My HOF Ballot

BY KEVIN KERNAN

Signed, sealed, mailed. 

My Hall of Fame ballot is all set for the Cooperstown Class of 2025.

We will see who will join inductees Dave Parker and Dick Allen in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown next July. The results of the BBWAA ballot will be announced on MLB Network on January 21st.

Like I tell you every year, this is my ballot, not yours – and I am proud to have the voting privilege.

I voted for 10 players this year. I’m guessing at least three will make it. There are two no-brainer picks on the ballot in Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia. What a summer it is going to be for Japanese baseball fans with world champion Shohei Ohtani starring for the Dodgers and young pitching sensation Roki Sasaki joining a major league club. The Japanese fans will show up on Induction Weekend.

Ichiro is a big fan of Cooperstown and during his player career would visit Cooperstown, not as a superstar but just as another baseball fan. During his time with the Yankees, we would discuss what makes Cooperstown such a special place so his induction will be even more gratifying because he holds the Hall of Fame in such a brilliant baseball light.

I keep it simple on my ballot and look at key baseball numbers and just for fun this year, I also compared them to the numbers put up by Parker and Allen, who were not selected by the writers but added by the Hall’s Classic Baseball Era Committee. I would have liked to have seen Luis Tiant inducted as well, but it was not in the cards.

In the future, I will do a column on my personal ballot of 10 players who should be added to the Hall of Fame and Tiant will be one of the Forgotten 10.

Let’s stay on task here with my 10 choices in alphabetical order.

Carlos Beltran:

He did not make my cut last year, but I have added him this year.

The difference is Parker and Allen. Beltran’s numbers are just as good or better. I’m not going to hit you with too many numbers, but Beltran produced more home runs (435), hits (2725) and RBIs (1587). One of only four players in history with at least 1500 runs scored, 2700 hits, 400 home runs and 300 steals, joining Barry Bonds, Willie Mays and Alex Rodriguez.

Andruw Jones:

The incredible centerfielder makes a return to my ballot. His defense was super (10 Gold Gloves in centerfield), and he was a home run hitter (434), and I am a Big Hall guy. I think more players should be in the Hall because I believe that it is good for the fans of those players to visit their heroes. I keep it simple with numbers and philosophies, and again, it is my vote, not yours.

Andy Pettitte:

I’m old school too in that I believe in wins for starting pitchers. Baseball is slowly learning again that wins are important. Starting pitchers get wins by pitching deep into games and by having a lead when they leave. It’s kind of the basis of starting pitching. Pettitte (256) had more wins than Sabathia (251). And he pitched 3316 innings and won five championships with the Yankees. Topped the 200 innings pitched mark in 10 seasons.

Manny Ramirez:

I came off the steroid wall years ago.

Barry Bonds should be in the Hall of Fame. Managers and a commissioner who benefitted from steroid players are in the Hall, so why can’t the steroid guys be in there as well? Manny hit .312 over his 19-year career with 555 home runs and was Mr. Entertainment. An RBI machine, 12 times reaching 100 RBI mark.

Alex Rodriguez:

Ditto.

Times two: 696 home runs, .295 average, 2086 RBI and 2021 runs scored and 3115 hits. Three-time MVP winner.

Jimmy Rollins:

I’m adding the shortstop this year because I have the space and I like shortstops, they are kind of the glue that holds a team together. I also voted for Omar Vizquel last year and again this year and Rollins scored 1421 runs while Vizquel scored 1445 runs. Jimmy had some punch too with 231 home runs and really livened up those battles with the Mets. Led NL in triples four times.

CC Sabathia:

A winner and what I really liked about Sabathia, he is a huge sports fan. He gets it. Never made excuses, was at his locker win or lose and he won a lot with those 251 wins and 3093 strikeouts, and 3577 innings pitched. Posted double-digit win totals in 14 seasons. One of just three left-handers with at least 3000 strikeouts.

Ichiro Suzuki:

Beyond all his talent, a baseball showman and perfectionist.

He had his own special carrying case for his bat, (3089) hits and his glove. If young players could learn anything at all from Ichiro it is take care of your equipment and your body and they will take care of you. A lifetime .311 hitter, he put up all those MLB numbers while arriving at the age of 27. Ichiro stole 509 bases too and would be impossible to catch stealing in this Era of the Manfred Free Stolen Base. The first position player from Japan in big league history and he won Rookie of the Year and MVP in that 2001 season.

Omar Vizquel:

A wizard with the glove, he won 11 Gold Gloves. He even won a Gold Glove at the age of 39. Career leader in defensive games at shortstop with 2709. Also, all-time leader in double plays turned at shortstop with 1734. Played 24 seasons and accumulated 2877 hits.

Billy Wagner:

This is Wagner’s 10th and final year on the ballot.

Recorded 422 career saves, second highest among left-handed relievers. Career walks-plus-hits per-innings-pitched ratio (WHIP) of 0.998 is lowest among all retired relievers with at least 700 innings pitched. Recorded 12 seasons with 20-plus saves. Add to all that, another standup guy. Never hid from the media in a job where accountability counts. I’ve been voting for Wagner for a while, this year, in his final season, I hope 75 percent of the voters join me.

There you have it, my 10 Hall of Famers, and remember I covered each and every one of these players throughout their careers. I was there. I saw them first-hand. I was at the ballpark. I saw how they reacted to teammates and to the media. I also saw their love for the game. I purposefully didn’t fill each and every candidate here with a numbers-heavy bio. There are some numbers – important numbers – and there are plenty of other places you can go to see even more numbers if you want. Plus I just got new glasses and typos happen. Baseball is more than numbers. But I know too it is also a game where numbers matter.

In each case here you can build a bio where the players belong to be in Cooperstown. Some of these players made huge mistakes like Alex Rodriguez. That’s part of their story too. Same goes for Beltran with the Astros. Some of the players who did not make my ballot did not have the numbers needed, injuries got in the way. David Wright was on a Hall of Fame path until his back made him a different player. Dustin Pedroia was another player who suffered injuries, derailing his Hall of Fame quest.

I also believe that when different veterans’ committees induct players who did not make it through the BBWAA process, that is a good thing. It’s always good to take a second and third look at a career. I’m all for more players being named to Cooperstown, it is the best of the best but there is plenty of room for more plaques. There is room for more stories too, and I can’t wait to hear Dave Parker’s speech. Like he said, it’s going to be a good one because he has been waiting 15 years to give it at Cooperstown. Ichiro will have a terrific talk as well. Same goes for CC Sabathia. I once had the pleasure to attend a Raiders game with Sabathia, like I said earlier, a huge sports fan, and that was fun. When a player is both a star and a fan, the enjoyment of making the Hall of Fame is that much more special.

In the future I would love to hear the induction speeches of Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez. Same goes for Gary Sheffield, a player I voted for every year (last year was his final year on the ballot) but did not make the 75 percent cut from the other BBWAA members. The system is not perfect, how many systems are perfect?

A lot of thought is given to each ballot, and countless hours were given to the job of watching baseball to earn the right to have a ballot.

Congratulations to all the voters and those on the ballot and to the Hall of Fame. It is a special place, and I urge all baseball fans to make the journey to Cooperstown at some point in their lives.

Just walking through the doors of the Hall of Fame will bring a smile to your face, and that is a win for baseball – and for you.