Sully Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot

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I do not have a vote. This blog post does not influence who gets into the Hall of Fame. While I am vigorously working on changing that situation, I might as well cast a fake ballot.

If I were voting for the Baseball Hall of Fame and had to abide by their silly “No More Than 10 Names On The Ballot” rule, this would be how I would fill out my ballot.

They all played in 1999, so they will be represented by their 1999 Topps Cards.

BARRY BONDS
Bonds would get my vote even if he played with a needle sticking out of his arm as he came to the plate. You might not like him. You might not like PEDs and that is your right to not support him. I believe he is one of the 5 best offensive players in baseball history and was already a Hall of Famer before he bulked up.

ROGER CLEMENS
Like Bonds, is an all time great who was a Hall of Famer before he ballooned up. Like Bonds has been his own worst enemy in terms of winning the fans and press over to his side. He was one of the greatest I ever saw and pitched at a super high level for a generation and then some. It wasn’t ALL PEDs.

VLADIMIR GUERRERO
An MVP with the bat and his monster arm, Vlad delivered monster power numbers in three different decades and being an all around dominating force in Montreal. He won the MVP in Anaheim and helped the Angels and Rangers in post season runs.

EDGAR MARTINEZ
The Designated Hitter is a spot in the lineup. As long as that is the case, players who were primarily DH’s should be eligible for the Hall of Fame. The ones that get in should be extraordinary, like Edgar Martinez. The best right handed hitter of his time, he posted a higher career OPS than Hank Aaron all the while posting eye popping numbers year in an year out.

MIKE MUSSINA
As steady an ace as there was in his era, Mussina won big year after year in the powerful AL East. Forget his relatively high ERA. He was in the middle of the roids era and still bringing the goods, right up until his final year, a 20 win season.

TIM RAINES
It took a decade for people to realize that Rock was one of the best players of his era. His greatest sin was not being as good as Rickey Henderson. Few were. Tim Raines put up Hall of Fame numbers and will hopefully have the plaque to go with it.

MANNY RAMIREZ
Am I biased because he was the 2004 World Series MVP and one of my favorite players? Sure. Did he get suspended for PEDs? Sure twice! Was he a monster at the plate and put up jaw dropping numbers along the way? Of course. Would he give the most insane speech in Cooperstown history? No doubt.

IVAN RODRIGUEZ
The best overall catcher I ever saw play, Pudge could throw, call a great game and hit. Granted he didn’t deserve that MVP in 1999 (that was Pedro’s!) But he did lead the Marlins to the 2003 crown with big hits in each round. PEDs? Sure. Still gets my vote.

CURT SCHILLING
Hey! Another 2004 Red Sox player! OK, so I won’t talk politics with him. But there is no denying his dominance in not only the post season but in the regular season as well. He didn’t win a Cy Young because he was in the same league as Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson. He was as good a big game pitcher as I have ever seen in my life. And yes, I was at the Bloody Sock game.

LARRY WALKER
Hey! I am voting in a Colorado Rockie! Walker would be the first ever enshrined. Yeah, I know he played in both the Steroid Era AND in Coors Field, which makes a lot of people not consider his stats. But he also was a great player in Montreal and put up consistent MVP caliber stats year in and year out while playing great defense as well.

 

So yes, I want all 10 of those players in. I wish all 10 would get elected. I want a super crowded stage.

Clearly PEDs are not a huge deterrent for me. I would give Sammy Sosa some love if I had room on the ballot.

Chances are Jeff Bagwell and Trevor Hoffman are getting in. You could convince me of Bagwell and you could convince me of Gary Sheffield. Maybe they will be on the ballot next year. I am not a big Trevor Hoffman guy. Specialists can’t wet the bed in the big game as often as Hoffman did. Same goes for Lee Smith. Billy Wagner has a more compelling case than them. I hope he stays on the ballot.

I always felt Jeff Kent was overrated, Fred McGriff falls just short. Meanwhile 2004 Red Sox Jason Varitek, Tim Wakefield and Orlando Cabrera will be one and done.

So let’s see what happens tomorrow.

My prediction?

I predict that Tim Raines, Jeff Bagwell and Trevor Hoffman will be elected. While Bagwell and Hoffman were not on MY ballot, I will not protest. There are other things to get mad at in this world. Nobody will ever be elected who had a bad career.

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – January 17, 2017

 

The Rangers need to shore up their team to win a title this decade. But forget hitters. You can get hitters any time. They need to make offers to EVERY available free agent pitcher.

It is a Lone Star State episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.

James Malseed 1989 Best Card – Sully Baseball Card of the Day for January 17, 2017

This is the first and possibly only minor league card that I will do in the 365 post series. I used to attend a bunch of San Jose Giants games when I was in high school. It was my first experience going to minor league baseball and I loved it. I even bought a set of baseball cards, one of of them ended up in the shoebox in my closet.

I went to the old crumbling San Jose Municipal Stadium (still in use by the way!) and saw some future big leaguers. I remember Russ Swan and Rod Beck were two who made it to the show. I also saw a San Bernadino Spirit outfielder named Ken Griffey Jr.

Most of the players never made the jump from Single A to Double A, let alone to the majors.

James Malseed (or Jim Malseed) was one of those players. He was an outfielder drafted in the 33rd round from Winthrop University, a school on South Carolina. In the end, he played 3 years of professional ball, including time with the Fresno Suns when they were an independent team.

The 1989 San Jose Giants were his last stop. He did not fare well and at age 24, he was done. Winthrop University has honored him in their sports Hall of Fame and now works for a sporting gear company.

But let’s take a moment to appreciate this card. Most people when they pose in a card will do the classic batting stance or fielding their position routine. We know it is fake, but it is a baseball card staple.

This is wonderful. Malseed is creating an action shot, sliding into second… except there is no motion, no inertia and no other fielders. It is just him lying on his stomach, looking up as if to say “Did you get it? Is this nightmare photo session over?”

And it also has a clear contradiction in the picture. There clearly was no reason to slide! No other fielders are around the bag. Call me risky, but I think he could have gone into second standing up.

Whereever you are, Mr. Malseed, I hope you have pride in your professional baseball career and still have this wonderfully loopy card that always cracked me up.