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Birds Watcher builds the most correct Hall of Fame ballot

By Tim Smart

BALTIMORE, MD - SEPTEMBER 06: Hall of fame player and former Baltimore Orioles Cal Ripken Jr., addresses the crowd before throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before the start of the Orioles and New York Yankees game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 6, 2012 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD - SEPTEMBER 06: Hall of fame player and former Baltimore Orioles Cal Ripken Jr., addresses the crowd before throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before the start of the Orioles and New York Yankees game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 6, 2012 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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Hall of Fame
COOPERSTOWN, NY – JULY 29: Hall of Famers Johnny Bench (R), Dave Winfield (C), and Ozzie Smith at Clark Sports Center during the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony on July 29, 2018 in Cooperstown, New York. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

So 15 total players deserving of Hall of Fame induction.

Bonds, Clemens, Halladay, Helton, Martinez, McGriff, Mussina, Ramirez, Rivera, Rolen, Schilling, Sheffield, Sosa, Wagner, and Walker. If the BBWAA didn’t have the 10-player limit per ballot restriction, some of these players wouldn’t be losing votes. But alas!

More from Birds Watcher

Bonds and Clemens are in and it’s not close. They’re two of the best players in baseball history and they’re part of the story of baseball. That’s what this is, right? From the Hall of Fame’s mission statement,

"“The Hall of Fame’s mission is to preserve the sport’s history, honor excellence within the game and make a connection between the generations of people who enjoy baseball…Honoring, by enshrinement, those individuals who had exceptional careers, and recognizing others for their significant achievements”."

Walker is in, as is Rivera, which makes four definite yes votes. Halladay, Mussina and Schilling are in. They were three of the best pitchers of their generation and are all more than qualified for election.

So we’ve got three spots left between Helton, Martinez, McGriff, Ramirez, Rolen, Sheffield, Sosa, and Wagner. We can take out Wagner, the others are just better. Ramirez and Rolen are the best of the group, while Helton, Sheffield and Sosa are quite similar, but that feels like the correct order. Gut feeling, the answer is Helton, Ramirez, and Rolen, but the final year thing with Martinez and McGriff is a problem.

Here’s the ballot:

Bonds, Clemens, Walker, Rivera, Halladay, Mussina, Schilling, Martinez, McGriff, Ramirez. 

Here’s why it’s correct:

The first four, Bonds, Clemens, Walker, and Rivera are undeniably the four best players on the ballot. The other three pitchers, Halladay, Mussina, and Schilling are in because I said so, and also because they’re three of probably the best ten pitchers of the era. Martinez and McGriff, yes because they fall off the ballot after this year, but also because they’re deserving. And Ramirez because he’s the best hitter of the remaining players.

Next. Here are 5 potential Rule 5 draft targets for the Orioles. dark

Thanks for sticking around so long, avid reader!  Is your ballot more correct than mine? Disagree that players connected to steroids belong in the Hall? Or that Larry Walker was significantly better than Vlad Guerrero? Feel free to let me know how wrong I am in the comments, but just know, you’re wrong about me being wrong.

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