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NEW YORK (AP) -- Mark McGwire, Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. headline the first-time candidates on the 2007 baseball writers' Hall of Fame ballot released Monday, sure to spark debate on Big Mac's place in history as the steroid era comes under renewed scrutiny. Jose Canseco, whose book last year led to a congressional hearing on steroid use in baseball, also is on the ballot for the first time. Canseco said he used steroids along with McGwire when they were teammates. McGwire denied using illegal performance-enhancing substances, but when he appeared before a congressional committee, he evaded questions. "I'm not here to talk about the past," was his repeated response. McGwire finished his career with 583 home runs, seventh in baseball history while Canseco, a former MVP, is 30th at 462. Dave Kingman, 34th with 442, has the most home runs for a player who has been on the Hall of Fame ballot and was not elected. Gwynn, an eight-time batting champion with San Diego, and Ripken, a two-time MVP with Baltimore, are considered likely to gain election on the first ballot. Ripken played in 2,632 consecutive games, breaking Lou Gehrig's record. Bret Saberhagen, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, and former MVP Ken Caminiti also are among 17 players on the ballot for the first time along with Harold Baines, Dante Bichette, Bobby Bonilla, Scott Brosius, Jay Buhner, Eric Davis, Tony Fernandez, Wally Joyner, Paul O'Neill, Devon White and Bobby Witt. Jim Rice, who was 53 votes short of election last year, heads the 15 holdovers. Rich Gossage finished one vote behind Rice. Reporters who have been in the BBWAA for 10 or more consecutive years are eligible to vote, and the totals will be announced Jan. 9. The complete ballot: Harold Baines, Albert Belle, Dante Bichette, Bert Blyleven, Bobby Bonilla, Scott Brosius, Jay Buhner, Ken Caminiti, Jose Canseco, Dave Concepcion, Eric Davis, Andre Dawson, Tony Fernandez, Steve Garvey, Rich "Goose" Gossage, Tony Gwynn, Orel Hershiser, Tommy John, Wally Joyner, Don Mattingly, Mark McGwire, Jack Morris, Dale Murphy, Paul O'Neill, Dave Parker, Jim Rice, Cal Ripken Jr., Bret Saberhagen, Lee Smith, Alan Trammell, Devon White, Bobby Witt. |
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I wouldn't vote for him on this ballot, I liked him as a player but not enough to wow me.
I personally think the Hall Of Fame has let too many average players voted in. If Roger Maris doesn't belong in it niether does Mark. |
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Harold Baines--no, but I would like to see him back ESPN.
Albert Belle--no, only hall of fame he belongs in is the hall of shame, or assholes. I liked Belle. But he is not a hall of famer. good player, yes...great. No! Dante Bichette--who?? I don't think Bichette deserves it Bert Blyleven--hmm, was he ever on a winning team? it helps. Wasn't he on the Twins when the won the World Series back in the 80s? Don't know if I would put him in. Undecided. Bobby Bonilla--I already saw the Bronx. I don't know if he is a hall of famer either. Scott Brosius--no, if it were based on only playoff performances then yes. No way Jay Buhner--no, I actually thought he was still playing. No way!! Ken Caminiti--no Nope Jose Canseco--what a waste of talent Absolutely not! Dave Concepcion---no nope Eric Davis--no nope Andre Dawson--no, not enough nope Tony Fernandez--no nope Steve Garvey--no,I hate the Dodgers. I could see Garvey going in. I think I would give him a vote. Rich "Goose" Gossage-- if saberhagen is in so should he. I agree Tony Gwynn--yes 100% hall of famer right here. Orel Hershiser-- hmmm--4 more years and yes. I would put Anal Hershiser in. Great pitcher Tommy John--no, but his bionic may get him in. Don't know. undecided Wally Joyner--no nope Don Mattingly--no. sorry Donnie, if only your back didn't give out you would have been a shoo-in. I would put Donny Baseball in. Mark McGwire--hmmm....no, steriod issue will ruin it for him. tough call Jack Morris--hmmmm....yes. He doesn't get enough credit. I thought he was good. Still undecided. Wouldn't be suprised or upset if he got the nod though. Dale Murphy--no, I thought he was awesome but then he just fizzled for no reason at all. I would give Murph a vote. Paul O'Neill--no, he was a warrior though. Good player. Not a hall of famer in my book. damn good player though. Dave Parker-- no, another 5 tool player who wasted his career. what an arm nope Jim Rice--hmm.....yes, he would have been better appreciated in NY. I think he was great. Despite holding the single season record for grounding into the most double plays (Which I think he still has). I would give him a vote. Cal Ripken Jr. --Yes, the Record and the fact he made some great clutch hits, and his commercials are funny. 100%. Him and Gwynn are the two on this list that I say have to go. |
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What the fuck is Tony Fernadez doing on there hahaha!
Yeah he was decent but no way a hall of famer, I remember watching him with the the Jays growing up. Ahh the good ole days. |
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Harold Baines - nope
Albert Belle - nope Dante Bichette - nope Bert Blyleven - nope Bobby Bonilla - not even close Scott Brosius - nope Jay Buhner - nope Ken Caminiti - does it matter? still no. Jose Canseco - unfortunately I have to say yes. Dave Concepcion - nopers Eric Davis - nope Andre Dawson - eh, no. Tony Fernandez - nope Steve Garvey - hmmm, ok, yes. Rich "Goose" Gossage - yes Tony Gwynn - no doubt yes Orel Hershiser - yes Tommy John - nah Wally Joyner - no Don Mattingly - yes Mark McGwire - I say yes. Jack Morris - yeah why not Dale Murphy - naw Paul O'Neill - nope Dave Parker - no Jim Rice - yes Cal Ripken Jr. - no question yes. |
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Just looked it up, Blyleven won a world series with the Pirates in '79 and then again with the Twins in '87.
If I remeber correctly, he has been on the ballot for a number of years and he always gets depressed about not getting voted in. I think they did a segment on him on ESPN Behind the Lines with Bob Ley and he talked about how much stress it gives him each year. It could have been someone else, but I swear it was him. |
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Why would you give a yes to Canseco? He had a few great years in Oakland, he was the first player in the 40/40 club (40hrs. and 40 stolen bases in the same season), but he was a fucking bust after that. IMO, you need to be consistently good to be a hall of famer. It isn't about one record, or one or two good years. You have to be great for the entire time you played (sadly, this is why I wouldn't give Tiki Barber the nod to the NFL hall of fame either.).
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MLB should be standing behind McGwire, feeding him grapes. Baseball would still be in the shitter if it wasn't for that home run race. As much as baseball is coming down on the steroid scandal, it is the one thing that saved them from that strike.
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I wouldn't vote for him on this ballot, I liked him as a player but not enough to wow me.
I personally think the Hall Of Fame has let too many average players voted in. If Roger Maris doesn't belong in it niether does Mark. |
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Cal Ripken Jr. --Yes, the Record and the fact he made some great clutch hits, and his commercials are funny. |
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i must emphatically disagree here. to call mark mcguire average by any means is ridiculous. remember this guy hit 587 HR's not many can say that. steroids or no. this guy was expedcted to break the individual season mark even from his rookie year. remember how he hit 49 as a rookie? mark deserves to be in the hall and all those sport writters who hold the whole steroid thing against him are fools. steroids doesnt teach you how to hit a curve ball. and the season he broke the mark he was hitting a home run like every 7 swings or something like that. the guy is amazing and deserves to be in. whatever happened to inocent till proven guilty? how many other guys are in the hall who took steroids. steroids didnt turn baseball into a joke, baseball turned itself into a joke because of the way it handled and is handling steroids. does anyone not believe that from the 70's through the 90's they basically embraced it? and now they are acting shoked and appalled. what a load of crap.
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If cheaters like Gaylord Perry are already in the hall, then there is no reason that Mark Mcgwire shouldn't be in there.
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Me too. My favorite player ever. He played the game like no other.
Woody Paige (formely of ESPN cold pizza, since tues. was his last day) get a vote and he said he wouldn't give McGuire a vote. he said even without steriods, he didn't think his career was consistent enough to and great enough to be in the hall of fame. He never won a golden glove, he never won an MVP and even though every sinlge player with 500+ HRs is in the hall, he doesn't believe the McGuire deserves it. |
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Interesting little tidbit. Of the 755 homeruns Hank Aaron hit only 1 was an inside the park homerun
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Interesting little tidbit. Of the 755 homeruns Hank Aaron hit only 1 was an inside the park homerun
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I wouldn't say he is slow he ranks 227th all time in steals with 240 over his career.
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Don Mattingly--no. sorry Donnie, if only your back didn't give out you would have been a shoo-in.
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I hope Woody Paige chokes on a donut! What does that fat ass know?!?! He doesnt deserve to be there!!! Thats like saying Hitler wasnt a cruel dictator. I think it is very obvious he should be there, but the big question will be the steroids issue.
Oh and Pete Rose should be there for sure, he played the game with a ridiculous passion!!! |
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In addition to that, there's the Mark McGwire steroids issue and the questions of just how much support he'll get. But if we can put the steroids aside for a moment, there are a lot of baseball historians as well as voting members of the Baseball Writers Association who maintain that, his 583 homers notwithstanding, McGwire should not be an automatic first-ballot electee. Indeed, the case can be made that, as a barely adequate first baseman who had only 1,626 hits, McGwire was a one-dimensional player. I have always looked at 2,000 hits as a benchmark for the Hall of Fame. Case in point: One might say Reggie Jackson was a one-dimensional player, especially since he struck out more than any player in the history of the game and had his share of shaky moments in right field. But for all his strikeouts, Jackson also had 2,584 hits, 958 more than McGwire. And while perceived light-hitting shortstops such as Ozzie Smith, Dave Concepcion and Larry Bowa were all noted for their fielding, all of them had more than 2,000 hits. The Hall of Fame slugger most compared to McGwire in terms of being one-dimensional is Harmon Killebrew, a below-average third baseman/first baseman who had 573 homers, leading the AL six times. But Killebrew's .256 average is the lowest of any Hall of Famer except catcher Ray Schalk (.253) and because of that, plus his inferior fielding, I didn't vote for Killebrew. But at least he did have 2,086 hits and that was undoubtedly a helpful factor in his being elected to the Hall on his fourth year of eligibility in 1984. |
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Did Reggie seriously have the most strikeouts? I look at Mike Schmidt and go bonkers, that guy swung at everything.
I was more into hitters, Gwynn, Mattingly, Boggs - etc |
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MLB should be standing behind McGwire, feeding him grapes. Baseball would still be in the shitter if it wasn't for that home run race. As much as baseball is coming down on the steroid scandal, it is the one thing that saved them from that strike.
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It's a crime Jim Rice is not in there and it's a bigger crime the fans of Boston don't make it a bigger issue.
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Even more of a joke, is Rich Gossage has not been voted in in 8 attempts. But it is expected he will next year cause of the weak ballot. If he can't make it on a strong ballot, then he shouldn't make it on a weak ballot.
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They need to change this hall of fame shit, too many bums are getting chance to be considered, and it isn't even baseball. Hockey is the same way.
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they need to have current members vote who gets in. forget the damn sports writters who know absolutely shit about sports yet get puffed up in their own opinions anyways
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Mike and Mike on ESPN Radio interviewed a writer/voter yesterday. The guy said he will not vote anyone in on the first ballot out of principle, because the original class that included Babe Ruth did not get unanimously elected. Assholes like that should have their voting priveleges revoked. They are suppose to vote on whether or not a guy is worthy, not use your own set of moral standards to make a guy wait. Pathetic. I hate people.
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Mike and Mike on ESPN Radio interviewed a writer/voter yesterday. The guy said he will not vote anyone in on the first ballot out of principle, because the original class that included Babe Ruth did not get unanimously elected. Assholes like that should have their voting priveleges revoked. They are suppose to vote on whether or not a guy is worthy, not use your own set of moral standards to make a guy wait. Pathetic. I hate people.
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If you cant even spell his name right then you dont even get a say.
Hey Mino the Cards resigned Mulder to a 2 year contract!!!! Fuckin right!!! |
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