Looking like it will be next year. I still don't understand how Frank Thomas was a first ballot inductee and Bags is still not in.
Until BAgwell is not in the Hall of Fame, i don't care about that institution because is a joke. The same with Rose, he SHOULD be in the Hall of Fame. If you don't want him in baseball, ok, but not in the Hall of Fame???? Stupid.
How? He's going to gain ~10% this year. And there's no Junior on next year's ballot. BBWAA is very herd-like; if he gets above 60%, and especially above 65% this year, he's a lock for next year.
I think we all understand why, we just don't agree with it. I have a harder time understanding Piazza, who generally comes with similar suspicion and baseless accusations. I'm bothered more by the voters that don't view Bagwell as a HOFer because they don't appreciate how good he was than I am about those that don't vote based on potential PED-use. It means that voter should have never had a vote because they don't know enough about baseball. The part that bothers me about the PED witch hunters, and why I completely disagree with them, is that it is more important to them to keep the guilty out than it is to make sure the innocent are rightfully enshrined. Players can't prove innocence.
Jr, isn't hurting Bagwell's totals. Remember that Biggio was at 68.2% in year one, and looked like an automatic for the next year, only to get 74.8%. Piazza figures to get the jump this year, but was at 69.9% (and 62.2% the year before). Jack Morris had 67.7% and fell in his final ballot. Blyleven took 3 years after cracking 60%. Andre Dawson took 2 years after cracking 65%. Jim Rice went from 72.2% to only 76.4 (he had 64.8% in 2006, elected in 2009). 65% is an important number, 70% would probably result in a lock. You have to remember that his big jump this year is aided by lots of a large voter purge and a strong ballot to a weak one. Advantages he won't have next year.
The voter purge is ongoing; they'll jettison more voters next year (as well as expand to include younger, more progressive writers) and that will continue to benefit Bagwell. As for the strong-to-weak ballot, that was my point in bringing up Griffey. No, he doesn't impact Bagwell - but next year's ballot will be even lighter than this year's (assuming, also, Piazza goes in and Trammell drops off). Bagwell is likely to be the top returning vote-getter. So other than a last push for Raines, he'll essentially have the conversation all to himself.
looks like Piazza is in with 86% at the last count and he was at 69% last year....if Bagwell miss this year he should be in next year. I don't think they will vote both Piazza and him in the same year.
The closest to potential HOFers added to the 2017 ballot are Pudge, Vlad, and Manny. 2017 will be all Bagwell and he might be the only one that gets in...which would be pretty cool to see him have the stage to himself.
Yes, but he doesn't like that old handle being associated with him. I think he'd appreciate if you'd edit it out of your post
QUICK RANT: the fact that a thread like this even needs to exist is a giant pile of horse*****, no offense to the many great posters in here and the OP. The man we are discussing is one of the best first basemen ever, top 3 or 4 in the live ball era. On top of being an absolute monster offensively (12 straight seasons with an adjusted OPS of at least 130, AND 200 effing steals!), he's the best defensive first baseman my 34 year-old baseball obsessed eyes have ever seen. In America, we are innocent until proven guilty. If you have a PED grudge, then hold it against those who were actually proven guiltyof PED use (i.e. cheating). Otherwise, shove your "suspicions" up your ass. To paraphrase Jim Dwyer, "The hall of fame is for good ballplayers. Heaven is for good people." I know all of this (and much more excellent support behind the sentiment) has already been said in this thread, some of it even by me. But now that this day has come around again and we're still having THIS conversation for the 6th year in a row, I get pissed. THANKS ALL! GO PIPES! /Rant
Critical but necessary tangent: have we all signed off on BagPipes/Pipes? Milo's nickname, right? I've never used it (I'm personally a Bags man, myself): is it fairly common? Thanks.
I had the exact same thought on the issue. For me, he was always "Bags" or "Baggy". I dunno. I don't think there was ever an official nickname.
The voter purge is ongoing, but this one got rid of everyone with more than 10 years out of the game. Next year would be a fraction of the size. This year was a very weak ballot. 5 guys that listed 10, didn't include Bagwell: Kevin Kernan - voted for 9 last year, no Bagwell. Dan Graziano - He won't vote for Bagwell because of roids (voted for Edgar despite the fact that his career arc screams roids). Shi Davidi - Won't vote for anyone tied to steroids, except Clemens/Bonds George Willis - He may be squeezed by rule of 10, voted for Sheffield Anonymous - Didn't vote for the usual steroid suspects (voted for Edgar)
It's going to purge everyone who's currently 9 years removed. The older, anonymous types are Bagwell's largest obstacle; the purge is - and will continue - to cut into that faction. And next year will be weaker. If Bagwell and Raines don't jump, it's likely to not have an inductee, which also plays into Bagwell's favor.
I've always referred to him as Baggy. Saw someone refer to him as "Pipes" earlier in the thread and - can't explain why - I liked it.
Yes, but this year we got rid of 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, etc, not just one year worth of voters. Not really, because it adds 3 potential vote getters, and as I showed, based on public ballots we can expect less than 1% left Bagwell off because of the ballot strength/weakness this year.
Never called him anything other than Bags/Baggy/Bagwell. Never been a fan of "Bagpipes" and this is the first time I've heard anyone cut that down to just "Pipes".
