And you thought the Baseball Writers Association of America graded on a tough curve?
Last month, SB Nation's baseball bloggers put our collective heads together to come up with a mock vote for the Hall of Fame. The same rules applied to us as the ones the BBWAA heed: 75 percent of voters had to place an eligible ballplayer on their ballot in order for him to be "elected" a Hall of Famer.
Of 19 players who received at least one vote, only one player received the requisite 75 percent. I hope his mythical speech is a long one, because he'll be standing solo on our dais.
Bert Blyleven received a whopping 92.3 percent from SBN's 52 voters.
Second baseman Roberto Alomar fell one vote at 73.1 percent. Shortstop Barry Larkin received 63.5 percent, and designated hitter Edgar Martinez received 48.1 percent.
Tigers shortstop Alan Trammell did much better among SBN voters than among BBWAA, but he still managed just 40.4 percent. Former Tigers pitcher Jack Morris was tabbed by just 13.5 percent of voters. The complete list will follow after the jump. Ian and I will tell you more about our ballots, as well.
Kurt's vote
Alomar, Blyleven, Andre Dawson, Barry Larkin, Edgar Martinez, Alan Trammell (listed alphabetically)
My personal Hall of Fame would not include all these names. As I've said in a past post, I am for a smaller hall. My own standards would be to find the player who I think stood out -- both statistically and for his recognition among his contemporaries -- in his generation for each position, put him in the hall, and call it good. It's not actually that simple, but now is not the time nor place to detail the entire thought process.
Practically speaking though, the precedent of players in the real Hall of Fame means several should be included in my vote, because they are actually better than the guys already in the hall. Thus, I vote for Trammell, as he is definitely more deserving than Ozzie Smith is and at least as deserving as Larkin.
Yes, in retrospect I should have voted for Tim Raines if I voted for Dawson. I don't remember my exact thought process of picking just Dawson. But doing it over today, I would vote for him.
Ian's vote
Roberto Alomar, Barry Larkin, Bert Blyleven, Jack Morris, Alan Trammell, Edgar Martinez, Lee Smith, Andre Dawson, Tim Raines, Dale Murphy
I listed my candidates in the order I put them on my ballot. I don't know if the Hall of Fame ballot is intended for voters to list who they think is most worthy of induction, and then work back in descending order, but that's how I filled mine out.
One thing I would change, looking back on it now, is how many players I voted for. I figured since I had 10 spots on the ballot, I'd put a name in each of them. But really, I don't know if I truly feel that more than six of these players should be in the Hall of Fame. (Lee Smith is borderline for me. Should closers be in the Hall of Fame? If so, Smith was one of the best during his career.) Actually, this whole exercise made me kind of glad I don't really get to vote for the Hall of Fame, because I'm not sure I'd want the responsibility.
I can't believe, however, that Alomar fell short (close as it was) in the SBN vote. For at least a decade, he was an elite second baseman (12-time All-Star, 10 Gold Gloves, if you put stock in such honors), and was a key part of two championship teams with the Blue Jays.
SBN vote
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