Who Will Make The Cut ?

Tomorrow evening the Baseball Hall of Fame will release the vote totals for this year’s HOF Class. Many of the writers who are eligible to vote have spent hours on research and careful consideration before filling out their ballots; Others have looked at their list and played pin the tail on the donkey with it or flipped a coin; Judging from previous years some voters have opened their mail and said “ Baseball - is that the sport they play with a round ball and a stick of wood?” In any case that group determines the fates of worthy (or unworthy) candidates. We anxiously await the results.

Who do you think will be elected? Here are my predictions:

Ichiro Suzuki - So good they named a motorcycle after him. Not really. With his 3089 hits in MLB (and 1278 in Japan) and his TEN seasons in a row with 200 hits and a Gold Glove (no-one else ever had five in a row) Ichiro is a slam dunk. The only question is whether he will be unanimous. How could you not vote for him? Remember there were those who didn’t vote for Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, or Hank Aaron or any other position player in history, so we’ll see.

Billy Wagner - I’m predicting this with my fingers crossed. I’m already on record as saying this is the most glaring omission in the Hall of Fame. Hopefully enough of the incompetents who have left him off in the past have gone on by the way of the Polo Grounds or failed to open their mail. Either way I’ll have more to say.

Carlos Beltran - The only reason he hasn’t gotten in is the self-righteous segment who won’t vote for him because of his participation in the Great Garbage Can Scandal with the Astros. I am among the last to defend any Houston player, but Beltran has been punished enough. He is one of only 5 players who had 400 homers and 300 steals. He was a great fielder and a tremendous postseason player. He should emerge from purgatory and go to Cooperstown.

I don’t believe anyone else will receive the required 75% of votes. CC Sabathia will receive strong consideration, but I don’t know how you could vote for him and not vote for Andy Pettitte, or Mark Buehrle, or Felix Hernandez. The other newcomer who may get some strong support is Dustin Pedroia, but not close to the magic number.

For some reason I am not allowed to vote for the HOF. Some sort of nonsense about my eligibility and qualifications leaves me out, but if I could submit a ballot it would look like this:

Wagner, Ichiro and Beltran

Sabathia, Pettitte, Buehrle, and King Felix

Bobby Abreu - a vastly underrated player

Jimmie Rollins - the only shortstop in history with over 2400 hits, 200 homers, 400 steals, 800 extra base his and 4 Golden Gloves

You get 10 votes. I would use them all. Assuming that Wagner finally gets in I submit Andrew Jones as the most worthy eligible candidate. If you talk to anyone who played with or against him, he will be mentioned as one of the best defensive outfielders ever. Not just his generation - ever. Only Willie Mays had more years with Gold Gloves and over 30 homers than Andrew Jones. He began playing in the majors at age 19, and had a 10 year stretch beginning at age 31, in which he averaged 158 games played, 34 home runs and 103 RBI’s. He won Gold Glove all 10 years, and slugged .504. Hall of Fame numbers!

I’ll have more comments after the election results. Would certainly be interested in what you think.

That’s one man’s opinion - What’s yours?