The MLB Hall of Fame ballot for 2006 has been announced, and it’s remarkable in two ways: One, there’s no slamdunk newcomer on the list, and two, it’s curtains for Pete Rose until and unless the Veterans Committee takes up his cause.
Pete Rose’s eligibility for the baseball writers’ Hall of Fame ballot expired Monday when the 2006 candidates were announced, a group that includes Cy Young Award winners Orel Hershiser and Dwight Gooden.
Albert Belle, Will Clark and Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen were among 14 first-time candidates on the 29-man ballot. Bruce Sutter is the holdover who came closest to election, falling 43 votes shy last year.
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First-year candidates include pitchers Rick Aguilera, Alex Fernandez, Doug Jones and John Wetteland and infielders Gary DiSarcina, Gary Gaetti, Gregg Jefferies, Hal Morris and Walt Weiss.
Doc Gooden is of course a prime candidate for the Hall of What Might Have Been, where he can join his fellow former Met Related Posts:
I’m pro trammel, but even more so I’m pro Lou Whitaker. A 117 career OPS+ over a 19 year career at second base is nothing to sneeze at; it’s really the impact of the last 5-10 years that has made it impossible for him to get into the hall. Is he even on the ballot any more?
Bert “Be Home” Blyleven, Goose, Tommy John “Surgery”, and Orel “Not Sexual Relations” Hershiser should be enshrined in the Chris Berman Hall of Fame Nicknames wing, at the very least.
Concepcion and Mattingly, fer sure. And Minnie and Buck.
I got a soft spot for Dave Parker and Bruce Sutter, but they trail the others.
Nicholas – Whitaker was on the ballot for one year, in 2001, and for reasons that will never be clear to me, failed to garner 5% of the vote. I agree with you that he deserved much, much better than that.
I pinged you, but I guess it hasn’t shown up yet. My votes here.
Linkmeister, I think you are just a little too quick to dismiss Jack Morris.
– His career record of 254-187 is a better winning percentage than any of the pitchers that made it through your first screening except Gooden.
– He has more strikeouts and complete games than John despite playing 8 fewer seasons.
– In post season play Morris is 7-4 with 5 CGs including 3 in the WS where his record was 4-2 with an ERA under 3.00.
– He was a 6 time all-star which equals John and Blyleven’s selections combined.
– He was in the top 10 in wins in 12 of his 16 seasons. By comparion John was in the top 10 six times in 26 years, Blyleven in 6 of 22 seasons.
– Morris’ Career WHIP 1.290 was better than John’s 1.387.
This is not to say Jack Morris is a shoo-in but he does deserve more consideration than you’ve given him IMO.
BTW – In researching this, I’m more convinced that Blyleven is the most deserving player on the ballot. A career 1.198 WHIP is just crazy over 22 seasons.
Patrick, you may be right. I remember Morris for that 1-0 10-inning WS game and that’s about all. I notice that I inadvertently left André Dawson completely out of my screen, so I updated the post.
I think you should vote for Gaetti just because he was the kind of player that deserves at least one vote.