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What our hypothetical Hall of Fame ballots look like (part 1)

By Noah Yingling

DENVER - SEPTEMBER 25: Larry Walker #33 of the Colorado Rockies looks for the rest of his bat as he grounds out against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the fifth inning September 25, 2003 at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. The Diamondbacks won 8-7. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
DENVER - SEPTEMBER 25: Larry Walker #33 of the Colorado Rockies looks for the rest of his bat as he grounds out against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the fifth inning September 25, 2003 at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. The Diamondbacks won 8-7. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images) /
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SEATTLE – JULY 15: Omar Vizquel#13 of the Cleveland Indians fields the ball during the game against the Seattle Mariners on July 15, 2004 at Safeco Field in Seattle, Washington. The Mariners defeated the Indians 2-1. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)
SEATTLE – JULY 15: Omar Vizquel#13 of the Cleveland Indians fields the ball during the game against the Seattle Mariners on July 15, 2004 at Safeco Field in Seattle, Washington. The Mariners defeated the Indians 2-1. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images) /

The only player I have not mentioned that is on the ballot is Omar Vizquel. Being from Northern Ohio and growing up a Cleveland Indians fan, he was actually my favorite player growing up. However, he played in 24 seasons in his MLB career and he only had an OPS+ above 100 in two of those 24 seasons. He won 11 Gold Gloves but his defense was overrated, in my opinion.

If he were to become a Hall of Famer, as Jay Jaffe of Sports Illustrated notes, he would be the worst offensive shortstop and below average in most defensive metrics among Hall of Fame shortstops. With that, I would not vote for him.

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Final Thoughts

This time of the year is always interesting to see who the Hall of Fame will be enshrining in July. The Veterans Committee already voted in Jack Morris and Alan Trammell at the Winter Meetings in December so there will definitely be two.

In addition, with the numbers that Guerrero, Thome, and Chipper Jones are getting (all over 93.3% as of Tuesday night, according to Thibodaux), they are locks to get in. Trevor Hoffman and Edgar Martinez are both right on the bubble as they are between the 78 percent needed and a little over 80 percent. Usually, the numbers go down a little from the public ballots and non public ballots so I wouldn’t be shocked if both get in or if neither get in.

The main Rockie on the ballot, Larry Walker, has seen tremendous gains (as more than 25 voters added him to their ballot this year when they did not have him last year). However, he is only trending at about 39 percent. With that, Ryan Thibodaux has determined through his tracker that even if every voter were to vote for him for the rest of the way, it would not be enough to enshrine Walker this year.

Next: The greatest game in Rockies history, Game 163, from a fan's perspective

However, if Guerrero, Thome, Jones, Hoffman, and Martinez were to get in, the ballot will be less crowded and Walker will get a lot more votes next year.

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