Part 4 of our Hall of Fame ballot series: a very small ballot

Editor’s Note: We here at Rox Pile have all decided to make our own hypothetical Hall of Fame ballots since the results of the real Hall of Fame ballots will be released in less than two weeks. We started on Wednesday with editor/co-expert Noah Yingling’s hypothetical Hall of Fame ballot. We featured the hypothetical ballot of Brady Vernon in our second installment in our Hall of Fame ballot series on Thursday. On Friday, we featured Ryan Ladika’s hypothetical ballot.

Each of the three ballots featured nine or ten players on the ballot. However, today, Olivia Greene’s ballot features less players than the ballots in the previous three installments.

This is one of my favorite times of the year in baseball. You get to see your favorite players from past eras be awarded one of the most coveted things in baseball.  As you may know, it’s now time for members of the BBWAA to place their picks on who they believe should be inducted into the Hall of Fame for 2018. There are 33 players on the ballot this year (to see the original 2018 ballot with all the candidates click here) and voters can only vote for a maximum of ten but in my hypothetical ballot, I do not use all ten.

Jim Thome

Although it’s only his first year on the ballot, Jim Thome is one of the best players to add to the hall of Fame. The one thing you could always notice with Thome was the power he had. The way the bat would pop and you’d see him drop his bat knowing that it was a no doubter. Even his batting stance was intimidating to a pitcher.

The man made baseball fun and interesting. He hit 612 homers over his 22 year career and always put up incredible numbers and showed his strength and perseverance. He did this while also being the veteran many young guys could look to when they needed help. After retiring, he ended his career with a .276 batting average, a .402 on-base percentage, .554 slugging percentage, and a whopping 1699 RBIs. He also ranked in MVP voting nine times in his career and came in the top seven in voting four times (1997, 2001-2003).

In addition, he had nine seasons of 100+ RBI (and another two seasons over 90 RBI) and 12 seasons of 30+ home runs, including six seasons of 40+ and three of 47+. Jim Thome was one of the greatest first baseman to ever grace the game and he’ll be one of the greatest first baseman in the Hall of Fame.

Chipper Jones 

Being an Atlanta native I grew up supporting the Braves and Chipper Jones was the third baseman of my childhood. It’s nostalgic to me to recall all the things that Jones has done for the Braves. You have to love the fact that during his 19 year career he stayed with the team. It’s amazing. With Chipper, you have an MVP (1999), 8-time All Star, and a two-time recipient of the Silver Slugger award. And that’s only the accolades.

Chipper Jones had monster numbers his entire career: 468 home runs, 1,623 RBIs, and a lifetime batting average of .303, a career on-base percentage of .401, and a career slugging percentage of .529. He also played very well in the postseason as in 93 games, he had 13 homers, 47 RBI, and a .287/.409/.456 slash line.  Just stellar numbers from the former face of the Braves.

With his great hitting also came his great defensive work. The man was a good third baseman putting up a lifetime fielding percentage of .957 with over 20,000 innings. The stat, Defensive Runs Saved, only started being tracked in 2003 but his 2008 featured 10 DRS (zero is league average) as well as 7 DRS in 2004 and 4 in 2007. When you hear the name Chipper Jones, you automatically think the number 10 Braves legend. This year, when you hear the name Chipper Jones, you should think Hall of Famer.

Edgar Martinez

Edgar Martinez is also another guy that stuck with one team in his entire career. Martinez is going on his 9th year on the ballot. Why exactly? This guy is a 7-time All-Star, 5-time Silver Slugger, and won the batting title 2 times. I mean where to start, just reading his accolades tells you what he’s accomplished at the plate.

Over his 18 seasons with the Seattle Mariners he had 309 home runs, a batting average of .312, an on-base percentage of .418, a slugging percentage of .515, and an OPS+ of 147. He also had seven seasons of 98+ RBI, including a league leading 145 RBI in 2000. In his prime years, from 1995-2001, he averaged 146 games played with 100 runs, 171 hits, 42 doubles, 28 home runs, 110 RBI, 107 walks (compared to only 91 strikeouts), an astounding .329/.446/.574 slashline, and an outstanding 164 OPS+.

After he retired, the American League designated hitter award was named after him so that shows how dominant he was as a designated hitter. The main reason that he hasn’t been voted in yet is because Martinez played 68 percent of his games as a designated hitter. However, with the numbers that he put up in his career and having an award for a specific position named for you, you are probably Hall of Fame worthy.

I’m still confused on why Edgar Martinez hasn’t been inducted. Hopefully, this will be his year.