I was actually surprised Vizquel's numbers weren't better. Mazeroski was a Veteran's selection, and a travesty of one at that.
Again, he was *that* good in the field. All I know about him is from his contemporaries and on old grainy video. No idea how Vizquel or Ozzie or the like compare, was just throwing that out. Vizquel was very, very good to great at SS for a long time. What if Adam Everett had played for 20 years at his level and had a competent offensive resume? I will admit I have a soft spot for all-time-outstanding defenders.
It is hard to make the HOF almost entirely on defense. We do have some defensive stats, even if they are imperfect. Ozzie's defensive stats are ridiculously good. AE compares to him, but Vizquel is a step below that (which isn't an insult, it would just be like comparing Jeff Bagwell to Lou Gehrig).
Jones was an exciting player to watch but if you look at his numbers, I don't know if you can say he'll ever have a legit case to make the HOF. His avg. was never impressiv (just over .250 for his career) and his strikeout numbers were always huge. He did hit for power and play well in the OF but I don't think a guy that only finished in the top 5 of MVP voting one time will have a legit case. I'd be interested to get anybody else's opinion on him though.
Vizquel will be in on the first ballot. It will be a perfect opportunity for baseball writers to pat themselves on the back.
He was an elite defender early in his career and his prime was HOF caliber, but he was a bench player after 30. He certainly at times looked like a future HOFer, and had he put up those numbers prior to the 90s, he'd probably be in, but 400 HR doesn't mean as much as it did. If he had 2 more years of his prime, he'd probably be in, and not on the fence. Is he that much better than a Dale Murphy, Jimmy Wynn, Bernie Williams, Kenny Lofton or Cesar Cedeno? All guys who were very good, but fell just short of being HOF caliber players?
That is one of the more baffling ballots. Obviously, PEDs aren't the reason. He simply thinks that Lee Smith and Manny Ramirez are more deserving players. That's just weird.
LOL, he also thinks Lee Smith is worthy hall of famer, but Trevor Hoffman isn't. What evs, he's getting in so I've stopped getting pissed.
That's where I am, too - although the head-scratching ballots like this, Heyman's, Massarotti's - they still irk me.
Not sure a player needs to be "that much" better than someone who fell "just short" of HOFing. Ten consecutive GGs hasn't been matched by many.... Robinson 16 and Ozzie 13, maybe a couple more players.
At first I was like maybe he just wanted to vote for some guys that really needed the help, then saw he only voted for 9. I don't understand.
Yeah I have to keep telling myself it's beyond that, but I too get irked by some of the more perplexing ballots.
If you're not going to vote for PED guys, fine... but be consistent. Heyman voted for Bonds and Pudge; Massarotti voted for Manny. Both cited bullshit "era" reasons for not voting Bagwell.
