisenberry and John Tudor. The top holdovers are Sutton, Phil Niekro, Tony Perez, Steve Garvey, Jim Rice and Bruce Sutter.

For whom can we make an air-tight case?

Boone?

Nice glove, but he hit .254.

Buckner?

Nice glove, except for one fleeting moment.

Ray?

No wheels, no horsepower.

Reuss?

Averaged 11 victories per season.

Washington?

Really now.

Hernandez?

Pretty good actor.

Knepper?

Female baseball writers will get the last word.

Lemon?

Most years, he was not even the best outfielder on his own team.

Quisenberry?

Funny guy.

Tudor?

Surly guy.

Sutton?

Three-hundred victories, but only 20 in a single season once.

Niekro?

Three-hundred victories, but pitched until he was, what was it, 63?

Perez?

Too many teammates already in the Hall. Those mid-70s Reds were OK, but get real, they were no 1995 Indians.

Garvey?

Hall of Fame numbers. For a second baseman.

Rice?

Albert Belle Syndrome.

Sutter?

Ron Santo Syndrome. Subtitle: “If He Played For The Cubs, He Couldn’t Have Been THAT Good.”

In summation, then:

So where’s Orlando Cepeda when we really need him?

The 1995 ballot is considered so fair-to-middling, so there for the taking that special interest lobbyists are already wreaking havoc. A day after the Hall of Fame ballots came in the mail a flyer arrived pushing Tiant for next summer’s enshrinement.

“One of baseball’s premier key game starting pitchers of his day” the flyer read.

“Would rank 26th out of the total 52 Hall of Fame pitchers enshrined in Cooperstown based on a composite ranking of . . . 6 key pitcher evaluation yardsticks.”

Along with the cover sheet came another page, covered with many tiny numbers. You hate to see that. Shutouts-to-games-started ratios, complete-games-to-games-started ratios, strikeouts-per-every- nine-innings-pitched ratio. For all 52 pitchers already in the Hall of Fame, plus Tiant, plus Sutton, plus Niekro, plus John, plus Jim Kaat, a fourth potential rival on the 1995 ballot.

The numbers make a compelling case, I suppose, if you’re into squinting for long periods of time. If not, the numbers indicate that Tiant has one very loyal fan with a strong home computer and a good printer.

Tiant won 229 games, almost 100 fewer than Sutton, and he struck out 2,416 hitters, 1,100 fewer than Sutton. His career ERA of 3.30 is higher than Sutton’s and his career shutout total of 49 is lower by a good nine.

This is not to disparage Tiant candidacy--you could make a case, and someone has--but what does it say about Sutton’s? Twice, Sutton has been denied, on grounds that his career was more quantity than quality, mere consistency and longevity over brilliance. But, he won 324 games. And had 3,574 strikeouts. And a 3.30 earned-run average. And 58 shutouts.

Say what you will, but I say those numbers add up.

Sutton has appeared on my ballot before and he will again this time. So will Perez, who shouldn’t be penalized because he played alongside Joe Morgan and Johnny Bench or got fired by Marge Schott or fathered a third-base prospect for the Angels who never panned out. Perez had more than 2,700 hits, more than 370 home runs, more than 1,600 RBIs. That’s more hits than Lou Gehrig, more home runs than Gil Hodges, more RBIs than Harmon Killebrew.

Now is the time to vote them in.

Somebody has to show up to give the speeches.