Hall of Fame ballot is stuffed like a turkey

There were sixteen times during their films together that Oliver Hardy said to Stan Laurel, "Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into." That seems doubly fitting when considering this year's Hall of Fame ballot. Due to either total ineptitude or moral high horse-ism of the BBWAA, deserving candidates from the past several years are now lumped together with several newcomers and I count at least sixteen names on the ballot that should be no-doubt Hall of Fame members. And it is fairly easy to predict that only a few will be elected at most this year.

There are several obstacles this year's vote will face. First, half will vote for those either verified as PED users or rumored as such. Combine that with the artificial limit of only ten names on each ballot and half will be voting for people that the other half have stiffened their jaw against. This leaves only five other slots on the ballot they can vote for. So five other so-called "clean" players will not get in either. Add this to the blind part of the BBWAA vote that does not even cover or watch baseball and you have a mess.

Oh, and there is one other nasty bit of business. Many of those that are Hall of Fame deserving players are on the ballot for the first time and there is a large chunk of writers that do not like putting non-gods through on the first round. Oy.

And it will only get worse in the coming years as even more superstars of the sport are introduced to the ballot.

Here is my list of the sixteen definite Hall of Fame players on the ballot by rank:

1. Barry Bonds - I don't care if you hate him or not. And I do not care if there is an asterisk by his home run totals. If he had been through playing after 2000 season, he was already a Hall of Fame player. He won three MVP Awards before all the questions came into being. What is a Hall of Fame without one of the best players of all time?
2. Roger Clemens - Say what you will. The man was acquitted. As far as we know, he never failed a test. JAWS has him as the third best starting pitcher of all time. He blows away every Hall of Fame standard known to mankind. Again, what is a Hall of Fame without the third best pitcher of all time?
3. Greg Maddux - He might be one of the few who gets in. According to JAWS, he is the tenth best pitcher of all time. And there has been no hint of any controversy about him. He won four straight Cy Young Awards and from 1992 to 1998, his peak was breathtaking.
4. Mike Mussina - Most people have no idea how insanely good Mike Mussina was during his career. His best years in Baltimore were largely ignored due to his team and in his Yankee years, people remember his awful year and his masterful and iconic last season, his first as a 20-game winner. Mussina according to JAWS is the 28th best pitcher in baseball history.
5. Curt Schilling - Gosh, I hate this guy. But he was a Hall of Fame pitcher. In fact, JAWS has him higher than Mussina. And you can never forget his 11-2, 2.23 in the post season either. Schilling put up the numbers to be here this high on my list.
6. Mike Piazza - According to JAWS, Mike Piazza is the fifth best catcher in baseball history. Fifth. How can you not vote a guy like that in the Hall? He is the best offensive catcher ever. And he was not quite as bad defensively as people think. And when you think of his offensive numbers, consider that he never, EVER, played in a good park for hitters as his home park.
7. Jeff Bagwell - The sixth best first baseman ever? Yeah, I'll take me some of that. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that he is a Hall of Fame player.
8. Frank Thomas - The champion of the "clean" player. Yeah, whatever. Just give me numbers and Frank Thomas did just that. Forget that he was a DH for a long time. If you judge him just as a first baseman, he is the ninth best of all time. Slam dunk.
9. Tom Glavine - Did he benefit of an era with a lousy strike zone? Sure. But he was smart enough to use it and won 305 games. He was good in the post season and won two Cy Young Awards. The 30th best pitcher ever works for me. A definite Hall of Fame guy.
10. Larry Walker - The tenth best right fielder ever. If you finish in the top 15 as a position player after 150 years of baseball, then what can you argue about? Playing in Colorado? Give me a break.
11. Rafael Palmeiro - The poster boy for the PED moralists. His numbers are insane. "He was never the best," the saying goes. But there is something to be said for metronome production year after year after year. The eleventh best first baseman ever.
12. Alan Trammell - His low voting percentage year after year on the ballot is a crime. The eighth best shortstop ever deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.
13. Tim Raines - What is it that keeps him out? The coke thing? He was Ricky Henderson light and the second best lead-off batter in his time. Without the gaudy batting average, he was every bit the offensive player as Tony Gwynn.
14. Edgar Martinez - Let's face it, the DH is a position and he was the best at that position. His offensive numbers are unbelievable. And he was the one guy who could hit Mariano Rivera. But even if you rate his numbers as a third baseman, he comes in as the eleventh best at that position in value all time.
15. Craig Biggio - Suffers a bit from moving around so much on the field. But he was a terrific lead off batter with over 1,800 runs scored in his career. The numbers are there. He was a HOF player.
16. Mark McGwire - He gets marginalized by the others on this list, but he is my last entry as a player on the ballot who should be in the Hall of Fame.

Those who fall just short for me: Fred McGriff, Sammy Sosa, Jeff Kent, Jack Morris

Definite No votes for me: Don Mattingly, Lee Smith and the rest.

Definite Yes votes for me on the expansion vote (they change the name every year): Joe Torre, Bobby Cox, Tony LaRussa, Marvin Miller, George Steinbrenner and Ted Simmons. On the fence, Tommy John.

As you can see, there are just too many candidates and there is no way you can get them all in with the voting the way it is. What a shame the mess this has all turned out to be. To quote one variation of Oliver Hardy's famous line, "Well, here's another nice kettle of fish you've pickled me in."

Just how bad was CC Sabathia in 2013?

I wrote about just how bad CC Sabathia was in 2013 for It's About the Money. Check it out here.

Drugs have always been in baseball

Twitter was quite alive last night first with the news of Brian McCann signing with the Yankees and shortly after with the news that, apparently, Jhonny Peralta is set to sign a big deal with the Cardinals. The latter provided much more irony and angst since Peralta got caught up in the Biogenesis scandal and lost fifty games of his season in 2013. Despite paying his penalty, the common comment was that PEDs work if you look at how rich Peralta just made himself. I do not get all the hysteria over this. After all drugs have been in baseball forever.

The thought for this article came to me while at MLB.com watching an Adam LaRoche clip. It occurred to me that drugs were all over the sport. We have Phil Coke and Brett Pill and even the star of the World Series is called, "Big Poppy." So why are we hating on Jhonny Peralta? Heck, even one of his former teammates, Anibal(ic) Sanchez was named after a steroid. But the point is, these guys just follow a long list of drugs in the game.

For example, there have always been "bennies" in the game. It is stimulating to know that Bennie Tate played in the 1920s and 30s, Bennie Warren played in the 30s and 40s and Bennie Daniels played in the 50s and 60s. So bennies have always been around.


And who could forget Bob Greenwood back in the 1950s? Greenwood had a successful cup of coffee in 1954 and then got bombed out in one game in 1955 and never saw the Major Leagues again. He did pitch several more years in the minors. The 6'5" right-hander seemed to have a pitcher's build. His nickname was, "Greenie." If you want to know why, just look to the right at his picture. Look at those eyes!

Again, this goes way back. Heck, back in the 1880s and 90s, there was Ducky Hemp. The outfielder played two partial years and looked totally lost. Again, all you have to do is look at his picture on the left to know there was a problem.

Then, as soon as the century ended and we get into the early "nineteen-aughts," we find an infielder/outfielder named Frank LaPorte. Obviously, he had a traumatic upbringing being born with the nickname, "Breyfogle." I mean, what the heck is that? So it is understandable that his nickname is forever known as, "Pot." And if you click on his name that is linked and look at his baseball-reference.com page at his picture, you will certainly see that he was a stoner.

And speaking of stoners, a guy named Lil Stoner played in the 1920s and 30s and Tobi Stoner just played recently in the last decade. So you see, you'll never rid the game of this stuff.

And it hasn't just been weed and amphetamines that have been a problem. From 1905 to 1920, a guy named Fred Luderus played in the Majors. You don't think it a bit suspicious that his nickname was, "Ludy?" And during Ludy's playing days, Frank Ludes played in the minors.

And just so you don't think Phil Coke is alone, the 1950s and 60s saw a Jimmie Coker roaming Major League fields. And if that wasn't bad enough, a harder version exists too. And he is a catcher in the Hall of Fame! Chicago loved Ray Schalk even though his nickname was, "Cracker." You have another Hall of Fame player named Chief Bender.

And there were a lot of different drugs involved. There was Scat Metha and then there was Herb Hash, who had an appropriate first name. In the early days of the Pacific Coast League, there was a guy named Louis Smacker.

And there is another drug that people think is quite modern. But it goes way back. In fact, Molly Moore played in 1875 and soon after, there was Molly Craft.

How many players named Adam have there been? You cannot fool me. That was a slang term for Meth. And what about all the Reds? What about Angels? Is that not a nickname for PCP?

Charlie Grimm played for twenty years early in the 20th Century and then managed. His nickname was Jolly Cholly. We know what "cholly" is a nickname for, so it was no wonder, Charlie was jolly.

And what about one of my all time favorites, Dooley Womack? There have been five minor league players with the name, Downer. There historically has been seven minor league players named Dube and two named Dubee. So it is not just a Major League problem.

I think I have proven my point. PEDs may be the latest problem. But the game has always been full of drugs. Geez, there was a guy who played from 1913 until 1918 named, Hugh High. So this has always been there. Get over it already.

Disclaimer: Obviously, this is all a joke and there is no intention to indict any of these players for actual drug use.