2009 Baseball Hall of Fame Voting
JANUARY 4th UPDATE: Beyond the votes to everyone’s articles and blog posts (and whatever that is Murray Chass has since it’s not a blog), I have put together a spreadsheet of all this information which you can find here. The Chicago guys are the biggest contingent so far and they all really love Andre Dawson which I hope is not universal!
–
The ballots from writers who have a Hall of Fame vote are due today (Dec 31). A few months ago I made myself a few custom RSS feeds with Google to keep track of missives, ponderings and eventually the votes from writers. Here’s who I’ve rounded up (not as many as I hoped, but perhaps more will appear in the next few days):
TR Sullivan’s initial thinking (old writeup, might have changed his mind–he even says so in there): Rickey Henderson, Mark McGwire, Andre Dawson, Jack Morris, Jim Rice and Tim Raines. On the fence about Bert Blyleven (using the conventional stats like 20 win seasons us nerds in their mother’s basements hate).
Sean Hogan of the Myrtle Beach Sun News: Bert Blyleven, Andre Dawson, Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice. Apparently last year he didn’t vote for Blyleven, so that’s one vote closer to induction for him. Here’s what he had to say:
Why did I have a change of heart on Blyleven?
Well, my whole thinking on the Hall of Fame voting has never really been about the numbers. Oh, there are some obvious ones I look at closely, particularly for pitchers.
I like to see a career of excellence over a long period. I’m more interested in winning percentage than just wins.
Blyleven’s winning percentage of .534 (287-250) certainly isn’t staggering, but that is against the backdrop of a 22-year career and more than a few bad Twins teams.
I put more stock in the number of starts a pitcher makes and the number of innings he pitches because those, particularly over a long career, show a pitcher’s true value through the ability to consistently take the ball and pitch deeply enough into a game to give his team a chance to win.
And there, Blyleven has the goods.
He ranks 11th on the all-time list for starts (685) and 14th in innings pitched (4,969 1/3). He had 16 seasons with 200-plus innings and ranks ninth in shutouts (60) after leading the American League three times in the stat.
Dan Graziano of the Newark Star Ledger: Rickey Henderson, Bert Blyleven, Tim Raines and Jack Morris. Calls Jack Morris “A true No. 1 starter throughout his career” which is hilarious.
John Perrotto of the Beaver County Times & Allegheny Times: Harold Baines, Bert Blyleven, David Cone, Andre Dawson, Rickey Henderson, Mark McGwire, Dave Parker and Tim Raines. That’s a big ballot with some odd choices–it’s worth noting Perrotto writes for Baseball Prospectus as well.
Scott Miller of CBS Sportsline: Andre Dawson, Bert Blyleven, Rickey Henderson, Jack Morris, Jim Rice, Tim Raines and Alan Trammell.
Bill Conlin of the Philadelphia Daily News: Rickey Henderson, Jim Rice, Andre Dawson and Bert Blyleven.
It’s good to see Blyleven’s name all over, not so good to see Rice’s. If you have anyone to add, shout at me and I’ll put them in this post.
January 1 Update
Tracy Ringolsby of the Rocky Mountain News: Rickey Henderson, Bert Blyleven, Lee Smith, Alan Trammell, Jack Morris.
January 3 Update
Ken Davidoff of the New York Newsday: Rickey Henderson, Bert Blyleven, Alen Trammell, Tim Raines.
Davidoff’s ballot has been evolving in the last few years, it’s worth a read to see his thought process. This really stood out to show how people can learn more/change their minds upon further investigation year-to-year:
I’d like to think I tried my darndest on my 2008 ballot. But I nearly gagged when I read this passage:
Page 1 of 4 | Next page