Monday, November 27, 2006

If I Had a Hall of Fame Ballot....

The eligible candidates for this year's Baseball Hall of Fame voting have just been announced and a couple of the names on the list are no doubt going to spark some controversy: Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire. (Hat tip: Tim Ellsworth) While Canseco's career numbers are not really what I would consider Hall of Fame caliber (and his tell-all book about steroid use in the majors published last year won't help his case any), McGwire will likely get some consideration from the voters given that he was at one time the all-time home run record holder. But will the dark shadow of possible steroid use during his career keep him out of the Hall?

If I had a ballot to cast, here would be my votes: Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripken, Jr., and Orel Hershiser. I would be willing to bet that Gwynn and Ripken will both be elected easily. Beyond that, I doubt that any other candidate will be able to muster sufficient support to make it into the Hall. It will be interesting to see how the voting turns out.

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