Rox Pile’s Hall of Fame Ballot Series: Ballot Number 5

Editor’s Note: We here at Rox Pile have all decided to make our own Hall of Fame ballots since the results of the real Hall of Fame ballots will be released in less than two weeks on January 24. 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 and on Saturday, we featured Olivia Greene’s ballot.

Today, we feature the ballot of another one of our contributors, Luke Mullins.

There is plenty of controversy surrounding many of the players on the list, such as Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa and others caught up in PED scandals.

This can create a problem for voters who may want to recognize some players who were among the all-time greats but also don’t want to reward these players for cheating.

Barry Bonds likely would have gotten into the Hall of Fame even if he had never used steroids.  I guess its kind of ironic, then, that the substance he used to improve his game, hurt his chances of being enshrined in the hall.

Call me a purist, but with a ballot so full of talent as the 2018 ballot is, I can’t justify voting for anyone who was caught using steroids.

With that being said, here is my 2018 Hall of Fame ballot.

Vladimir Guerrero

It’s hard not to see Vlad in the Hall of Fame one day, whether he gets in this year or not. According to Ryan Thibodaux’s Hall of Fame ballot tracker, Guerrero has been on 94.5 percent of the ballots that have been publicly, as of late Saturday night, so he will almost certainly make it this season, and it is easy to see why.

Throughout his career, he collected 449 home runs, 1,496 RBI’s, and 2,590 hits for a .318 batting average.  He was the AL MVP for the Angels in 2004 and he came one home run shy of a 40/40 season in 2002 when he posted 39 home runs and 40 stolen bases for the Expos.  He reached 100 RBI’s 10 different times and recorded 30 or more home runs eight times.

Trevor Hoffman

I’m not sure how the first pitcher to record 600 saves didn’t make it into the Hall last year, or even in 2016, on his first ballot. He received an even 74% of the vote, with the Hall requiring 75% for election.  Hoffman placed second in Cy Young voting in 1998 with the Padres, recording a league-leading 53 saves to go along with a 1.48 ERA and a 0.849 WHIP as well as second in Cy Young voting in 2006.  Hoffman should make it into the Hall of Fame no problem this year.

Andruw Jones

In his best season in 2005, Jones led the National League in home runs (51) and RBI’s (128) for the Atlanta Braves.  He placed second in MVP voting that year.  Over his career he slugged 434 home runs and drove in 1,289 RBI’s. He also had nine seasons of 90+ RBI and seven seasons of 30+ home runs. Jones wasn’t just a threat at the plate, however.  He won 10 consecutive Gold Gloves from 1998-2007.

Chipper Jones

Despite that fact that he never led the league in home runs, RBI’s, hits, walks, or doubles and only lead the league in batting average once (.364 in 2008 when he also led the league with a .470 OBP) and OPS once (1.029 in 2007), Larry “Chipper” Jones is a first ballot Hall-of-Famer in my book.

He was the face of a franchise that won 11 consecutive division titles in the NL East from 1995-2005.  In 1995, he won a World Series.

Jones won the NL MVP in 1999, belting 45 home runs, driving in 110 runs, collecting 41 doubles and putting together a .319 batting average (and don’t forget he stole a surprising 25 bases!).  Additionally, Jones accomplished one of the rarest feats for a superstar player–he spent his entire career with one team.

Curt Schilling

Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson are the only pitchers with more 300 strikeout seasons than Schilling’s three (319 in 1997, 300 in 1998, and 316 in 2002).  He won three World Series–two with Boston in 2004 and 2007 and one with Arizona in 2001.  It was during that 2001 World Series with Arizona that Schilling was named the World Series MVP.  he has 3,116 career strikeouts, 216 wins, and 83 complete games.

Jeff Kent

Kent may be the most underrated player on this ballot.  Though he never led his league in anything besides sacrifice flies, he was one of the best players to play his position during his era.  He was a five time all-star and four time Silver Slugger.  He won the MVP in 2000 with the Giants, hitting .334 with 33 home runs, 41 doubles and 125 RBI’s.

Kent collected 2,461 hits over his 17-year career and belted 377 home runs.  He holds the record for the most home runs hit as a second-baseman with 351.

Jim Thome

Thome is in exclusive company.  His 612 home runs are the eighth-most all-time, his 1,747 walks rank seventh all-time, and his 1,699 RBI’s rank 26th.  He hit 30 or more home runs 12 times and 40 or more home runs six times.  He drove in 100 or more RBI’s nine times.

As a Phillie, his 47 homers led the NL in 2003, though his personal high was 52 in 2002 with Cleveland.  That year he also led the AL with a personal-best 1.122 OPS.

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• Colorado Rockies: Has Sean Bouchard earned a second look in 2023?

Larry Walker

Our own Kevin Henry wrote a great piece last year, explaining how when it came to Hall of Fame voting, Walker was getting penalized more heavily for playing at Coors Field than other players were for using PED’s.  Luckily, it seems a consensus has begun to form throughout the baseball community that it is time for this to end.

MLB.com’s Joe Posnanski recently put out an article in which he argued for Walker’s inclusion in the Hall.  In the story, Posnanski mentioned that Walker is one of only three players (along with Bonds and Willie Mays) to rank in the top 100 in batting runs, baserunning runs, and fielding runs.

Walker had a monster year in 1997 when he won the NL MVP for the Rockies.  He hit .366 with an NL-best 49 home runs, 130 RBI’s, 46 doubles, 33 stolen bases, and led the league with a 1.172 OPS and an eye-popping 409 total bases.

Walker won three batting titles (.363 in 1998, .379 in 1999, .350 in 2001) and seven Gold Gloves.

In 2004 he helped the Cardinals to the World Series, where they eventually lost to the Red Sox.

Next: Rockies GM Jeff Bridich touts Chris Iannetta's power

There should be no doubt that no matter where he played: Walker is worthy of the Hall of Fame.  Hopefully, this is the year that he finally gets in.