I have often wondered how applying my voting methods for Virtual Cooperstown would translate over to the MLB Hall of Fame voting, and if my gut feeling about various major leaguers lines up with how I would vote for them using the strategies I use for HBD Hall of Fame Voting. Since we are in a bit of a lull in both the MLB season and our current HBD season, I figured I'd take the opportunity to find out for sure.
Over the years here in Plumpy, my voting strategy has changed a bit but the most straightforward one (and therefore the one that I will initially use on my MLB ballot) is the Career WAR total method, broken down as follows:
Slam Dunk HOF'er = 100+ Career WAR
Definite HOF'er = 70 to 99 Career WAR
Strong HOF Case = 50 to 69 Career WAR
Weak HOF Case = 30 to 49 Career WAR
For a look at the full list of 30 players on the ballot this season, follow this link. Here's how those thirty breakdown into the categories listed above-
Slam Dunk HOF'ers = Barry Bonds (163 WAR), Roger Clemens (139 WAR), A-Rod (117 WAR)
Definite HOF'ers = Curt Schilling (80 WAR), Scott Rolen (70 WAR),
Strong HOF Case = Manny Ramirez (69 WAR), Andruw Jones (63 WAR), (Todd Helton (62 WAR), Gary Sheffield (61 WAR), Andy Pettitte (60.2 WAR), Bobby Abreu (60.2 WAR), Mark Buehrle (59.1 WAR), Sammy Sosa (58.6 WAR), Tim Hudson (57.8 WAR), Jeff Kent (56 WAR), David Ortiz (55 WAR), Torii Hunter (50.7 WAR), Mark Teixiera (50.6 WAR),
Weak HOF Case = Jimmy Rollins (48 WAR), Omar Vizquel (45 WAR), Jake Peavy (39.2 WAR), Carl Crawford (39.1 WAR)
No HOF Case = Billy Wagner (28 WAR), Justin Morneau (27.0 WAR), Joe Nathan (26.7 WAR), AJ Pierzynski (23.8 WAR), Prince Fielder (23.8 WAR), Jonathan Papelbon (23 WAR), Tim Lincecum (19.1 WAR), Ryan Howard (14.7 WAR)
Based on that information, my initial ballot would look like this:
1) Barry Bonds-In previous years I've said I wouldn't vote for him because of PED's, but because it's his last year on the ballot and he's pretty close I'd throw him a vote and see if it made a difference. Honestly I'm fine either way on this one.
2) Roger Clemens-See comments above about Barry Lamar Bonds.
3) A-Rod-He very much fits into the same category as the first two, but the difference is that this is year #1 on the ballot for him, not year #10.
4) Curt Schilling- It's not just that he's a jerk, it's that he's a jerk who is trying to use his platform to hurt others too.
5) Scott Rolen
6) Manny Ramirez-Repeat offender in the era of steroid suspensions. Seems hard to enforce the character clause on others who were never actually caught and give Manny a pass, even if I am a big Red Sox fan. 🤷♂️
7) Andruw Jones
8) Todd Helton
9) Gary Sheffield- He admitted to using steroids in 2002. I find it hard to believe he didn't also use steroids after that, and he was "only" worth 40 WAR before then...that's still good, but it's not HOF worthy.
10) Andy Pettitte-He used HGH, but that was technically legal at the time and was never proved to have used other substances, so he stays.
However, I'm a firm believer in the character clause being an important part of the voting process, and that eliminates a significant number of the players above being removed. Those guys are highlighted in red above and I've put the reasoning next to them.
Since I've taken 5 guys off of my initial ballot, I look at the next five guys on the list to see how many of them get my vote. They are Bobby Abreu, Mark Buehrle, Sammy Sosa, Tim Hudson and Jeff Kent. Sosa gets the boot due to PEDs, but that's OK because it brings me to exactly ten votes:
1) Barry Bonds
2) Roger Clemens
3) Scot Rolen
4) Andruw Jones
5) Todd Helton
6) Andy Pettitte
7) Bobby Abreu
8) Mark Buehrle
9) Tim Hudson
10) Jeff Kent
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