Last week I posted this year's Hall of Fame ballot and set up an online survey for Let's Go Tribe readers to vote, interesting to see whom we'd elect (and eventually to be able to compare our results to those of the BBWAA, which will be announced in January). Unlike the BBWAA, I allowed voters to select more than 10 players if they wanted to, because I think that limit is (for lack of a more nuanced or grown up term) stupid.
The results (124 ballots):
Greg Maddux 97%
Frank Thomas 83%
Tom Glavine 82%
(75% of the vote is needed for induction to Cooperstown, so the players above are the ones who'd be inducted based on our results)
Mike Piazza 74%
Craig Biggio 73%
Jeff Bagwell 72%
Barry Bonds 63%
Roger Clemens 63%
Curt Schilling 52%
Tim Raines 46%
Mark McGwire 43%
Edgar Martinez 41%
Mike Mussina 40%
Alan Trammell 37%
Rafael Palmeiro 31%
Jack Morris 27%
Sammy Sosa 27%
Larry Walker 25%
Jeff Kent 22%
Fred McGriff 19%
Don Mattingly 16%
Lee Smith 13%
(5% of the vote is needed in order to remain on the ballot, so the players below would all have fallen off for next year, based on our results)
Moises Alou 4%
Richie Sexson 1%
Sean Casey 1%
Zero votes: Luis Gonzalez, Kenny Rogers, Eric Gagne, Paul Lo Duca, Jacque Jones, J.T. Snow, Ray Durham, Todd Jones, Mike Timlin, Armando Benitez, Hideo Nomo
I'm surprised no one voted for Luiz Gonzalez. I didn't either, but his counting totals are pretty impressive (over 1,000 extra-base hits, for example), and if Sean Casey and Richie Sexson can land a vote apiece, I'd have lot Gonzalez did too, maybe from a Jack Morris supporter who gave Gonzo extra credit for his World Series-winning hit in 2001.
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Speaking of Morris, the 27% he received here is a far worse showing than he's going to have in the BBWAA voting (where he might even reach 75% and be inducted). No other candidate will do so much better in the real voting.
It's also seems we're collectively less troubled by PEDs than the BBWAA (or don't believe they should keep some from the Hall of Fame anyway), as I doubt Bonds and Clemens will receive 63% of that vote. Of great interest to me is that while Bonds and Clemens tied, it wasn't an identical set of people who listed them. 6 voters had Bonds on their ballot, but not Clemens, while 6 others had Clemens, but not Bonds. I would love to hear from any of those people in the comments, because if it's not just an anti-PED vote, I'd love to hear the case against one of them, and if it is an anti-PED vote, why'd you support one of them???
Piazza missed out by just 1 vote, Biggio by 2 votes, Bagwell by 4.
Four voters left Maddux off their ballot, which is completely ridiculous. I would send those four to the stockyards if I could. One of those four ballots listed 13 players, including Lee Smith. I would like to think that ballot was filled out carelessly, and that Maddux's absence was an oversight. If there's a person out there who truly believes Lee Smith belongs in the Hall of Fame, but Greg Maddux doesn't, the world is an even more frightening place than I suspected.
How many players did you vote for?
# of players voted for | # of vote (% of votes) | # of players voted for | # of votes (% of ballots) |
0 | 0 (0%) | 6 | 11 (9%) |
1 | 1 (1%) | 7 | 9 (7%) |
2 | 1 (1%) | 8 | 10 (8%) |
3 | 5 (4%) | 9 | 6 (5%) |
4 | 2 (2%) | 10 | 21 (17%) |
5 | 5 (4%) | 11 or more | 53 (43%) |
Only 11% of voters listed 5 players or fewer, while 60% voted for 10 or more (led by the voter who listed 23 players). I originally planned to limit voting to 10 players, then have a separate question in which participants identified which other players they vote for if they were allowed to vote for more than 10, but I worried that would be overly complicated, and lead to fewer participants, so I went with the simpler survey instead. In any case, it's clear that many of us would feel limited by a 10-player limit.
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