2021 Hall of Fame: Returning Players

 Each year members of the Base Ball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) are given a hall of fame ballot with the names of the players eligible for consideration of enshrinement in Cooperstown. They are instructed to vote for as many as 10 of the players on the ballot.  This years ballot contains 25 players so the writers can vote for up to 40 % of players on the ballot.  If a player receives 75% of the writers votes they are admitted into the Hall of Fame.  If they receive less than 75% but more than 5% they are retained on the ballot for the next year.  The players have up to 10 years on the ballot to earn the 75% needed for enshrinement.

There are 14 players returning to the ballot this year.

I have them listed in order of years on ballot from highest to lowest and in case of a tie they are also listed by % of votes received in 2020.

Player                    YOB     2020 % received

Curt Schilling         9              70%

Roger Clemens       9              61%

Barry Bonds           9              60.7%

Sammy Sosa           9              13.9%

Jeff Kent                 8              27.5%

Gary Sheffield        7               30.5%

Billy Wagner          6               31.7%

Manny Ramirez      5               28.2 %

Omar Vizquel         4                52.6%

Scott Rolen             4                35.3%

Andruw Jones         4                19.4%

Todd Helton             3               29.2%

Andy Pettitte             3               11.3%

Bobby Abreu            2                5.5%

                 

2021 Hall of Fame: 1st ( and 2nd) year on the ballot

 The Hall of fame announcement is coming on the 26th.  It's about time I start my annual preview and prognostication: There are 10 players new to this ballot and there is a possibility that all of them will be one and done. So as this may be my only time to mtimeention them by name I thought I would  do so now.  

Also last year I did not run these features although I did remedy that a little here.  Only 2 of the 18 people on the ballot for the first time last year received more than the 5% of the vote needed to remain on the ballot for the next year.  Derek Jeter received 99.7 % of the vote and earned induction to Cooperstown.  Bobby Abreu who received 5.5 % of the vote is the only 1st timer from 2020 on the 2021 ballot.  Paul Konerko, Jason Giambi, Alfonso Soriano, Eric Chavez, Cliff Lee, Raul Ibanez, JJ Putz, Brad Penny and Adam Dunn all received votes but none totaled more than 1/2 needed for inclusion on this years ballot.  Carlos Pena, Heath Bell, Rafael  Furcal, Brian Roberts, Jose Valverde, Chone Figgins, and Josh Beckett  all failed to receive any votes on their first and only ballot.

2nd year players 

Bobby Abreu RF played 9 seasons for the Philadelphia Phillies and also played for the Los Angeles Angels, New York Yankees, Houston Astros, New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers.

1st year players

Mark Buehrle P played 12 seasons with the Chicago White Sox. Also played 3 years for the Toronto Blue Jays at the end of his career.  In between he pitched 1 year for manager Ozzie Guillen and the Miami Marlins.

A.J. Burnett P Florida Marlins 7 seasons, Pittsburgh Pirates 3 seasons, New York Yankees 3 seasons, Toronto Blue Jays 3 seasons, Philadelphia Phillies 1 season

Michael Cuddyer OF IF Cuddyer played every position except shortstop even pitching an inning for the twins in 2011. He played 11  years for Minnesota, 3 for the Colorado Rockies and 1 season for the New York Mets.

Dan Haren P Haren pitched 3 seasons each for the Arizona Cardinals, Oakland A's and Los Angeles Angels as well as 2 years for the St. Louis Cardinals and 1 season apiece for the Los Angeles Angels, Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs and Miami Dolphins.

LaTroy Hawkins P Minnesota Twins (9 seasons) Colorado Rockies (3 seasons) Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers (2 seasons) New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Angels  New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles , Toronto Blue Jays (1 season)

Tim Hudson P Hudson pitched 9 seasons for the Atlanta Braves , 6 for the Oakland  A's and 2 for the San Francisco Giants.

Torii Hunter OF Twins (9) and Angels (5) and Tigers (2) Oh My.

Aramis Ramirez 3B Ramirez played 7 season for the Pittsburgh Pirates before 9 years with the Chicago Cubs finally ending his career with 4 seasons in the Milwaukee Brewers.  This would certainly make him a NL Central hall of famer even if things don't go his way in his quest for Cooperstown.

Nick Swisher 1B OF DH Swisher had over 100 starts at 5 positions (each outfield, first base and as a designated hitter). He played for as many teams as positions. 4 seasons for the New York Yankees and Oakland Athletics; 3 for the team in Cleveland, 1 for the Atlanta team and 1 for the Chicago White Sox.

Shane Victorino OF Philadelphia Phillies (8) Boston Red Sox (3) Los Angeles (Dodgers & Angels) 1 season each and 1 season San Diego Padre.

Barry Zito P played his entire career in the bay area. 8 seasons with the Oakland A's and 7 seasons with the San Francisco Giants.

White Sox Top 5 Moments from 2020

 Thanks White Sox.com for this video showing 5 great moments from the 2020 season. 

 

# 5 Luca Giolito wins game #1 of playoffs against Oakland A's

#4 Yoan Moncada, Yasmani Grandal, Jose Abreu and Eloy Jimenez hit back to back to back to back homeruns against the Cardinals.

#3 Jose Abreu Hits 3 homers in a row against Cubs.

#2 Lucas Giolito no hits the Pirates for 19th White Sox No Hitter.

#1 White Sox clinch first playoff berth since 2008.

Remembering Dick Allen

 Dick Allen died earlier this month on December 7,2020 at the age of 78. Allen was the NL rookie of the year for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1964, the year I was born. He played for the White Sox form 1972 to 1974 and was a big part of the reason why I switched allegiances from the Chicago Cubs to their south side counterpart  White Sox. 

It transpired something like this.  My sister was the grade ahead of me at school and achieved straight A's at school one year.  Our school had a promotion with the White Sox that if you had straight A's or perfect attendance you would receive 2 vouchers for tickets to a White Sox game.  My Dad took my sister to a game and I decided that the next year I would get perfect attendance and he could take me

Sure enough, the next year I had perfect attendance for the first and only time in my academic life. My Dad took me to a game in 1972 or out the roof shots and it was1973 against the Baltimore Orioles.  He taught me how to keep score and Dick Allen hit a home run.  

From that day on I was a White Sox fan. I watched games on T.V. and listened to the rest on the radio.  I even became a country music fan as the White Sox games were broadcast on the local country station.  The rest of the family remained Cubs fans (I still like the Cubs because no one told me other wise, ) but my exuberance was for the White Sox.  Each year our family took a pilgrimage to Wrigley to watch a game.   Each year my Dad found away usually near my birthday to take me to a White Sox game as well.

I liked all the players, Bucky Dent. Wilbur Wood, Jorge Orta, Bill Melton but Allen was by far my favorite. Over the years the players changed but my passion for the White Sox never ebbed. I have had many favorite White Sox players over the years Kessinger, Fisk, Thomas, Buehrle, and Konerko just to name a few,  but those fond memories of watching Allen at first base or at the plate never  did fully dissipate.

Click here to watch footage of Allen with commentary from teammate Bill Melton. I also have put some video and audio clips of Allen at my vlog, Dave Out Loud. 

Allen at the Bat

Allen in the Field

Iconic Sports Illustrated Cover

    

    

Hall of Fame 2020 If I had a vote and used it

 Since the inception of this blog I have always previewed the Baseball HOF voting with a number of posts. Last year was only the second year that I did not do this.  I was just too busy and I thought I had finally given up blogging. As I am back and blogging again I am in  the midst of previewing the 2021 Hall of Fame selection next month.  I thought I would spend a few minutes and say who I would have wanted to vote for on last years ballot if I were afforded one.

Each member of the Base Ball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) is given up to 10 votes each year. As I do most every year I will pretend I have as many as 10 votes down to as few as 1 vote and state who I think I would have voted for.  I will also mention how many people I think I would have voted for if I could vote for any number from 1 to 10. Again, I say I think because this is an exercise in pure revisionist history as I already know the results of the election.  After saying who I voted for in what position, I will reveal what % of the vote they actually received. Anyone receiving less than 5% will not be on the ballot this year. Anyone who received at least 5% of the vote and less than 75% of the vote who still is within their first 9 years on the ballot will return to the ballot in 2021. Anyone who received more than 75% will become a member of the HOF.

 If I were give 10 votes in  the 2020 election, I think my10th vote would have gone to Andy Pettitte in his 2nd year on the ballot.  I had not voted for Pettitte in his first season on the ballot.  Pettitte received 11.3% of the vote in 2020 which was up from 9.9 % in his inaugural year. 

If only able to vote for 9 people in 2020, I believe my 9th vote would have gone to Andruw Jones in his 3rd year on the ballot.  I had not voted for Jones previously. Jones ended up receiving 19.4 % of the writers votes in 2020 which was up quite a bit form the 7.5% he received in 2019. 

If there was a rule that said I could vote for 8 and  only 8 players on the 2020 ballot, I'm thinking my 8th vote would have been  for Curt Schilling in his 8th year on the ballot. I had not voted for Schilling in previous years. Schilling received 70.0 percent of the vote in 2020 which was up from 60.9% in 2018. 

If I could only vote for 7 people in 2020. I think my 7th vote would have gone to Gary Sheffield in his 6th year of eligibility. In 2019 I would have considered voting for Sheffield if I had been given as many as 12 votes.  Sheffield received 20.6% of the vote in 2020 which was a great increase from the 13.6% he got in 2019.

If I could only vote for 6 players in the 2020 election. I'm pretty certain my 6th vote would have gone to Jeff Kent in his 7th year on the ballot. This would have been 2 places better than I vote for him in 2019/ In 2020 Kent received 27.5 % of the writer's votes which was up from 18.1 % in 2019.

Todd Helton would have been my 5th vote in the 2020 election If I had to vote for exactly 5 people. 2020 was Helton's 2nd year on the ballot.  In his inaugural year on the ballot he was the 7th player I would have chosen. Helton garnered 29.2% of the vote in 2020 which was up from 16.5% in 2019.

If I could vote in the 2020 election for as many players as I thought were worthy to be enshrined in Cooperstown, I think I would have voted for 4 people/  Before I tell you who the 4th person was, I offer the following caveat. Since I did not research the vote last year, I did not allow for voting for any returning player on my official unofficial ballot who was not on the OUB previously. It is my possible that Helton or even Kent may have raised in my estimation if I took the ample time to review their case prior to the 2020 voting. I did not, so they are both on the outside looking in.  

With 4 votes in my pocket the 4th vote would have gone to Larry Walker in his 10th and final year on the ballot.  In 2019 Walker had been my fifth vote in my official unofficial ballot of 6 players. In 2020 the voters saw clearly to elect Walker to the Hall of Fame with 76.6% of the vote up from 54.6% in his penultimate year of eligibility.

If on the 2020 ballot I could only vote for 3 players I am positive that my 3rd vote would go to Omar Vizquel in his 3rd year of eligibility. In 2019 He was also the 3rd on my ballot. Vizquel received 52.6% of the votes up from 42.8% in 2019.

My last 2 votes would have both gone to players in their 1st year of eligibility in 2020.  mu 2nd vote would have gone to Derek Jeter who received 99.7% of the vote and made it to the HOF. My #1 vote would have definitely gone to my guy, Paul Konerko. Unfortunately the voters don't know him like I do and he recieved only 2.5% of the vote, only 1/2 the votes he need for consideration this year.

I will return in a few days for the next installment in the 2021 review.