Austin Sports Guy

On January 12, 2009,  the Baseball Writers Association will announce the new class of inductees in to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.  This years ballot is the smallest in history with only 23 names, 10 first timers and 13 returning all trying to be voted into the sacred Hall of Heroes.  Voters are instructed to vote for only 10 and those that receive 75% of those votes will be inducted on July 26, 2009. This will mark the 15th and final year for Tommy John and Jim Rice to be on the ballot; no player has been elected on his final try since Ralph Kiner in 1975.  Below is the name of the player as well as a small list of career accomplishments.

Harold Baines was one of the most durable and respected hitters of his era.  He played from 1980 to 2001 and upon retiring, he ranked 7th in games played(2830), 10th in RBi(1628), 7th in career grand slams(13) and 7th in walk-off home runs(10).

Jay Bell was considered one of the best short stops of the ’90′s.  While Bell played from 1986-2003, he managed to win a World Series, a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger Award.  He amassed a career average of .265, hit 195 home runs and drive in 860 runs.

Bert Blyleven was a pitcher who played from 1970-1992 and managed to win two World Series titles while never pitching for a yearly contender.  In his 22 years in the Majors, he managed to go 287-250, striking out 3701 and posting a career era of 3.31.  Blyleven is considered to be the best eligible pitcher not in the Hall of Fame.

David Cone was a pitcher who came up in 1986 and retired in 2003.  During his career he managed to win 5 World Series as well as pitch a perfect game.  Over the course of his career, Cone posted a  194-126 record with a 3.46 era while striking out 2688 batters.  Cone won the 1994 Cy Young and made the all-star team 5 times.

Andre Dawson, also known as the Hawk, played for 20 years with four teams.  Dawson’s career has stacked his trophy case with such notables as 8 Gold Gloves, 4 Silver Sluggers, an MVP for a last place team, and a Rookie of the Year award.  His #10 is retired by the Montreal Expos, the team that drafted him.

Ron Gant played 14 years in the Major Leagues and is most notable for his time with the Atlanta Braves in the early 1990′s.  During his career, Gant became only the third person to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in two consecutive seasons behind only Willy Mays and Bobby Bonds, a feat that Barry Bonds has since done as well.  He has a career average of .256, hit321 home runs and drove in 1651 runs. He also won a Silver Slugger award and the 1995 Comeback Player of the Year award.

Mark Grace was a 4 time Gold Glove award winner as well as three time all-star and a World Series winner.  Grace ended his career with an impressive .303 average, 173 home runs and 1146 runs batted in.  Mark has the distinction of getting more hits(1754) than anyone else during the 1990′s.

Rickey Henderson: See prior post!!

Tommy John has a most familiar name that you may recognize from the revolutionary surgery to repair the ligaments in one’s pitching arm.  Tommy pitched from 1963 until his retirement in 1989.  John ranks 7th on the all-time list of wins by a left-handed pitcher(288) and first among pitchers not in the Hall of Fame.  After his surgery in 1974, he made a comeback in 1976 and went on to win 164 games until he retired- that’s is one less than Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax won in his entire career.

Don Mattingly was a 12 year veteran of the New York Yankees and remains to this day one of the popular Yankees in team history.  During his career, Mattingly posted a .307 average, 222 home runs and drove in 1099.  He was elected to 6 all-star games, won 9 Gold Gloves, 3 Silver Slugger Awards and had his famous #23 retired by the Yankees.

Mark McGwire was a larger than life slugger that spent 15 years putting baseballs in seats for the Oakland A’s and the St. Louis Cardinals.  He started his career by hitting the most home runs as a rookie(49) and then in 1998 the most in a year ever(70) which has since been eclipsed by Barry Bonds.  During his career, McGwire hit over 583 home runs, driving in 1414 runs while hitting a mere .263. Despite his alleged use of steroids, McGwire managed to make 12 all-star games, win a World Series, a Gold Glove and a Rookie of the Year Award.

Jack Morris was a starting pitcher for 18 years in the majors playing 13 of those years for the Detroit Tigers.  Morris managed to post a career 254-186 record with a 3.90 era while striking out 2478 batters.  During his career he won 4 World Series, went to 5 all-star games and won 2 Babe Ruth Awards.  Morris earned his billing as a “big game” pitcher by beating the Braves in 1991 World Series while pitching 10 innings of scoreless baseball.

Dale Murphy was regarded as one of the premiere players of the 1980′s, earning 2 MVP’s, while playing mostly for the Atlanta Braves.  Murphy is a 7 time all-star, 5 times Gold Glove winner as well as a 4 time Silver Slugger winner.  When his career ended in 1993, he managed to post a .265, 398 home runs and drove in 1266 all while playing at 3 different postions including catcher, first base and his natural position of center field.

Jesse Orosco was a longtime veteran relief pitcher who holds the Major League record for appearances by a pitcher.  During his 24 year career, he played for 9 different teams and pitched in a record 1252 games and won one World Series. Orosco was the last player to play from the 1970′s in a Major League game just 8 days after Rickey Henderson retired in 2003.

Dave Parker, better known as the Cobra, was a two time batting champ and the 1978 NL MVP.  During Parker’s 18 year career, he managed to post an impressive .290 average, 339 home runs and drive in 1493 runs.  The Cobra was able to go the all-star 7 times and win 2 World Series.  He also won 3 Gold GLoves and 3 Silver Slugger Awards which earned him the first million-dollar-per-year contract.

Dan Plesac was a left-handed relief pitcher who played for 18 years with 7 different teams.  He played in 1064 games, saved 158 games and posted a 3.64 era.

Tim “Rock” Raines played 23 seasons for 6 different teams and is best known for the 13 years he played with the Montreal Expos.  During his illustrious career, Raines posted a .294 average, stole 808 bases and collected 2605 hits.  He went to 7 all-star games, won 2 World Series, a Silver Slugger and had his #30 retired by the Expos.

Jim Rice was a power hitting left fielder that played all 15 years of his career with the Boston Red Sox.  Rice was and 8 time all-star, a 2 time Silver Slugger Award winner and the1978 AL MVP.  He posted career numbers that include a .298 average, 382 home runs and 1451 runs batted in and getting 2452 career hits.

Lee Smith was considered to be the most dominant relief pitcher during his 17 year career. Upon his retirement, Smith held the record for most saves(478), games finished(802) and games pitched(1022) while posting a 3.03 era.

Alan Trammell played his entire 19 year career at shortstop for the Detroit Tigers.  Trammell was a 6 time all-star, won 4 Gold Gloves, 3 Silver Slugger and  a World Series MVP.  Along with his double play partner Lou Whitaker, they hold the AL record for games played together(1918) and most double plays than any other combination in the long history of baseball.

Greg Vaughn was a former outfielder for 5 different teams in a 14 year career.  Vaughn had  enormous production when putting the ball in play ,however,  he had a great knack for swinging and missing.  He posted a career .242 average, hit 355 home runs, knocked in 1072 runs and struck out 1513 times.

Mo Vaughn, Greg’s cousin, also known has the “Hit Dog” was a former fist baseman for the 12 years and 3 different teams.  During his career he posted a .293 average, hit 328 home runs and drove in 1064 runs.  Vaughn became one of the most intimidating hitters of the 1990′s based on his power, ability to hit for average and his crouched batting stance that seemed to intimidate pitchers which led to his 1995 AL MVP.

Matt Williams was a third baseman that played 16 years with 3 different teams and won 4 Gold Gloves.  WIlliams was an exception power hitter hitting 30 home runs and driving in 90 runs on 6 different occasions.  During his career he won a World Series, 4 Silver Sluggers and went to 5 all-star games.  He posted a .268 average, hit 478 home runs and drove in 1218 runs.

If i had a vote, which i do not, I would cast my vote for Rickey Henderson, Tommy John, Bert Blyleven and Jack Morris. I feel they impacted their teams, other teams and their leagues more than any others and deserve to be inducted into the Major League Baseaball Hall of Fame.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 16th, 2008 at 4:40 pm and is filed under Baseball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.