Griffey likely a Hall lock

Below are our justifications. I don’t know what to make of any of it…so I’m punting.

Not his points comparing statheads to ISIS or saying anyone who uses advanced stats is just jealous they don’t have a credential, of course.

It is time to put Roger Clemens into the Baseball Hall of Fame. “It’s not supposed to be easy to get into”.

“I think the Hall of Fame is a museum for people who want to enjoy and see highlights of their favorite players”. The Hall of Fame does not pay the former players and contributors who are elected.

At the same time, some of these guys are players who have posted extraordinary careers by any metric. Just like the Deadball Era, or pre-integration, or the times before the designated hitter, it is a part of the history of the game.

Ken Griffey Jr.is a no brainer. Either way, the first election under the new BBWAA voter eligibility rules should provide some interesting fodder, especially if Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens make significant jumps in their fourth year on the ballot.

FILE – In this March 31, 2005, file photo, New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza throws the ball to first base for an out after fielding a bunt by Los Angeles Dodgers’ Elmer Dessens in the fifth inning of exhibition play at Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Don’t think he’ll get in this year, but I do think he’ll get in eventually.

True, I’m tasked with evaluating all facets of a player’s career, including his behavior off the field. He didn’t play a full Major League Baseball season until he was 27, but nevertheless terrorized the AL for over a decade, with a preposterous career. Trevor Hoffman, Jim Edmonds and Billy Wagner all received enough votes to stay on the ballot here for another year. I didn’t vote for any of them, and I am not bound by every vote that has taken place before me. I don’t expect a lot of tears shed for David Eckstein, Troy Glaus, Mark Grudzielanek, nor Randy Winn: four former Cardinals with a combined zero votes on the 169 ballots compiled so far on the Thibs tracker. Not about the players voted in, but the ones left out. The right-hander was one of the greatest strike throwers of all time – that career 4.3 strikeouts-to-walk ratio was the best in 100 years. 500 slugging percentage, the current leader in that category among Hall of Fame catchers.

The rest of the returning class are more not quite good enough. Baseball Writers’ Association of America members who have not covered baseball regularly over the past 10 years will no longer be able to vote. Enlarge A replica of Anthony McCarron’s Hall of Fame ballot. Because Piazza had acne on his back, writers have been gun-shy to vote for him.

That leaves me with a nine-man ballot and most serious contenders considered. I never once anxious about a late-night phone call.

Bonds and Clemens also sealed their own Hall of Fame fates. There’s an assumption – not proven – that a younger electorate might take a different stance on the issue of performance-enhancing drugs.

One voter was facing heart surgery the day he voted and said he inadvertently forgot about Seaver. Similar to Derek Jeter, Griffey is one of the few greats of his era untouched by PED’s or steroid scandals. And as a result, players roll over to the next year’s ballot and thus it becomes exceedingly hard to stand out in a crowd of excellent eligible players.

Mike Mussina – Seems to be a Hall of Fame pitcher in my mind. Griffey? I have never heard any rumors about him cheating. His.297/.408/.540 is absolutely staggering. He was one of the elite shortstops in baseball for years and years, only to be outshined by position movers Robin Yount and Cal Ripken Jr.

What we are watching are three factors tied to one another to a certain degree.

Same goes for Tim Raines. Playing the bulk of his career in Montreal and then Colorado he was overlooked.

Was a great hitter (.312 avg.933 OPS), but not a great overall player; 72 percent of his plate appearances as a DH. Mike Mussina found more support, but Curt Schilling stayed in the same area. There shouldn’t be fewer players inducted than in years past, there should be more. Leading the crop of newcomers is Ken Griffey Jr., who should coast to induction. Nathaniel Rakich, a Boston writer who weights the raw ballot data to account for the oversampling of so-called progressive voters, projects Griffey, Piazza and Bagwell to get in, with Raines falling just short.

7 MVP awards, 8 Gold Gloves, 14 All-Star selections, .444 on-base pct., 762 home runs, 1,996 RBIs, 2,935 hits need to count for something. Even for those who do not look at sabermetrics, Trammell should still be under serious consideration.