Comments on: 2011 Razzball Hall of Fame Ballot

By: Rudy Gamble

Rudy Gamble — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 18:57:43 +0000

@mic: Ha - yeah, if Pixar ever does an HOF movie, I'm sure he'll be in it...

By: mic

mic — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 17:47:55 +0000

kirk reuter should be in the hall for his good looks alone…

By: Rudy Gamble

Rudy Gamble — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 15:26:45 +0000

@Terrence Mann: I'm glad Walker got more than 5.0% of the votes so he can be considered again next year. Hard to get worked up about Olerud but it was ridiculous for Kevin Brown to get so much fewer votes than Jack Morris and Lee Smith given he was almost as valuable as the two of them put together (based on WAR) @Jackie: Thanks! @Steve B: I agree that there are 'no-brainer' HOFers where analyzing the numbers is almost redundant but they are few and far between. I don't think any of this year's ballot was no-brainer - Alomar was the closest but he'd only be no-brainer with 3,000 hits. And analyzing the numbers does help for those that mass perception had underestimated (Blyleven, Trammell) vs. overestimated (Morris). @Paulie Allnuts: I'm with you on Raines. I don't think many fans/writers appreciate how rare it is to have a leadoff hitter with speed and a near .400 OBP. Since I've watched baseball (circa 1980), the only leadoff hitters with speed that were in this stratosphere for more than a season or two are: Henderson, Raines, Lofton, Brett Butler, Knoblauch, and Ichiro. I really think that the bar for leadoff hitters is too high - focusing on times on base vs. hits would be a good start. @Paulie Allnuts: I think sportswriters are becoming more and more familiar with advanced analytics. Kevin Brown was a borderline case who wasn't helped by the fact he was in the Mitchell Report. As you've seen in my posts, I still think that the voting has certain biases that will take a long time to fade - notably HRs and round career milestones are overrated and OBP, glove, baserunning and position are underrated. Stats like WAR have done a great job to incorporate those more subtle stats along with the basics. My bet is that Grich, Whitaker, and Trammell eventually make the HOF - maybe in 10-20 years?

By: Paulie Allnuts

Paulie Allnuts — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 05:28:25 +0000

@Rudy Gamble: One postcript. Guys like yourself are the ones who should have HOF ballots. How many sportswriters are even familiar with modern analytical tools? Maybe individuals like Bobby Grich and Kevin Brown would get a fair shot. I recall you doing a post on Richie Allen, perhaps the most misunderstood individual in modern baseball. If you are as old as me, you saw Allen hit; nobody in that time had his power except for Mantle. At any rate, as always, you have done a terrific job.

By: Paulie Allnuts

Paulie Allnuts — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 05:21:52 +0000

@Rudy Gamble: I am certainly happy to see Blylevin make the Hall - his selection was long overdue. Alomar deserves induction, but I think there were several others who should have preceded him, including Larkin, for sure, and possibly Trammell. However, I believe that the one player who deserves induction over any of these three was Tim Raines. I believe that it was you a year or so ago who stated that Raines was the 3rd/4th best lead-off hitter in the last 70 years, behind Henderson, Joe Morgan and Rose, although Pete often batted other slots in the lineup. Raines has a better life-time stolen base percentage then Henderson, Brock or Cobb. (84.7%). He played in an era where run production was near a nadir, and relatively few fans saw him play, as he was with the Expos for most of his career, then the black hole of baseball. Other impressive stats: Raines led the league twice and was 2nd twice in Runs Scored. He led the league once in Runs Created, was 2nd 3 times, and 3rd once. He led the league in OBP once, was 3rd twice, 4th twice, 5th once and 6th once, with a lifetime OBP of .385, a most impressive figure. Led the league in SB 4 times. Led the league in doubles once. Raines was in the top ten in walks six times, nine times in triples, four times in OPS+, 4 times in total bases, four times in BA, and seven times in Adjusted win Percentage. I believe that if you are using Sabermetrics as a base-line, "The Rock" is a no-brainer.

By: KeeblerMN

KeeblerMN — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 14:40:18 +0000

Love these posts! Nice work!
Congrats Bert! We love you in MN no matter how many F-bombs you drop on live television and now they’ll love you in Cooperstown too!!!

By: Steve B

Steve B — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 13:30:23 +0000

I think we can tell who the great players are without all your confusing numbers.Its the borderline players that you need to look at the numbers.My feelings are if you gotta go through all that to see if they are deserving than they dont belong there

By: Jackie

Jackie — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 07:57:42 +0000

Love the analysis Rudy. Keep up the good work!

By: Terrence Mann

Terrence Mann — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 23:08:32 +0000

Thanks for including Walker in your analysis. His WAR numbers hold up fairly well vs. the rest of the field.

By: Doug Ault

Doug Ault — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:59:32 +0000

It’s cool to see Alomar enter the HOF wearing a BJ cap.The first one

By: Rudy Gamble

Rudy Gamble — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 20:32:27 +0000

So Alomar and Blyleven were the only two to make it this year. Both worthy. Hopefully at least Larkin and Bagwell can make it next year. Not feeling very positive on Raines, Edgar, or Trammell.

Also think Kevin Brown and Olerud deserved more than one year on the ballot. They have stronger cases than a few guys above the 5.0% cut…

http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/newsstand/discussion/alomar_blyleven_elected_to_hall_of_fame/