Last year, no one got the call.
1.Greg Maddux. 355 wins. 3371 strikeouts. 18 Gold Gloves. Four straight Cy Young Awards during one of the most dominant pitching stretches in baseball history from 1992-1995. Anyone not voting for him should lose their vote forever.
2. Frank Thomas. Two-time MVP. Career .301 hitter with 521 homers and 1704 RBI. Also walked more than he struck out. Quite rare for a big slugger. Reached base 41.9% of the time. 11 seasons over 100 RBI. Mickey Mantle only did that four times if you would like a frame of reference. Big Hurt is a big lock.
3. Mike Piazza. Greatest offensive catcher ever. 427 homers and a .308 career average, mostly while playing the most difficult position on the field. All from a 62nd round draft pick. Never struck out more than 93 times in a single season, which is truly amazing for a power guy.
4. Lee Smith. When he retired he was the all time leader in saves with 478. It's time to stop disrespecting the closer position and put more of these guys in the Hall. Like punters in the NFL, they are a big part of the game, and Smith was one of the best closers in the game.
5. Mike Mussina. Tremendously consistent workhorse pitcher who spent his entire career in the hard-hitting AL East. Posted his first and only 20-win season in his final season at the age of 39. Compiled a 270-153 career record for a winning percentage of 63.8%.
6. Edgar Martinez. Much like the closer position, the designated hitter spot also gets little respect from the Hall of Fame voters. Martinez was a hitting machine. Career average of .312, 309 homers and 1261 RBI. From 1995-2001 he drove in over a 100 runs in all but one of those season. It's time for a DH to get in.
7. Tom Glavine. Crafty lefty that won two Cy Young awards and posted five, 20-win seasons as part of the Braves decade of dominance in the 90s. Finished with 305 wins and could always be counted on...unless he was pitching for the Mets on the final day of the season against the Marlins when a playoff spot was on the line. Yes, I'm still bitter, but at least I'm not holding back my vote for Tommy.
8. Jack Morris. 254 regular season wins on the mound, but really shined in the post season where he anchored the pitching staff for World Series winners in Detroit, Minnesota and Toronto. His ten inning, 1-0 shutout victory over Atlanta in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series is one of the greatest performances ever under pressure.
9. Craig Biggio. Spent all 20 years as a member of the Houston Astros collecting 3060 hits along the way. Came up as a catcher and was All Star. Then made the move to second base where he was also an All Star. His 668 doubles ranks fifth all-time and he stole 414 bases along the way.
10. Mark McGwire. Yes, he did steroids, but he also hit 49 homers as a skinny rookie in 1987, so I'm one to believe that his power was very legitimate. He was injury prone and the steroids clearly extended his career and enhanced his power numbers later in his career to monstrous levels. His home run journey to break Roger Maris' single season record in 1998 also helped baseball regain all lot of popularity that was lost following the prolonged strike that canceled a World Series in 1994. He admitted his misdeeds, so baseball needs to admit he was a legend of the game.
I'd also vote in Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, but they continue to deny their use of steroids. Both guys were Hall of Fame talent before they started using. Just admit it and people might forgive you one day.
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