2019 MLB Hall of Fame and the 30 teams/30 players blog bat around

There's two great topics to cover today instead of posting cards I bought, so let's hit 'em both!

First, the 2019 Hall of Fame election announcement.  Huge congrats to:

Roy Halladay:  200 wins, 2 Cy Youngs, 8 All-Star nods, a perfect game plus a no-hitter (the latter during the playoffs!) and a career bWAR of 64.3 over 16 seasons.  It's a shame he won't be there to celebrate his induction.

Edgar Martinez:  2 batting titles, 7 All-Star appearances, and a 68.4 bWAR in 18 seasons (though he didn't play a "full" one until his fourth).  Edgar was the Platonic ideal of a DH and made people appreciate OBP.

Mike Mussina:  270 wins, 7 Gold Gloves, 5 All-Star selections, a crazy 83.0 bWAR in 18 seasons, and he saved his best for last, winning 20 games in 2008 before retiring.  His Yankees career was bookended by World Series titles he missed out on, plus it's not his fault that Baltimore's owner was a cheap asshole.

Mariano Rivera:  652 saves (a record), five World Series rings (he was the '99 MVP), 13 All-Star selections, and a 56.2 bWAR in 19 seasons.  He waited his turn for a couple years then rode into the record books as a Yankees legend.  More often than not if the Yankees got to the 8th or 9th with a lead, it was "Enter Sandman" and the game was over thanks to the greatest closer the game has seen.  Also the first unanimous selection!

All four of these guys are very deserving and I look forward to their ceremony in Cooperstown this summer.

Next, the 30 for 30 blog bat around:  the player I immediately think of when I hear the name of each modern team.  (All scans that aren't mine come from COMC.)

Arizona -- Luis Gonzalez.  Came up with one of the biggest hits in World Series history--against Mariano Rivera, no less--after the D-Backs almost let the Yanks claim a fourth straight title.

Atlanta -- Greg Maddux.  With apologies to the likes of Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson, the best pitcher of his generation.

Baltimore -- Cal Ripken Jr.  Nothing against the Robinsons, but this one was easy.

Boston -- Ted Williams.  I've never been a fan of their recent teams so I went with an obvious classic choice here.

Chicago Cubs -- Ernie Banks.  C'mon, he's "Mr. Cub"!

Chicago White Sox -- Frank Thomas.  There was a period in the early 90s when I loved the White Sox, and that was mainly thanks to "the Big Hurt".

Cincinnati -- Barry Larkin.  The Big Red Machine was fantastic but give me Barry any day.

Cleveland -- Bob Feller.  An incredible pitcher who was fun to watch in old baseball videos and a pleasure to meet in person.

Colorado -- Larry Walker.  He had his best years with the Rockies and put up some crazy numbers in his time.

Detroit -- Lou Whitaker.  So many to choose from, especially Al Kaline, but I'll go with my favorite guy growing up, another legend (and deserving HOFer) who stuck with the team for his entire career.

Houston -- Jeff Bagwell.  Man was his crouched stance and wound-up swing fun to watch as he mashed homers.

Kansas City -- George Brett.  A great hitter and representative of his era.  Three words:  "pine tar incident".  Three more:  "straight fuckin' water".

Los Angeles Angels -- Jim Abbott.  You younger guys can have Trout, but I'll go with another Michigan favorite, the amazing pitcher who throw a no-hitter with one arm.

Los Angeles Dodgers -- Kirk Gibson.  Gibby would have been a good choice for the Tigers too, but I'm putting him here for his storybook moment in '88.  None of the recent guys really appeal to me, but those 80s teams sure were fun!

Miami/Florida -- Jeff Conine.  I'm not sure if I've seen him come up yet--Giancarlo Stanton is a popular choice--but he was an original Marlin that was among the team's leaders in games.

Milwaukee -- Robin Yount.  Another guy I got to appreciate a bit at the tail end of his career.

Minnesota -- Kirby Puckett.  Joe Mauer was my second choice (Killebrew was just too much before my time) but I had to go with the guy that brought energy to the '87 and '91 Twins.

New York Mets -- Gary Carter.  The Mets are one of the few teams here that I just never really cared for, but Carter's a HOFer that was a big piece of the '86 champs.

New York Yankees -- Derek Jeter.  I went with one of many obvious choices, just a more recent one.  Jeter was the face of the 90s/2000s Yankees dynasty, though I wish he would have made a pit stop in Ann Arbor on the way to Cooperstown!

Oakland -- Rickey Henderson.  The do-everything cog of the A's on four different occasions, he was the greatest base-stealer ever and put together the 19th best bWAR the game has seen.  And he was simply a blast to watch.

Philadelphia -- Mike Schmidt.  Nobody recent could topple the power-hitting 3B for the 1980 champs, though he retired when I was still quite young.

Pittsburgh -- Roberto Clemente.  I can't possibly add anything new in lauding a true legend and humanitarian.

St. Louis -- Stan Musial.  My modern choice would probably be Albert Pujols but Musial is such a beloved HOFer and career Cardinal that there was no question in my mind that he was "the Man" for the job here.

San Diego -- Tony Gwynn.  I opted against "Mr. Tiger" but went with "Mr. Cub" and now "Mr. Padre".  The greatest pure hitter of his generation lives on thanks to some very cool bloggers.

San Francisco -- Willie Mays.  This choice was far too easy, especially after I confirmed that most of his Giants career was spent in San Fran, not New York.  One of the greatest five-tool athletes ever.

Seattle -- Ken Griffey Jr.  The most fun player to watch in the 90s, health prevented him from being the true heir to Mays, but when he was playing, you stopped and watched.

Tampa Bay -- Rocco Baldelli.  First reaction:  "Eh, who cares?"  Second reaction:  "Jeez is Florida baseball garbage".  Third reaction:  "Ok, Baldelli was a good guy".

Texas -- Nolan Ryan.  He pitched for so long I got to see a lot of him in my formative baseball years, and the flamethrower was amazing to watch game after game.

Toronto -- Joe Carter.  That World Series homer, tho.  Other guys have come and gone but if that moment doesn't scream Blue Jays, I don't know what does.

Washington/Montreal -- Vladimir Guerrero.  The current version of Washington doesn't have enough history yet so I'm going back to the Expos days.  Again, Pedro Martinez was a good option, but Montreal is where Guerrero built his legend as his generation's answer to Clemente while toiling in relative obscurity.

I realize a number of my choices were obvious and/or unoriginal but I tried my best to adhere to the "first guy you come up with while not thinking about it" idea.  What do y'all think?

TMV's 2015 HOF ballot

MLB's 2015 Hall of Fame class will be announced tomorrow so I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to get around to posting who I'd vote for and/or hope to see get in this year.  You'll note that I completely fill a ten-player ballot, and that's due to the idiocy of recent voters for letting deserving players linger this long, potentially putting other deserving players in jeopardy by pushing them down as a result.  The system is obviously stupid and could use some fixing but that part's not up to me, so here's who I'd vote for, and maybe some reasons why just in case.

Glossary:
-Numbers in parentheses are years on the ballot; players without years are first-timers
-AS = All-Star
-GG = Gold Glove
-SS = Silver Slugger
-Top-5 MVP = top-5 finishes in MVP voting
-CYA = Cy Young Award
-WS = World Series champ
-WAR comes from Baseball-Reference
-Relevant BBR Similarity Scores:  I tried to pick illustrative scores whose values were reasonably high enough

The shoo-ins:  These guys get my vote, no questions asked, but I justify 'em anyway.

Craig Biggio (3rd year)

Relevant counting stats:  20 seasons, .281/.363/.433, 291 HR, 414 SB, 3060 H

Career WAR:  65.1

Accolades/achievements:  7x AS, 4x GG, 2x top-5 MVP

Relevant BBR Similarity score(s):  Robin Yount, Derek Jeter

The final word:  I can't believe this is Biggio's 3rd ballot--how is this guy not in?!  3000 hits, a 20-year Astro that was part of their best seasons, all those hit-by-pitches.  Get this man a plaque!

Mike Piazza (3rd year)

Relevant counting stats:   16 seasons, .308/.377/.505, 427 HR,  

Career WAR:  59.4

Accolades/achievements:  1993 ROY, 12x AS, 10x SS, 4x top-5 MVP, most career HR by C

Relevant BBR Similarity score(s):  Johnny Bench, Yogi Berra

The final word:  Piazza was the best hitting catcher of his generation, and a slugger to boot.  He arouses suspicion having played during the PED era, of course, but regardless he passes the eye test.

Randy Johnson

Relevant counting stats:  22 seasons, 303-166 W/L, 3.29 ERA, 100 CG, 37 SHO, 4875 K, 10.6 K/9, 3-0 with 1.04 ERA in 2001 WS

Career WAR:  102.7(!)

Accolades/achievements:  300 wins, 2nd on all-time strikeout list with 4875(!), 2001 WS MVP, 5x CYA including 4 straight and 4 other top-3 finishes, 10x AS, all-time leader in K/9, 4x ERA titles, 1x win title, 9x K titles, and even more I won't bother to list

Relevant BBR Similarity score(s):  Roger Clemens, Tom Glavine, Tom Seaver

The final word:  Anybody that doesn't give the Big Unit a vote deserves one of his fastballs to the face.  LOOK AT THOSE NUMBERS.

Pedro Martinez

Relevant counting stats:  18 seasons, 219-100 W/L, 2.93 ERA, 3154 K, 10.0 K/9

Career WAR:  84.0

Accolades/achievements:  3x CYA with 4 other top-4 finishes, 8x AS, 2x top-5 MVP, 2004 WS, 5x ERA titles, 1x win title, 3x K titles

Relevant BBR Similarity score(s):  Whitey Ford, Juan Marichal

The final word:  His 1999 AL pitching triple crown was a thing of beauty (23-4, 2.07, 313 K) and his follow up to that was special too:  18-6, 1.74, 284.  Simply one of the most dominant pitchers of the late 90s to mid aughts.

The get 'em in soons:  I'd put each of these guys in this year, but I won't scream if they don't make it; they should very soon, though.

Jeff Bagwell (5th year)

Relevant counting stats:  15 seasons, .297/.408/.540, 449 HR, 1529 RBI, 202 SB

Career WAR:  79.6

Accolades/achievements:  1991 ROY, 1994 MVP, 2x top-5 MVP, 4x AS, 2x member of 30-30 club, 3x GG

Relevant BBR Similarity score(s):  Frank Thomas, Albert Pujols

The final word:  He "only" played 15 years but was a feared slugger for all but his final season, and all of those were for the Astros, when he paired with Biggio to give the team its best seasons.  For a while there he was the NL's answer to Frank Thomas, and I can't believe he's lasted this long without getting in.

Tim Raines (8th year)

Relevant counting stats:  23 seasons, .294/.385/.425, 2605 H, 808 SB, 1571 R.  From 1981-1992 OBP was .387 with an average of 60 SB and 90 R per year

Career WAR:  69.1

Accolades/achievements:  7x AS, 1x top-5 MVP, 1x batting champ, 5th all-time in SB

Relevant BBR Similarity score(s):  Lou Brock

The final word:  Raines toiled in relative obscurity in Montreal, in the shadow of Dawson and Carter, and was overshadowed by Rickey Henderson, but still made his own legacy.

Alan Trammell (14th year)

Relevant counting stats:  20 seasons, .285/.352/.415, 185 HR, 236 SB

Career WAR:  70.4

Accolades/achievements:  1984 WS MVP, should-be 1987 MVP, 6x AS, 4x GG, half of longest-tenured double-play combo in history

Relevant BBR Similarity score(s):  Barry Larkin, Lou Whitaker, Ryne Sandberg

The final word:  Tram doesn't automatically deserve entry because Larkin's in; he deserves it of his own merit.  He was a career Tiger for all 20 of his seasons and a huge part of the team's success in '84 and '87.  If Ripken's never born kids country-wide are still wearing Trammell jerseys today.

Mike Mussina (2nd year)

Relevant counting stats:  18 seasons, 270-153 W/L, 57 CG, 3.68 ERA, 2813 K

Career WAR:  83.0

Accolades/achievements:  5x AS, 6x top-5 CYA, 6x GG

Relevant BBR Similarity score(s):  Juan Marichal, Jim Palmer

The final word:  It took Moose until 2007, his final year, to get over the hump and win 20 games, but he won at least 15 11 times.  While he doesn't have a Cy Young or World Series title to his name, he was an excellent pitcher for almost two decades, and he went out on a high note when he probably could have dragged things out to get to 300 wins.

Larry Walker (5th year)

Relevant counting stats:  17 seasons, .313/.400/.565, 383 HR, 230 SB

Career WAR:  72.6

Accolades/achievements:  1997 MVP, 5x AS, 7x GG, 3x batting titles

Relevant BBR Similarity score(s):  Miguel Cabrera, Duke Snider

The final word:  Walker was a pretty good player in Montreal but really took off with the Rockies.  Yes, Coors Field inflated his stats some, but he absolutely mashed from the mid to late 90s and was actually a pretty good all-around player for much of his career, as the steals and Gold Gloves prove.

John Smoltz

Relevant counting stats:  21 seasons, 213-155 W/L, 3.33 ERA, 154 SV, 3084 K

Career WAR:  69.5

Accolades/achievements:  1992 NLCS MVP, 1995 WS, 1996 CYA, 2x top-5 CYA, 8x AS, 144 SV from 2002-2004, 2x win titles, 2x K titles

Relevant BBR Similarity score(s):  Jim Bunning, Catfish Hunter

The final word:  Smoltz was part of one of the greatest pitching trios in history with Maddux and Glavine.  He had somewhat of an Eck-like career in closing for three-plus seasons and succeeded at that just as much as he did as a starter.  You have to wonder what his stats would have looked like if he could have started from 2001-2004.  This one's an easy decision for me.

The I suppose but no rushes:  Yeah, sure, go nuts, whatever...

Roger Clemens (3rd year)

He's got the numbers, but the PED allegations hurt a lot, as do his personality and the 2000 World Series bat toss thing.  PEDs make decisions like this tougher, but since we'll never identify everyone I suppose you may as well not penalize specific players for them, guilty or not.  I wouldn't mind it if he had to twist in the wind until the Veterans Committee put him in, though.

Barry Bonds (3rd year)

Ditto Clemens, minus the bat thing, pretty much.  He obviously had the credentials before the PED stuff, so there's that.

The mehs:  I wouldn't bother voting these three guys in ever

Curt Schilling (3rd year)

Schilling probably should get in but I just couldn't vote for him.  His Arizona and Boston years were great, but his time in Philly wasn't the stuff of legends.  You can have him, but I wouldn't.

Jeff Kent (2nd year)

Kent put up some nice numbers as a 2B during the PED era but overall doesn't pass the eye test as far as I'm concerned.

Mark McGwire (9th year)

This isn't about the PED issues as much as the fact that McGwire really wasn't valuable for anything besides HR and walks, especially the intentional variety.  He made the game more exciting with his power, no doubt, but when I look past that there's not much else that interests me.  I don't feel like his induction would tarnish the hall, but I wouldn't be one of the ones voting for him.

The DH:  What to do with Edgar?

Edgar Martinez (6th year)

Martinez was a hell of a hitter, and maybe I could be persuaded otherwise, but it's hard to get over the fact that he was mainly a DH.  Considering hitting was his full-time job he did a fantastic job of being as valuable as he could, especially as an OBP king, but without any MVP or World Series contributions I just don't see it.

The Hall of Very Good:  Thanks for your great careers, guys!
Lee Smith (13th year)
Fred McGriff (6th year)
Don Mattingly (15th year)
Sammy Sosa (3rd year)
Gary Sheffield
Brian Giles
Nomar Garciaparra
Carlos Delgado

Therefore my ballot is the 10 players in the first two sections.

I realize how much debate this can spur but that's cool, and I'm actually interested in hearing what you guys think about my picks and/or your own preferences, so have at it!