I just don’t think you can let McGwire in on the first time. Let him stew for awhile and scare the other “users” in the process.

Can we let Tommy John in based on fame alone? I mean, come on, the guy has a surgery named after him!

Also, anyone who doesn’t vote for Rickey is a complete idiot.

-Zach Sanders
http://www.mlbnotebook.com

Fair point with Tommy John. If anyone was to get into the HOF based on heart alone, wouldn’t it be Rickey?

My ballot is the same as yours except +Smith and -Trammell.  I don’t feel strongly enough about that discrepancy to argue, though.

But man…Rickey was awesome.

Throw in Rick, and you’ve got a power hitting/power pitching Vaughn combo I can live with in Cooperstown.

When it comes to Ricky, it’ll be fun to hear the excuses made by the guys who don’t vote for him so they can preserve their precious no-one-gets-voted-into-the-HOF-unanimously streak.

Why do I get the feeling it’ll remind me of the scene in Fight Club where they’re making up excuses why new recruits can’t join Project Mayhem: Sorry, I just couldn’t vote for Ricky, he was, um, too short, yeah, that’s the ticket. You’re too short Ricky! Now get off my porch!

Jackasses.

Jay Bell was about as good as Dave Concepcion or Omar Vizquel, both of whom will eventually be in the Hall. One of the more underrated players of the past 25 years.

You badly insulted Dave Stieb by comparing him to Jack Morris. Frank Tanana was a better pitcher than Jack Morris - better overall career, better peak. I’m not kidding; look it up.

I plan to attend the induction ceremony this year (July 26), because I certainly don’t want to miss a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity like Rickey Henderson’s induction speech. Hopefully Rickey will go first, so I can enjoy his speech, and then also enjoy getting forcibly removed from the ceremony for heckling Jim Rice.

The Morris/Steib thing was a quick, ill-considered line.  The point I was trying to make was that but for that World Series game, Morris would get no more Hall consideration than Steib does (i.e. none).  If you asked me a moment ago I would have said that Steib was better, but I probably have underestimated the difference between the two.

I’d vote for MoGreg…or would GregMo work better?  And just for very homerish reasons I would put Dawson in too. 

Do they televise HOF speeches?  If so Rickey’s will be saved on my DVR till the end of time.

> Rickey: yes, yes, yes

This is your way of saying that if we cut Rickey into three players, you’d have three hall of famers?

Raines & Dawson:  I’m surprised you’d rank it that way.  I don’t see either of them as a slam-dunk, but I also don’t see a whole lot to separate them.  Certainly, it’s evident that Dawson was better liked (see discrepancy in AS & MVP votes) and a better fielder, and that Rock was a bit better with the bat and a lot better on the bases.

Blyleven:  Is allowing 50HR in one season really reason enough to disqualify him?  (sorry, that’s the MOST substantive argument I’ve heard for not putting him in.  I’m just sayin’...

the Vaughns: well put!

I have to disagree about Tim Raines. As I’m sure Craig knows, the toughest of the 15 questions on the Keltner List is, “Is this the very best eligible player in baseball history that is not in the Hall of Fame?”

For Tim Raines the answer quite probably is yes. (Assuming Rickey’s a slam dunk, of course.)

Craig, I’m curious: Who do you consider the best eligible player not in the Hall of Fame?