So, the HOF Ballot Came Out.....

     Yes, it did. I'm keeping this really low-key for now. I always make a post about this on my other blog, but times have changed, and Don Cardwell is entering the limelight. Anyway, here's what we got on the BBWAA ballot, starting with the squatters -- er, guys who have already been on it. Yeah, them. The guys I'd vote for will be in bold. (Sorry for the lack of cards. I was feeling way too lazy to take any pics, so instead we're going with good old internet pictures)

Billy Wagner 
Andruw Jones 
Carlos Beltran
Alex Rodriguez
Manny Ramirez
Chase Utley
Omar Visquel
Bobby Abreu
Jimmy Rollins
Andy Pettitte
Mark Buehlre
Francisco Rodriguez
Torii Hunter
David Wright

    As you can see, my ballot's a little bit all over the place. 

    

    Wagner is an obvious choice, and he's getting gypped in that he's not in already. Billy Wagner was one of the most dominant closers....ever (I hold that he's better than Trevor Hoffman, but that's just me). A career 422 saves and 2.31 ERA. What are we doing BBWAA? I feel that they always miss at least one or two guys on the ballots every time.

    A premier fielder and power hitter, Andruw Jones won 10 Gold Gloves (in a row, might I add), and hit 434 homers. This included that one insane 51 home run campaign he had back in '05. I usualy wouldn't vote for a sub-.260 batting average, but he deserves it.

    This picture may be a bit blurry, but it's too cool to leave out. Chase Utley was another great fielder, but at second base rather than the outfield. He was a very good hitter (.275 batting average, 259 home runs). Utley won four Silver Sluggers in his 16-year career. He also prompted a rule change; although being the guy who slid into Ruben Tejada probably doesn't help his case. Hopefully it doesn't hurt it.

    Alright, alright, this one may be a little bit biased. In my defense, David Wright was a pretty great player. The third baseman hit .296 with 242 home runs in 1,585 big-league games. He also won two Gold Glove awards. The only problem is that injuries ruined him at the end of his career. In his last three seasons Wright played in a combined 77 games. His career was just too short. While he seemed like a Hall-of-Famer on the field, he didn't spend enough time on it to land him a spot in Cooperstown.

    This leaves me with six votes left going into the newbies. Let's see who we got:

Ichiro Suzuki
CC Sabathia
Dustin Pedroia
Ian Kinsler
Felix Hernandez
Troy Tulowitzki
Ben Zobrist
Curtis Granderson
Hanley Ramirez
Russell Martin
Adam Jones
Brian McCann
Carlos Gonzalez
Fernando Rodney

    Okay, spoiler alert: I would only actually go for two of these guys.

    I think Ichiro will make it on the first ballot, and that he is probably the best player on the ballot. Okay, not probably. Ichiro has the most professional hits, including over 3,000 in the Bigs. He holds a .311 batting average, 1,420 runs, and 509 steals in 2,653 major-league games. He was also a very good fielder. This should be an easy choice.

    CC Sabathia got 3,000 strikeouts. Case closed. However, his ERA was slightly high at a 3.74 mark, so I kind of doubt that he'll get in first ballot, but I'm confident he'll make it.

    Alright, so Tulo shouldn't actually get in. But he's one of my favorite players, so I figured, 'why not?' Troy Tulowitzki had an outstanding 13-year career in which he batted .290 and hit 225 home runs. He was also a very good fielder, acquiring two Gold Gloves in his career. However, aside from playing at Coors for so long, the shortstop's problem is lack of games, and injury seems to be the culprit. Tulo only played in 1,291 games. And though those were 1,291 really good games, you can't really expect to make the Hall with so little.

    Alright, so I guess for guys who I think should get in, it goes as Billy Wagner, Andruw Jones, Chase Utley, David Wright, Ichiro, and CC Sabathia. And then of course I added in Tulo with the courtesy vote, but he'll probably get booted off after his first time. There's a reason I don't get to vote 😂

    Other guys who I may have voted for include Carlos Beltran and Bobby Abreu. I actually probably would vote for Bobby Abreu (I decided to add him in while writing this paragraph), and I bet Beltran will make his way in. I love Ben Zobrist and Ian Kinsler, but wouldn't vote for them.

    Well, thanks for bearing with me to the end. There will be cards for my next post, that's a promise. Thank you for reading, and let me know in the comments what you think of my ballot and who you think should get in. Y'all have an amazing weekend, and happy collecting!

    Also, Don Cardwell hit 10,000 views yesterday, so thanks for that.