Roberto Alomar yes
Kevin Appier no
Andy Ashby no
Dave Burba no
Ellis Burks no
Andres Galarraga no
Pat Hentgen no
Mike Jackson no
Eric Karros no
Ray Lankford no
Barry Larkin yes
Edgar Martinez yes
Fred McGriff yes
Mark McLemore no
Shane Reynolds no
David Segui no
Robin Ventura no ( unless they put him in a headlock on nolan ryan's plaque)
Fernando Vina no
Todd Zeile no
4 out of 19 guys. 2 for sure first ballot guys in alomar & larkin. martinez great dh. mcgriff was our generations jim rice.

^ HMMM ......... I have EXTREMELY HIGH Hall Of Fame standards ... 'too many "Hall Of The Very, Very Good" members are in Cooperstown for my tastes. Plus, I shamelessly possess a deep hatred of the designated hitter

Alomar is the only "slam dunk" , in my opinion, but no sleep will be lost when Larkin, Martinez & McGriff are inducted.

I agree with Cheapy. I just don't think Larkin, Martinez, and McGriff are first ballot HOF'ers.

The Ryan incident aside, I still hate to see people take shots at Ventura. He had a fine ML career, by all accounts was a highly respected opponent and terrific teammate, and still does a great job providing color commentary for ESPN during the College World Series. Plus, he was probably the greatest hitter in NCAA history.

That incident happened, as odd things will sometimes occur. But don't let it detract from a guy with a fine ML career. HOF'er? Of course not! But still a good ballplayer, and by all accounts, a good guy.

I agree 100% ... but you know how our society in unable to let a horse die without flogging it.

I get a headache from rolling my eyes every time someone mentions Nolan Ryan in the same breath as Ventura ... as if no one has ever seen the video!

No lie! And don't get me wrong, I'm a Nolan Ryan fan, but nobody ever recalls the 1980 beating Big Dave Winfield gave Ryan when he charged the mound.

Here's another thought--any chance that Alomar's rather questionable post-baseball life may affect his HOF chances? Probably not, but you never know.

i was 10 years old when ventura charged the mound. that was the first thing that comes to mind when you say robin ventura. the older you get you realize he was a good solid ballplayer. that hitting streak he had at osu was amazing. the walkoff homer in the nlcs for the mets was great.

I'm of the opinion that if you're not a first-ballot Hall of Famer, then you don't belong in the Hall of Fame.

Roberto Alomar is the only one, in my opinion, who belongs.

Yeah, that was a neat deal in 1999 because it was a walkoff grandslam/single! He never even made it to 2B because he was mobbed halfway there. 14 career grand slams, too. Pretty impressive.

I got to meet him during his rookie season of 1990 in Arlington when I was 15. We were watching a Rangers homestand against the White Sox, and we were staying at the old Sheraton, which was the team hotel at the time. He was just the nicest guy to me and my 14-year old brother. That made such a lasting positive impression on me. Jeff Torborg (the ChiSox manager at the time) was really nice, too, as was the late Charlie Lau, their excellent hitting coach.

There goes that Bullard thinking again.... I've always thought the same thing. I'm guessing that their stats don't change much from year to year at this point. You are either good enough or not good enough. I guess it's just a product of the most idiosyncratic voting group in America. How many unanimous picks over the years?

I could certainly be wrong here, but it seems like Tom Seaver had the highest percentage of votes on a first year ballot, but even he was just shy of 100%, as I recall. I believe Nolan Ryan had the second highest percentage of first year ballots, around 97%.

Barry Larkin should be in the hall of fame, he was the best SS in the NL for the entire decade of the 90s pretty much, if you are the best player at your position in your league you should be in the hall of fame.

Barry Larkin accomplishments

Gold Gloves - 3
Silver Sluggers - 9
All-Star games - 12
MVPs - 1 (1995)

He also hit .295 for his career and .338 in the playoffs and .353 in his one WS

i agree with you crankthat.

Fred McGriff probably does not deserve to be in the hall of fame, although I did find it odd that many of the times he finished top 10 in the MVP voting, he did not actually make the all-star team.

He finished top 10 in the MVP voting in '89-'94. His all-star years were '92, '94, '95, '96, and '00.

He did hit .303 in the playoffs with 10 HRs and 11 2Bs and 37 RBIs in 188 ABs.


Career stats

BA = .284
HR = 493
RBI = 1550
SLG = .509
OBS = .866

in career terms, that OBS puts him ahead of Eddie Matthews, but behind J.D. Drew


In career terms, his RBI total puts him ahead of Willie Stargell, Joe DiMaggio, and Mickey Mantle.... it puts him behind Harold Baines lol.


If Andre Dawson isn't good enough for the hall, then neither is the Crime Dog, although all of my posts are endorsed by him.

You are right. 5 out of 430 did not vote for Seaver. I know there are some voters who probably always refuse to vote FOR the player, but it just seems kind of petty. Heck Babe Ruth got 95%.

I don't know. That's a good debate. If a position is represented by very good (but not great) players in a decade (or major span of time), is it the "duty" of the Hall Of Fame to have said "span of time" represented?

Yeah I see your point, I guess Rey Ordonez was his competition hahaha, well actually it was an aging Ozzie Smith, but your point is taken. I actually first heard the argument I used about being the best player at your position in your league for a decade when someone was defending Ron Santo's HOF resume