Tag Archives: hall of fame

Baseball Hall of Fame has No 2013 Inductees, First Time Since 1996

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The Baseball Hall of Fame for the first time since 1996 will have no inductees.

This is the first year that most the players who are suspected to be steroid users are all on the ballot.

Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens, and Rafael Palmeiro all received less than 38% of the vote.

The minimum needed to be inducted is 75% and the players are voted in by Baseball’s Writers Association of America (BBWAA).

Five voters left their ballot blank and this is only the 8th time where there was a year with no inductees.

Below is the list of all the players who received a vote

Craig Biggio 68.2%
Jack Morris 67.7%
Jeff Bagwell 59.6%
Mike Piazza 57.8%
Tim Raines 52.2%
Lee Smith 47.8%
Curt Schilling 38.8%
Roger Clemens 37.6%
Barry Bonds 36.2%
Edgar Martinez 35.9%
Alan Trammell 33.6%
Larry Walker 21.6%
Fred McGriff 20.7%
Dale Murphy 18.6%
Mark McGwire 16.9%
Don Mattingly 13.2%
Sammy Sosa 12.5%
Rafael Palmeiro 8.8%

These are other players that also received votes;
Bernie Williams 19 votes
Kenny Lofton 18 votes
Sandy Alomar Jr. 16 votes
Julio Franco 6 votes
David Wells 5 votes
Steve Finley 4 votes
Shawn Green 2 votes
Aaron Sele 1vote

H/T ESPN

Roger Clemens Returns to Houston Astros Minor League Team

At 50 years old Roger Clemens has decided to return to baseball and play for the Sugar Land Skeeters, a minor league affiliate of the Houston Astros.

According to his agent Randy Hendricks, all his pitches were working and his fastball was clocked just short of 90 mph.

“His fastball was clocked at 87 mph; all of his pitches were working, he threw a three-inning simulated game after an extensive workout warm-up.”

Clemens is slated to make his first appearance Saturday in a home start against Bridgeport.

Now this is just crazy, he’s 50 and we’re going to act like throwing an 87 mph fastball is a big accomplishment? Yes that’s great for his age, however for everyday baseball players, they should have no problem tattooing everything he throws. This isn’t the guy who retired at the age of 45 who went 6-6 with the Yankees in 2007. This is a move made to prolong being on the Hall of Fame ballot, and hoping that with more time passed he’ll improve his chances of getting into Cooperstown. If this was a guy who just wanted to compete and play for the love of the game, then I’d have no problem with it. However, he’s trying to scam us and scheme the system.

Source: ESPN

Thome Gets 600 HR

Jim Thome has joined the 600 homerun club and now talk of his hall of fame status will increase. Some will argue for saying to get to 600 homeruns you must’ve been consistently good to put up those kinds of numbers. I’ll argue that he’s borderline out. Never have you thought of Jim Thome as one the elite players in the league, just a very good player. Yes you feared him because with one swing he could change a ball game, but he was also prone to strike outs as well. He’s only led the league once in homeruns, but has hit 40 or more homeruns 6 times. All good stats but this doesn’t mean that he belongs in the hall with the best of the best. I get the feeling with Thome that because he’s never been associated with steroids or performance enhancing drugs that he gets a boost. Thome over his entire career has been a very good player, but the hall of fame is reserved for all time greats, game changers, and Thome isn’t that. He’s a very good player that was blessed with good health, and developed to be one of the most statistical consistent players in the league. However, in my book that doesn’t justify hall of fame status. He’ll probably get in because it’ll be hard to deny a guy who will eventually end his career with over 600 homeruns, close to 2300 hits, and an on base percentage close to .400. Hopefully the writers understand that Cooperstown is home of the hall of fame not to be treated as the walk of fame.

Straight Retirement Homey

Randy Moss announced yesterday that he is retiring. WHAT?! You can’t be serious, a 34 year old receiver that still has something to give and has trained all summer for a chance to show he wasn’t done yet is calling it quits? I don’t believe it. I think this is just a case of being overlooked and him reacting emotionally. Give it a few weeks, and let an injury or a team with a need for a receiver come along, and I can easily see him coming back. And if I’m Randy Moss, I’d be a little upset too if I saw a guy that was in jail for two years get signed before I do. Give it some time, and we’ll see the freak streaking down the field again. However, if this is it, he definitely should be a first ballot hall of famer. Every time he stepped on the field, wheter he was motivated or not, he demanded attention. He ranks tied for 2nd all time in receiving touchdowns, tied 8th all time in receptions and 5th all time in receiving yards. No matter what people want to say about him not reaching his potential he still produced numbers on the field. As Randy might say, just check the stats homey.