My Hall of Fame Ballot

This Tuesday, the Baseball Hall of Fame will announce the 2006 inductees. Many expect that there will be none. The good folks up in Cooperstown don't let me vote - but if they did, here's my breakdown of the ballot:

Should-be Inductees

Bruce Sutter: Sutter was one of the first closers in baseball, and along with guys like Lee Smith and Goose Gossage, set the standard for what a closer should be. He saved 300 games over his career, with a 2.83 ERA. A six-time All-Star and the 1979 NL Cy Young Award winner. Sutter often pitched both the 8th and 9th innings, a foreign thought to today's firemen. Further, he is credited with inventing the split-fingered fastball, a pitch with an impact that needs no explanation. Simply, Bruce Sutter remains one of the all-time great closers and a true innovative force in the game. That he has been consistently denied Hall admission, ostensibly due to an inexplicable bias against closers, is a travesty.

Lee Arthur Smith: Like Sutter, another trend-setter for the late innings. Lee Smith is the career leader in saves, with a whopping 478, and made the All-Star game seven times. In his heyday, there was no more feared reliever in all of baseball. He's another who's probably been left out due to this anti-closer bias.

Goose Gossage: The Goose excelled in the same era as Sutter, and probably was as feared in his time as Smith was a handful of years later. He's 16th all-time in saves, a 9-time All-Star. He and Smith are similar pitchers with similar successes, and should both make it in.

Bert Blyleven: The Eddie Murray of starting pitchers, there's absolutely no excuse for Blyleven to continue to miss. Seven times in his career, he finished in the top 5 in his league in ERA. He's 5th all-time in strikeouts, 9th in shutouts. But he only made two All-Star teams and he only won 20 once. Nevertheless, a guy who pitches 22 years, won 287 games over his career, with a 3.31 lifetime ERA, and has as many Ks as Blyleven did, should be in Cooperstown. He was never the best pitcher at any given time, but he was as reliably and durably superb as anyone else.

Jack Morris: Do I need to explain? Not only did he have a long, outstanding career - 18 seasons, 254 wins, 7-time All-Star - but he's a postseason legend. He was dominant for the record-setting 1984 Tigers, and his 10-inning shutout Game 7 performance for the Twins in 1991 is one of the greatest performances by anyone, ever. The Hall of Fame is as much about an aura of dominance (as I'll soon repeat) as it is about numbers. If you don't believe me, witness Kirby Puckett's first-time induction. Anyone who watched baseball in the 80s and early 90s thinks of Jack Morris as a war horse and maybe one the best guys ever to have on the hill when the game's one you just cannot lose. That's an aura of dominance - and he has strong numbers to boot.

Andre Dawson: .279, 438 homers, 1591 RBI in 21 seasons. "Hawk" won an MVP for the last-place Cubs in 1987, when he smacked 49 homers in an era when that was unheard of. Oh, and he stole 317 bases - in his earlier Montreal years, he was as much a force on the basepaths as he was at the plate. What about his glove, you ask? Eight Gold ones, to match his 8 All-Star appearances. He was 1977 NL Rookie of the Year. Andre Dawson was an all-around monster for a good 15 seasons- far and away one of the best to play in that time. You have to be a complete boob to keep him out of Cooperstown.

Tougher Calls

Jim Rice: I'm guessing that my reluctance to select Jim Rice is due to the fact that, during his heyday, I was either (a) unborn, or (b) a young kid who rarely watched American League games. Everything I've been told about Rice says that he should be inducted. I just do not remember him as one of the dominant players of the day. He hit 20 points higher than Dawson, but 46 less homers. Then again, he was an 8-time All-Star, the 1978 AL MVP (and in the top 5 in balloting in five other years). The numbers are there, no question. I just don't remember him well enough. But my bias aside, he probably should be inducted.

Tommy John: Hard to say that a guy has an "aura of dominance" when he's better known for a type of elbow surgery than for his on-field accomplishments. But John won a whopping 288 games in 26 years, with 2245 strikeouts. He made four All-Star teams, three times came in the top 5 in Cy Young balloting. His numbers stackup to those who've been previously inducted. Nevertheless, I think I'd still vote against him.

Don Mattingly: I'm really torn about Donnie Baseball, because he comes closer to my "dominance" requirement. The guy was completely feared and respected during his playing days, both for his bat and his glove. I think he's been hurt by the recent successes of the Yankees, who by and large were terrible during Mattingly's tenure in the Bronx - as if Mattingly isn't a HOF'er because how could a Yankee be a HOF'er if he wasn't on any championship teams? But that's silly, of course. 222 homers in 14 seasons, .307 average, 1100 RBIs, 1985 AL MVP, six straight All-Star teams, 9 of 10 consecutive years as a Gold Glover. He led the AL in hits twice, came in 2nd once. Donnie won't make it, but the more I think about it, the more I think he should.

Close, But No Cigar:

Alan Trammell: Trammell was a very, very good shortstop for many years for Detroit. His numbers stack up to others who've been inducted. But - and again, maybe this is because of my 1980s NL bias - I don't hold his actual performance, never mind numbers, in the kind of reverence that should be required for Cooperstown. Trammell was very good, maybe even great, but just not a Hall of Famer. He hit .285 over 20 seasons, 185 homers (pretty good for a SS back then), 236 stolen bases. Four Gold Gloves, 6-time All-Star, even three Silver Slugger awards. But I still would keep him out - I respect Trammell, think he was quite good, but not worthy.