Baseball Hall of Fame: 2014 Class

A few years back I wrote about the future MLB hall of fame vote and suspected that the ballot will become very crowded very soon. With nobody getting in for 2013, this just creates a larger conflict.  To my mind the following players eligible in 2014 have a legit argument in HoF voting:

Jeff Bagwell

Craig Biggio

Barry Bonds

Roger Clemens

Tom Glavine

Jeff Kent

Greg Maddux

Edgar Martinez

Don Mattingly

Fred McGriff

Mark McGwire

Jack Morris

Dale Murphy

Mike Mussina

Rafeal Palmeiro

Mike Piazza

Tim Raines

Curt Schilling

Lee Smith

Sammy Sosa

Frank Thomas

Alan Trammell

Larry Walker

 

Can you pick just ten?  I can see 8 as easy choices: Glavine, Maddux, Thomas, Biggio, Bagwell, Piazza, Clemens and Bonds.  That leaves 2 left to choose from out of 15 players.  I think you can cut Kent, Mussina, Morris, Smith, Walker and Mattingly.  But that still leaves 9 players which require cutting down to 2.  To be honest with you, I don't know how to do it.  I would wish to vote for at least Raines...then Schilling...then Murphy and Martinez.  Trammell and McGriff deserve it too. 

I am stumped and I don't even have a ballot to cast.  I can only wonder how hard it will be for the actual voters, especially with some being so pointlessly stupid (blank ballots submitted as protest, never voting for someone on first ballot, etc.)  Many do not even list a full ten players. Obstructed View even suggested Maddux himself may have issue getting in on the first ballot.  I find that hard to believe but this is the BBWAA we are talking about.  You never know.  Cy Young and Joe DiMaggio were not 1st ballot Hall members.

So, can you pick just ten?  I'd be curious which people would choose and in fact, do you think there are ten Hall hopefuls on the list at all?  Please comment and let me know.  Me?  I'm still trying to get some tickets to next years ceremony.  It could be a Braves-fest with Mad Dog, Glavine, Cox and even Schuerholz potentially.  Go Braves!  That is all.

 

Comments

[Harris]

Pretty sure 2013 was Murphy's last year on the ballot...

Biggio-Maddux-Raines-Thomas in 2014.

[AL Hurd]

That's correct, Harris. Murphy is done and Morris will be after next year. Fairly certain Trammell is coming close to falling off too. But then John Smoltz, Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez start taking their place. ;)