Hall of Fame
It’s long overdue, but the day has finally arrived. Mike Piazza was finally elected to the Hall of Fame. He is the second Met elected to the Hall of Fame.
The day the Mets obtained Piazza was one of the most important days in the franchise’s history. He transformed the franchise. The Mets went from also rans to contenders. He formed a unique bond with Mets fans. He was an important figure in Mets history.
More importantly, he was an important figure in baseball history. He is the greatest hitting catcher to ever play the game. He has the most home runs, slugging percentage, and OPS+. He will be the first player elected to the Hall of Fame who was the last player selected in a draft. By extension, he is the lowest draft pick in the Hall of Fame. He is proof to everyone that with hard work, determination, and belief in yourself anything is possible. That includes making yourself a good defensive catcher. Yes, Piazza was good defensively.
There are many incredible memories we all have of Piazza. Dodgers fans and Mets fans alike. However, his signature moment was the post-9/11 homerun:
It was an important moment for New York. It was an important moment in baseball history. It’s important that he go into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Today, that moment became reality. Mike Piazza is a Hall of Famer. I hope to be there for your ceremony in July. As you always rise to the occasion, your speech should be one for the ages.
Congratulations Mike Piazza.
With one bold move, the Mets completely transformed their team with the acquistion of Mike Piazza. While he was not immediately adored (he was replacing the injured fan favorite Todd Hundley), he became a beloved Met.
To understand the Piazza adoration, you first have to understand what was happening. Honestly, I think things were worse in 1998 than they were now. The Mets were in year 10 of a rebuild from the glorious 80’s teams. That involved every player Mets fans loved leaving the team. The first step in the rebuild was The Worst Team Money Could Buy. This started some depressing baseball.
After that was the Vince Coleman firecracker incident. There was also the Bret Saberhagen bleach incident. The fans took everything out on Bobby Bonilla, who would wear earplugs to drown out the booing. It’s hard to see a team lose without trying. It’s worse to see a team try and be incompetent in doing so.This all set the Mets back years. Throw in the 1994 season ending strike, and you had the nadir of Mets baseball in my lifetime.
Nope, it wasn’t quite the nadir yet. The rebuild for the 90’s Mets was based on the same theory as the current Mets. It was based upon pitching. The problem is it didn’t work in the 90’s. The Mets entrusted Generation K to Dallas Green. All of the arms burned out. They were all injured under his watch. The Mets switched to Steve Phillips and Bobby Valentine, and things started getting better. It’s hard to imagine it, but 88 wins felt like the Mets had actually won something.
Part of the reason is the Mets acquired Mike Piazza. He came to the Mets in 1998 and he hit .348/.417/.607 with 23 homers and 76 RBI in 109 games. He did what Mets fans thought Yoenis Cespedes did in 2015. He carried the team for almost a whole season. He transformed the team. The Mets had no choice but to bring him back.
In 1999, he became the second Met to hit 40 home runs in a season. He led the team to the playoffs (even if they needed a play-in game to get there). He hit a homerun in the 1999 NLCS that I seriously thought was going to help propel the Mets to win Game 6 and complete the then impossible:
In 2000, he again led the Mets to the postseason. For much of that year, he was considered an MVP candidate. Unfortunately, the Mets lost as Piazza’s ball didn’t carry far enough. It was a shame because Piazza was the reason Mets fans had pride. He was the reason the Mets fans believed they could win it all. He was the reason the Mets could step toe to toe with the Yankees.
They did. There were some epic games between the two teams back when the Subway Series mattered. Everyone remembers the Matt Franco single, but they forget the two Piazza bombs in that game:
Did you see where that ball went? How epic was that bat flip? He was a dangerous and feared hitter. It’s why Roger Clemens went after him not once but twice. But getting back to the home runs, it was one of several huge home runs he hit for the Mets. Do you remember the homerun he hit against the Braves capping off a huge comeback:
I remember being there that night. It was insane. That homerun sums up his tenure with the Mets perfectly. Even against teams like the seemingly unbeatable Braves and Yankees, the Mets always had a chance no matter how bleak the odds were. Seeing those highlights made me a little emotional. That reminds me of this moment:
To me, that’s still the greatest homerun ever hit. If you didn’t forever love and respect Piazza before that night, you did now. It’s part of the reason why after he left Mets fans still cheered him. I know I returned in 2006 for his first game back. It was important for me to cheer the man that meant so much to Mets fans:
I remember the constant standing ovations and cheering his name. I just wish I was there for the next night when he got a curtain call:
Seriously, how many visiting players get a curtain call? This moment shows how much Piazza means to Mets fans. We loved him. It seems he loved us back. He came back to close out Shea and open up Citi Field. He is now the guy who throws out the first pitch at World Series games.
Whether it’s today or in the future, Mike Piazza will be a Hall of Famer. He deserves it. Mets fans deserve it. It’s important to a of us. We want to see him recognized for all he did for the Mets and all Mets fans. My favorite Mets teams were the ones with Mike Piazza. He’s my favorite Met. He’s my favorite player.
It’s important to me and all Mets fans he gets elected to the Hall of Fame.
I can’t believe I’m writing this, but after all the nonsense I’ve read lately, I felt someone somewhere just had to write, “Mike Piazza is going into the Hall of Fame as a Met.”
You know how I know this? He wrote it in his book “Long Shot” at page 343:
The whole affair [of the closing ceremony at Shea Stadium] felt good, and it spoke to why, if I do make it to the Hall of Fame . . . I hope to go in as a Met. Technically, it’s not a player’s call; the Hall of Fame itself makes that decision. But players can let their preferences be known, and mine is pretty strong.
*****************
If there’s a single person in my career with whom I feel most closely associated, yes, it’s definitely Tommy [Lasorda]. If there’s a team, however, it’s the Mets.
That’s straight from his mouth. So why the guessing game? Making arguments either way is just picking nits.
He was a better hitter with the Dodgers hitting .331/.394/.572 with 177 homers as opposed to hitting .296/.373/.542 with 220 homers for the Mets. He was the Rookie of the Year with the Dodgers, but he played in the World Series with the Mets. His story started with being a 62nd round pick of the Dodgers, a team he would play seven years and 726 games. He would play eight years and 972 games for the Mets, a team for which he did this:
Point is it’s close enough to go either way. Sure, the Hall of Fame retains the right to make the selection, but it will honor a player’s reasonable request. Piazza going in as a Met is not only reasonable, but it’s also his stated intention. Even if you didn’t have his words, look at his actions.
He always comes back for the big Mets events. He caught the last pitch at Shea and the first one at Citi Field. He threw out the first pitch at the first home World Series game at Citi Field. If he’s at an MLB sponsored event, he’s always there as a Mets delegate. In each and every All Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game, he’s worn a Mets hat, and yes, that was for the ones preceding the 2013 All Star Game as well.
Overall, there is no reason to suggest Piazza will go into the Hall of Fame as anything other than a Met. To do so would be to ignore his statements and his actions.
Mike Piazza is and forever will be a Met.
Tomorrow, the Hall of Fame results will be announced. Looking at the current known ballots, Billy Wagner is not going to be elected to the Hall of Fame this year. It must be of small condolence to him that he won’t be bounced from the ballot.
It was not for a lack of trying. Wagner has been anywhere and everywhere trying to tell the world (and the voters) he’s a Hall of Famer. He does every interview possible. He retweets everything from the Wags Facts Twitter account. Naturally, the Tweets focus on why Wagner should be a Hall of Famer:
Billy Wagner's compelling Hall of Fame case https://t.co/SqydQ6dtyi via @BtBScore
— #wagsfacts (@wags_facts) December 13, 2015
@cje1213 @NotMrTibbs – 61 votes for Hoffman, 31 votes for smith, 10 votes for Wagner. Do stats matter in baseball? pic.twitter.com/vBh4p5d13z
— #wagsfacts (@wags_facts) December 23, 2015
Hoffman NL version of Rivera? Really @JonHeymanCBS?
Hoffman 2.87 ERA is 30%> than Rivera 2.21 & 24%> than Wags 2.31 https://t.co/dIxokDnhau— #wagsfacts (@wags_facts) December 31, 2015
Whether or not you agree Wagner is a Hall of Famer, you have to admit he had an amazing career. If you think he’s a Hall of Famer or not, he and his career deserves a lot of respect. I also respect that he’s advocating his Hall of Fame case. Never forget that in life you are your own best advocate. If Billy Wagner isn’t going to advocate his case, who’s going to take up the mantle as effectively as he has?
Wagner is used to coming in with everything on the line. He’s used to coming out and giving it his best shot armed with nothing more than a 98+ MPH fastball. He was dominant. He got the job done. If he brings the same tenacity to getting elected to the Hall of Fame, I don’t doubt he will one day get elected.
Good for Billy Wagner.
If you follow the voting history, it’s plain to see the majority of Hall of Fame voters will not vote for a player confirmed to have used PEDs. The question is what happens with everyone else as you can create a hypothetical that anyone used steroids.
Some voters use that opportunity to create false narratives. For some, like Murray Chass, it appears he has an axe to grind. For others, they just don’t bother to research their claims, thereby just guessing who did and who didn’t use steroids. Others pull stuff out of thin air. There are too many guys who lump guys together without making any distinction. At the end of the day, it’s a player like Mike Piazza, who gets his name dragged through the mud without so much as an explanation. Piazza is left standing outside the Hall of Fame asking “what does acne have to do with steroids?”
The answer is that it doesn’t matter. There was a time when reporters sought proof for their allegations. You used to need a source or documentation. Now, all you need is a byline and a hunch. This is best shown with Bob Nightengale‘s latest column. If you don’t know who he is, he’s the guy who famously tweeted this:
Ben Zobrist has a four-year, $80 million offer on the table. The #Mets still considered favorites to ultimately land him.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 8, 2015
I’m putting that out there before you take any of the following too seriously. Keep in mind that despite acknowledging Piazza has forever denied using steroids, Piazza having never failed a test, and Piazza’s name never coming up in any investigation, he’s accusing him of using steroids. In effect, this would be like if Deep Throat was Woodward and/or Bernstein. No one needs any facts; unfounded conjecture will do just nicely.
Essentially, his case that Piazza used steroids boils down to this:
[Piazza’s denials] counters concerns of PED use aired almost exclusively in private by former teammates, opponents, scouts and management who were struck by Piazza’s rise froma modest amateur career to a muscle bound slugger who hit balls clear out of Dodger Stadium.
The insinuation is because Piazza was a very low round draft pick, he must’ve cheated. How is that fair? Furthermore, how is it fair that all of these supposed people who accuse Piazza were anonymous? Keep in mind there has still yet to be a teammate, opponent, or even a ball boy who has named Piazza as a steroids user. It’s all rumor. If that was sufficient, we would all believe the married father of three is homosexual. I guess Nightengale has a source on that one too.
You know what’s even worse about Nightengale’s assumptions? Their just plain wrong. In fact, it took the Rising Apple very little time to disprove it:
Here's a large snippet from the 1985 Piazza article. Last one! CC @BNightengale. A retraction would be cool. pic.twitter.com/gc5TUZKfDY
— Rising Apple (@RisingAppleBlog) January 4, 2016
So yeah, Piazza had power as an amateur. Also, look at his minor league stats. Piazza hit 26+ home runs in each year he played in a full time minor league level. He did that despite being young for his leagues. You see Piazza could always hit and hit for power. It was just a question of where he would play.
You may ask why does all this matter especially if Nightengale is voting for Piazza. There’s two reasons. The first is the he’s not the only voter operating with these unfounded accusations (the others use it to withhold their votes). The second is because people mistakenly see Piazza’s induction as a path for confirmed users like Roger Clemens. How ironic.
So what happens is the greatest hitting catcher of all time waits to see if he’ll be elected on the fourth or fifth ballot. People are acting upon this rumor mongering and unproven suspicions.
If you follow Ryan Thibs on Twitter and/or his Hall of Fame Tracker, you have seen Piazza’s early support dwindle from the low to mid 90’s to 86.5%. This is just from 35.1% of the voters. Last year, Piazza received 75.1% on published ballots and just 62.1% on unpublished ballots. Overall, Piazza finished with 68.8% of the vote. Unsurprisingly, the people who are afraid to put their names to a ballot are the ones who are most comfortable pretending Piazza used steroids.
If Piazza’s vote total again dips by 6.3%, he will be elected with around 80.2% of the vote. It’s not a large margin of error. With a changing electorate, I’m not sure if we can expect a similar regression in the unpublished vote totals. It’s a wild card. It means it’s going to be close. I’m hoping Piazza gets elected, but I’m not counting on it. He may just have to wait until 2017, and that’s not right.
If he does the Bob Nightengales of the world will have to look in the mirror and ask if it was worth smearing a player with no actual proof. Either way, they should ask what type of integrity they have publishing unfounded rumors. What journalistic standards asked that uphold. I presume none.
It’s time to stop punishing Piazza for bad journalism and elect him to the Hall of Fame.
Honestly, I don’t know of a more underrated and under appreciated great player than Tom Seaver. He was bafflingly omitted from the All Century Team. In his stead were players like Nolan Ryan. Another inane fan vote named Sandy Koufax over Seaver as part of the Franchise Four Living Legends.
Seaver doesn’t get the respect he’s due. He could very well be the best right handed pitcher of all time. He’s inarguably a top five pitcher, especially when you omit those who have cheated. Yet, Seaver can’t get a statue in front of Citi Field. He isn’t mentioned among the best of the best. The fans don’t see it. This tells me he’s been largely forgotten. I say largely because he does get mentioned every time this year as he is still the player who was elected to the Hall of Fame with the highest percentage.
In 1992, Seaver received 98.84% of the vote. It means each year, he’s necessarily mentioned as the player elected with the highest percentage of the vote. Every year, Mets fans can puff their chests out in pride. Now, it seems like that is all in jeopardy:
Including the partial ballots at the bottom of the sheet, Griffey is 150/150. Needs 295 of the est. 300 remaining to break Seaver's record.
— Ryan Thibodaux (@NotMrTibbs) January 3, 2016
Ken Griffey, Jr. has received 100% of the vote from those writers who have published their ballots thus far. He’s a legitimate threat to be the first unanimously elected player in the Hall of Fame. In many ways, it’s a sign of progress. I’m selfish. I hope he doesn’t get it. I hope six writers find absurd reasons to omit Griffey’s name from the ballot.
The reason is simple. I’m a Mets fan that believes Seaver never got his due. I believe the fan votes establish that. A Mets ownership that refuses to properly honor him with a statue establishes that. The only real thing that keeps Seaver in the baseball public consciousness is his Hall of Fame tally.
Honestly, I care more about this than Mike Piazza getting elected this year. He will get in eventually. He will always be remembered as the greatest hitting catcher and the post 9/11 home run. As a Mets fan, I’m not worried about Piazza’s legacy.
I am about Seaver, the greatest Met there ever was. Perhaps, the greatest Met that ever will be. The man who is one of the five greatest pitchers ever. He’s never gotten his due, except when it came to Hall of Fame voting. It’s the only time we hear about him. I shouldn’t have to hope voters do the wrong thing, but I do.
For the sake of Seaver’s legacy, I hope six voters do the wrong thing and don’t vote for Griffey.
We all have that uncle. He’s annoying and self righteous. He’s bombastic and knows more than you. He doesn’t like new things. So what happens is when he’s confronted with new ideas, he comes an angry old man, who may not always make sense.
That was Murray Chase again. It’s the same person who created the rumors that Mike Piazza used steroids. He did it on his blog, and not the New York Times. The reason? Well, presumably, the Times won’t let anyone published an unfounded rumor. To him, backne means steroids regardless of his lack of citing any medical proof.
I digress. Reading the column, I thought the only thing fair was him going after Dan Szymborski (I seriously apologize if this is misspelled). I’m not saying his criticisms are fair or even cogent. I’m just saying it was fair to attack him because in the past Murray Chass was attacked by Dan Szymborski. However, there were two things that struck me on these attacks. First, there was a time a Spink Award Winner would’ve ignored such attacks because responding in kind is to put that person on your level. Second, Murray Chass isn’t attacking Dan Szymborski. He’s attacking everyone who disagrees with him.
He has a problem that things are changing. Frankly, times have already left him behind (pun somewhat intended). People disagree with him, and they now have a forum to voice that opinion. In fact, the Dan Syzmborski’s of the world have a greater platform than he does. It’s not just that people disagree with Murray Chass. No, it’s that the world is changing, and it’s not consulting with people like him. He has years of experience we don’t. We have new ideas and theories we just can’t prove because he doesn’t understand them.
Admittedly, I read his column (I’ll respect him not calling it a blog), and I was going to take issue. Specifically, I was going to address why he could vote for Jack Morris based upon one game, one incredible game that’s in the pantheon of the greatest games of all time, but not voting for Curt Schilling and his more dominant postseason career. I stopped when I saw this:
Chass is not on the BBWAA's list of the 549 voters who cast ballots last year (https://t.co/SYksFWtFUN) pic.twitter.com/hMTX2fRhgo
— Ryan Thibodaux (@NotMrTibbs) January 3, 2016
I stopped when reading that. I remembered talking to my uncle. I know deep down he wants to hoot and holler about how things are different, and how we doesn’t like it. Admittedly, it would amuse me at times. Now that I’m older, when we broach the topics that get him angry, I decide to move on to a new topic. There’s no point anymore. He has nothing new to say about those topics. He’s not going to listen to anything I have to say. What’s the point?
My uncle just wants to be heard. He wants to feel like he’s part of the conversation. He wants to know he’s not being ignored. That’s Murray Chass, and his actions. He wants you to know what he thinks. He’s telling you how it is and/or should be. It’s why he may or may not get his Hall of Fame ballot in time. It’s tertiary to everything. He wants to be heard.
Honestly, I’d rather Chass talked about things he’s seen, rather than judging others based upon what he’s seen. The man is in the Baseball Hall of Fame for his fine reporting. He was one of the few, according to him, that truly covered baseball’s labor strife throughout the years. Chass has been a champion of Marvin Miller’s inclusion into the Hall of Fame. Chass is correct in his assertions about the impact Miller had on the game.
Overall, that’s what I want to hear from Murray Chass. There are great stories he had told and can re-tell. He has genuine, singular knowledge of baseball’s labor history. Chass should be included in baseball discussions frequently as, yes, he knows a lot more than we do. It doesn’t mean he’s always right. It doesn’t mean he won’t go on an eye rolling rant. It just means the man has value.
I honestly wish I could nudge Murray Chass in that direction as I do my uncle at the dinner table during holidays. I hope someone can. I’d love to read Chass again and feel informed. I don’t like reading his columns and feeling sad for him. He and his readers deserve better than that.
The 2015 Mets had a number of free agents. Of all the players that were on the World Series roster, the only one they brought back was 42 year old Bartolo Colon. They need to bring another player to provide real depth to the major league roster.
Right now, the Mets are expecting Wilmer Flores to literally back up every infield position. He’s the answer to every contingency. David Wright needs a break or has to go on the DL? Flores to third. Neil Walker doesn’t hit well against lefties. Flores to second. Lucas Duda needs a day off? Flores to first. Asdrubal Cabrera reverts back to the way he has the prior five and a half seasons? Flores to short. That is unless Ruben Tejada‘s leg completely heals, then Flores and Tejada will become part of the triumvirate over there.
The Mets need another option. Last year, Wright and Daniel Murphy got hurt. This lead to the Mets moving the deckchairs around the Titanic. We saw a lot of Dilson Herrera, who wasn’t ready. We also saw a lot of Eric Campbell, who is nothing more than a bench player. They were pressed into action because frankly, Flores and Tejada showed they couldn’t hold down the fort. They shouldn’t have been everyday players, at least not in the first half. Remember, for all the Mets vaunted new depth, they’re still two injuries away from Flores and a Tejada both being everyday players. It didn’t go so well last year.
Their relative ineptitude lead to the best trade the Mets made last year. They brought in Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe. They provided real depth, and they took the pressure off of everyone else. It’s of little surprise that once they came to the Mets, Tejada began to establish himself as an everyday player. They way it appears, the Mets have one roster spot left. Uribe or Johnson should be brought back for 2016.
The argument for Johnson is he can play all the infield positions, including being an emergency SS, and both corner outfield positions. He provides more depth and versatility than a Ryan Raburn or a Steve Pearce. In 49 games, he hit .250/.304/.414 as a Met. He’s a career .251/.333/.424 hitter. While the Mets would prefer a right-handed bat, Johnson has fairly even platoon splits where that shouldn’t matter. In his career, he has hit .244/.330/.421 against righties and .272/.334/.431 against lefties. More than anyone Johnson has the versatility to provide the depth the Mets need.
Uribe on the other hand is much more limited. He is now a third baseman, but he was willing to play some second last year. It’s possible given an offseason, he may be willing to learn first. It would help considering he’s a right-handed bat, and he was a leader in the clubhouse. Last year, Uribe only hit .219/.301/.430 as a Met. However, he did hit .253/.320/.417 overall. Like Johnson, he had no real platoon splits. He hits .258/.303/.419 against righties and .251/.302/.427 against lefties. It should be noted if Uribe comes back, Flores probably needs to learn to play the outfield as well.
I’d prefer to add both players, but as it stands, the Mets only have one bench spot open. Johnson had the versatility, but Uribe has the leadership skills, which are crucial on a young team. If the Mets go either way I can’t fault them. In fact, I’d argue they’re needed because the Mets can’t have Flores be the answer for everything.
No, the Mets need a veteran presence with versatility so the Mets can make good at the deeper and more versatile overtures they have been making.
Before looking at my ballot, please keep in mind that the IBWAA already elected players on the current ballot. This includes Mike Piazza and Jeff Bagwell I would’ve voted for them because I don’t play the steroids guessing game.
I also would’ve voted for Tim Raines, but he already received the necessary 75% from the IBWAA. Raines was the second best lead off hitter of all time, and frankly I haven’t seen a good reason to withhold your vote for him. Furthermore, even if the vote doesn’t count towards the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot, I didn’t want to incur the wrath of Jonah Keri.
As a reminder, here are the criteria I use in Hall of Fame voting. As such, I did not vote for Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens. With that said, here are the players on my ballot:
Junior might’ve been the best player in my lifetime, at least when he was launching home runs in the old Kingdome. When you look at his WAR, he’s only behind Willie Mays, Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, and Mickey Mantle. If you’re the fifth best ever at a position, you deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.
The average Hall of Fame SS has a career WAR of 66.7, a peak WAR (also known as WAR7) of 42.8, and a JAWS score of 54.7. Trammell’s numbers are 70.4/44.6/57.5. Translation, he’s one of the top SS in major league history. Keep in mind, he is a .285/.352/.415 career hitter with four Gold Gloves, six All Star Game appearances, and three Silver Sluggers.
On top of that, he hit .333/.404/.588 in the postseason. He was also the 1984 World Series MVP. It’s his last year on the ballot. He deserves to be elected.
The narrative on Walker is he’s a Coors Field creation. I get it because he hit an amazing .381/.462/.710 at Coors Field. Those are insane numbers.
Look at it this way. Walker has hit .278/.370/.495 on the road in his career. In his six years with the Expos at the beginning of his career, he hit .281/.357/.483. Reggie Jackson, who was one of the top RF all time, hit .262/.356/.490. On top of this, Walker was a five time All Star with seven Gold Gloves and two Silver Sluggers. He was the 1997 NL MVP. If you’re comparable to Reggie Jackson, you’re a Hall of Famer.
If you look over Kent’s career, his WAR, WAR7, or JAWS doesn’t match-up. The average for second baseman is 69.3/44.4/56.9. Kent was only 55.2/35.6/45.4. He fell short on those terms, but I voted for him anyway.
The issue is Kent was not a good defensive player, but he was a terrific hitter. Amongst second baseman, he’s hit the most homeruns, fourth most doubles, third highest RBI, and the second highest slugging percentage. Overall, he was a .290/.356/.500 hitter with 377 homeruns. He was the second best offensive second baseman to Rogers Hornsby. To me, being the second best offensively at his position was barely sufficient for me to vote for him.
Look, I think postseason excellence should be considered in Hall of Fame voting. Schilling was 11-2 with a 2.23 ERA, a 0.968 WHIP, and a World Series MVP. Bloody sock or not, that is as impressive as it gets.
With that said, I didn’t vote for Schilling due to his postseason success. I voted for him due to his regular season success. Schilling was 216-146 with a 3.46 ERA. 1.137 WHIP, a 8.6 K/9, and a 4.38 K/BB ratio. His K/BB is second best all time. His stats are good enough for a 127 ERA+, which is the same as Tom Seaver. His WAR is 79.9, which is higher than the average WAR for a Hall of Fame pitcher.
Postseason success or not, Curt Schilling is a Hall of Famer.
Speaking of career WAR, Mussina’s career WAR of 83.0 is actually higher than Schilling’s.
Mussina was 270-153 with a 3.68 ERA and a 1.192 WHIP. Those are remarkable numbers considering he pitched his entire career in the AL East during the steroid era. It’s unsurprising he would have an ERA+ of 123. That’s better than Juan Marichal and Nolan Ryan. Mussina bomgs in the Hall of Fame.
Other Notables
I didn’t vote for Edgar, who is a career .312/.418/.515 hitter. My vote for him only partially had to do with him being a DH.
I do believe there is room for a DH to be in the Hall of Fame. No matter how they are characterized, there are two right now: Frank Thomas and Paul Molitor. As these are the only two DH’s in the Hall of Fame, I’m judging Edgar against the two of them.
Edgar had a 147 OPS+, 147 wRC+, .415 wOBA, and a 68.3 WAR.
Thomas had a 156 OPS+, 154 wRC+, .416 wOBA, and a 73.7 WAR.
Molitor had a 122 OPS+, 122 wRC+, .361 wOBA, and a 75.4 WAR.
Now, Thomas and Molitor had the magic numbers. Thomas hit over 500 homeruns. Molitor had over 3,000 hits. Now, this isn’t dispositive, but it counts for something. Molitor also has postseason success hitting .368/.415/.615. He won the 1993 World Series MVP.
I bring this up because Edgar was a better hitter. Every stat but WAR is in Edgar’s favor. Edgar averaged a 3.79 WAR per year to Molitor’s 3.59 per year, so in that respect Edgar is again better. However, by no measure is Edgar better than Thomas. Thomas is better than Edgar in every stat.
Now, normally, I would say Edgar falls in line between Thomas and Molitor, so let him in. However, we’ve only had the DH since 1973. That’s only 42 years, or 27 years (10 year career with five year waiting period) of DH’s even being eligible for the Hall of Fame. With that in mind, I look at Thomas, and not the mean, as the standard.
No, I don’t think it’ll be a travesty if Edgar is elected to the Hall of Fame. Over time as I see better arguments for his inclusion, I may change my mind. However, at this time I think Edgar falls just short for me.
In response to an anticipated counter-argument, no, I don’t think it’s hypocritical that I voted for Kent due to his bat. While I do think defense should count, I have Kent credit for being the second best offensive second baseman ever. As a DH, all Edgar does is hit. Using the same standards, he would have to be the second best hitter ever. He’s clearly not that.
So for right now, I left Edgar off my ballot.
Billy Wagner
I’ll readily admit I’m a fan of Billy Wagner. I respect him. He was awesome. You should read up on him to learn about his perseverance. I really wanted to vote for him, but I didn’t.
Sure, there are amazing stats in his favor. Wagner has the most ever saves for a left handed pitcher. He has a career 2.31 ERA, 0.998 WHIP, and a 11.9 K/9. They are impressive numbers. What’s not impressive is his 28.1 career WAR. That’s lower than Tom Gordon, who is off the ballot, and Lee Smith, who last year received 29.9% in the voting last year.
Overall, I wanted to vote for Wagner on a personal level. However, when the people who are better than you aren’t in the Hall, you shouldn’t be either.
Trevor Hoffman
This was an easy name to leave off the ballot. Looking over the career stats, the only thing Hoffman has over Wagner is his saves total.
Like Wagner, Hoffman’s WAR falls short. Hoffman’s WAR was 28.4. Essentially, you’d be voting for him because he had the highest save total ever when he retired. If that wasn’t good enough for Lee Smith, it shouldn’t be enough for Trevor Hoffman.
Synopsis
Overall, even if this doesn’t count towards the BBWAA vote, I took this seriously, and I tried to justify my votes. Admittedly, Kent was my weakest vote. I still think someone could change my mind on Edgar. I don’t see myself voting for a reliever until Mariano Rivera hits the ballot.
When you think of CBS and its news division, typically, the first name that comes to mind is Dan Rather (depending on your age). Dan Rather was forced into retirement for reporting on a story with insufficient documentation.
Rather thought he had the last great story of his career. He thought he had the smoking gun in what had forever been rumored: George W. Bush never served in the National Guard. Problem is the documents and source of the documents were utterly unreliable. As CBS was embarrassed by the ensuing scandal, it forced Rather out due to his perceived misconduct. Rather tried to sue to, in part, clear his good name. The lawsuit was thrown out.
John Heyman is also a reporter for a CBS owned company. With even less “proof” than Rather had on President Bush, Heyman accuses Mike Piazza of steroids use in his Hall of Fame column:
He should be considered an all-time great — he’s the greatest-hitting catcher ever and the value of having a catcher who’s one of the league’s best hitters is immense — but he’s had to wait a few years surely due to a strongly-held belief he participated in the steroid era. I understand there’s no public evidence he did more than play in the steroid era and looked the part. However, since this isn’t a court of law, the burden of proof is much lower and since it’s only about who is honored, and not who is punished, I held out for now.
Make no mistake about it. Heyman just accused Piazza of using steroids. Whether it is guilt by association or how he looked, he accused Piazza of using steroids. He offered no substantive proof. Additionally, with his voting for Barry Bonds because he was a Hall of Famer before using steroids (because he knows the exact date Bobds started using), he has announced Piazza only had the success he did because of his steroid usage.
If you were on Twitter, Heyman was given several attempts to recant his statements or provide specific evidence to establish Piazza used steroids. He didn’t:
@DanTonkin @RisingAppleBlog looking the part isn't evidence. read it rather than taking risings word for it
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 29, 2015
By his reasoning, we can’t understand his writing. In a side note, that’s his fault if everyone seemingly took that as his meaning. I digress. His lack of a response just exhibits a lack of respect for anyone who has questions about his “learned ballot”:
I find it funny when voices on the internet — almost invariably stat guys and folks who only cover the game from a distance — declare which ballots are “strong” or stupid.
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[Tom Verducci and Pedro Gomez] are reporters who are willing to take the abuse from the loud and shallow guys on Twitter.
You see Heyman doesn’t cover the game from afar. He’s in the thick of things. Like when he’s in studio or on the phone with WFAN. He knows more than you. If people weren’t so “loud and shallow,” they would understand that. It’s how he knows Piazza used steroids, and you don’t. Nevermind that your knowledge would come from reporters like Heyman. Nevermind that he is withholding the information that would constitute proof.
Perhaps, he’s withholding it because he had insufficient proof to prove Piazza used steroids “in a court of law.” As such, he feels comfortable making this accusation. Here’s the problem. Do you know what the burden of proof is in a court of law? In a court of law, Heyman would need to show it is 51% more likely that Piazza used steroids than he didn’t. Ergo, no one is even half sure he used steroids. By logic extension, Heyman fabricated this story.
As we’ve seen, is it a surprise to anyone that a CBS reporter has leveled accusations against a public figure with underwhelming evidence? By using Heyman’s standards, does he deserve the benefit of the doubt? Using his standards, isn’t it fair to say he fabricates stories?
I would say it is fair to use his logic against him. However, I will make clear that despite the title of this post, I’m not saying he fabricates stories. Rather, I’m specifically saying he has presented no substantive proof Piazza used steroids. I sincerely question whether he has anything linking Piazza to steroid usage. He’s had ample opportunity to provide it, but he still refuses.
That’s a real problem. Writers are tasked with reporting news, not creating rumor and innuendo. When that happens, how are the Heymans of the world any better than TMZ or any other gossip site. We deserve better than that. The Hall of Fame deserves better than that. Mike Piazza deserves better than that. If the same was done to him, Jon Heyman would deserve better than that.
Accordingly, it’s time for Heyman to stop being a loud and shallow gossip mongerer and start being a reporter.