The Red Sox Life Hall of Fame Ballot, Part I

Disclaimers:

1. This is really the Jim Corrigan Hall of Fame Ballot, but that's not a dramatic headline. And no, I don't get a vote in real life.

2. On the actual ballot, a player needs 75% of the votes to get in. I am not prognosticating here about who will get in, but rather who I think should get in.

Hall of Fame class voting has begun, and the good people at Baseball Reference have provided a handy list, as well as nearly every stat cited below. That page also has links to each player's lifetime statistics.


Lee Smith

Barry Larkin. No. He was NL MVP one year (1995), but Dante Bichette was better that year. He was a multi-year Gold Glover, and defense never gets fair credit. But, no.

Jack Morris. Yes. Dominant pitcher at his best, never won a Cy Young, but in the top 10 of Cy Young voting seven different times. Career ERA of 3.90.

Juan Gonzalez. Probably. He was AL MVP twice.

Lee Smith. Hell yeah. Saves are not fashionable now, but he had 478 of them, behind only Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman.

Jeff Bagwell. Yes. One of the best in his league for a long time.

Tim Raines. Yes. Jonah Keri convinced me: "Tim Raines reached base more times in his career than Tony Gwynn. First-ballot, 97.6%-of-the-vote Tony Gwynn."

Edgar Martinez. No. He was primarily a DH, and just not dominant enough.

Alan Trammell. No. A borderline call, but no.

Larry Walker. Yes. It’s tough with these National League guys, we don’t see them much. But Walker averaged over 30 homers and over 100 RBIs.

Mark McGwire. Yes. 12-time All Star, 10-time MVP contender (never won) and Rookie of the Year, which can only be won once. Yeah, I know. Just do it.

Fred McGriff. Yes. Similar numbers to Walker. Plus the inevitable but still awesome nickname Crime Dog.

Don Mattingly. No. NO?? Donnie Baseball? Yes, no. He was stellar for about four years early on and then merely good for the rest of his career. In his last six years, he hit over .300 only once.

Part II will be up late Wednesday.