Barry Dawson

Who will make the baseball hall of fame soon?

what pitchers? i made a list of hitters you can discuss. who am i missing? who doesn’t belong at all? and what pitchers will go or might go? in your opinion.

From the 2007 ballot, un-elected return candidates for 2008: Gossage (71.2%) has gotta reach the finish line next year. Rice, Dawson, and the ever-underappreciated Blyleven remain in strong position. McGwire is a cypher; that the writers would hand him a smackdown this year was a given, but the 2008 ballot will reveal much more — was it a one-time thing or will they hold their grudges? (What little buzz I’ve heard indicates that, yes, they’re serious about not voting for him. Wait and see.)

The current edition of the Veterans Committee has yet to induct anyone, so predicting it ever will is pointless, but Santo has been looking good, and deserves it.

2008 first-timers: Tim Raines is far and away the cream of this crop, but I can’t see him getting a first-ballot welcome. Certainly deserves it.

2009 first-timers: Rickey… who, in thematically correct fashioin, will be going in all by himself.

2010: Roberto Alomar easily; worthy but harder to predict are Barry Larkin, Fred McGriff, and the first great acid test for designated hitters, Edgar Martinez.

2011: Bagwell. Juan Gonzalez is going to get dismissed as badly as Canseco did, which will be not at all fair. Palmeiro is going to get trampled, lucky to stay above the 5% retention minimum.

Among those still playing, predicting is always dodgy, but here’s some names I consider sure things: Clemens, Bonds, Maddux, Glavine, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Biggio, Sosa with an asterisk, Griffey, Frank Thomas, Ramirez, Ivan Rodriguez, Alex Rodriguez, Jeter, Thome, Piazza, Chipper Jones, Guerrero, Hoffman, and Rivera. There are others for whom I could argue, but having to argue for misses the point. Some just don’t yet have an ironclad playing record as testimony, but someday might.

Barry Cougar Dawson – Speediness