Larkin Elected to HOF

[revo]

86% of the vote. Morris comes up short with 67%, Bagwell finishes 3rd with 56%.

[Moonlight J]

[Erik]

And you know there's gonna be a push for him like there was for Blyleven.

[BigJonEmpire]

I know it's not cool these days but I love Morris and would put him in just for his attitude and his top pitcher status in early fantasy leagues.

Larkin totally deserves this and I'm glad to see him get in relatively easily. I want Bagwell in there too, but I know most of you will fight me on that.

[revo]

interesting that Juan Gonzalez is now gone from the ballot. I thought he'd manage more than 4% - 5%. Plus the complete lack of support for Bernie Williams is a surprise.

It's unbelievable the support that Morris gets. The guy was barely above average.

Well, this year was his chance. The next few years bring some heavy hitters onto the ballot:

2013
Craig Biggio
Barry Bonds
Roger Clemens
Steve Finley
Julio Franco
Kenny Lofton
Mike Piazza
Curt Schilling
Sammy Sosa
David Wells

2014 - last year for Morris
Greg Maddux
Frank Thomas
Tom Glavine
Jeff Kent
Mike Mussina
Moises Alou
Luis Gonzalez

2015
Randy Johnson
Pedro Martinez
John Smoltz
Gary Sheffield
Nomar Garciaparra
Carlos Delgado

2016
Ken Griffey Jr.
Trevor Hoffman
Andy Pettitte
Billy Wagner
Jim Edmonds

[Moonlight J]

And you know there's gonna be a push for him like there was for Blyleven.

he's on the same track. Blyleven had 63% of the vote on his 13th try

[off_the_wall]

Tim Raines seems woefully under appreciated.

Morris' mustache was far above average.

[Erik]

The 2013 class would have been insane had it not been for all the steroid revelations. Now the only sure-thing first-balloter from that list is Piazza.

[TS Garp]

I guess that being the best leadoff hitter in the history of the NL isn't enough to get Tim Raines elected.

[revo]

Although Tim Salmon & Vinny Castilla were clearly not HOF worthy, they were perennial All Stars and so I can understand a few votes going for them. But four votes for Bill Mueller??? Two for Brad Radke?

[Erik]

Radke-Mueller type votes tend to come from beat writers who had a good rapport with the guy during his career.

[revo]

I guess that being the best leadoff hitter in the history of the NL isn't enough to get Tim Raines elected.

Obviously a case can be made for him, but I can understand why many aren't voting for him. Frankly, he was HOF-caliber for just five years or so ('82-'87), before settling into becoming a solid if unspectacular player. Plus, there's the whole coke scandal spectre over his head.

[revo]

Radke-Mueller type votes tend to come from beat writers who had a good rapport with the guy during his career.

couldn't they send them a Christmas card instead? Votes like that water down the importance of the HOF vote process. If you're a sportswriter and are throwing a few votes to your buddies, that's kind of ridiculous.

[DMT]

Obviously a case can be made for him, but I can understand why many aren't voting for him. Frankly, he was HOF-caliber for just five years or so ('82-'87), before settling into becoming a solid if unspectacular player. Plus, there's the whole coke scandal spectre over his head.

In 1981, his rookie year, he led the league with 71 SBs in just 88 games, to go along with a .391 OBA. His career OBA was .385 and he never finished below .350 from 1981-98. 808 SBs, 5th all-time. Raines is a slam dunk IMO.

[TS Garp]

Obviously a case can be made for him, but I can understand why many aren't voting for him. Frankly, he was HOF-caliber for just five years or so ('82-'87), before settling into becoming a solid if unspectacular player. Plus, there's the whole coke scandal spectre over his head.

You're forgetting about strike-shortened 1981, when he was on a pace to challenge Henderson's record for stolen bases in a season. He had a mediocre year in '88 but bounced back and remained very productive through 1993. His stolen base success rate is out of this world. We love Tony Gwynn here in San Diego but I have a hard time saying that Gwynn was a significantly better or more valuable player, all things considered.