It's a New Year! Hall of Fame Discussion

So, I haven't written in a while. I'm aware, and I've missed it. Truth is, I got plain lazy and didn't write for a couple of months. Let's change that though?

Boston Red Sox celebrate their 2013
World Series victory over St. Louis.

A ton has gone on in Major League Baseball since I last wrote, especially the Boston Red Sox winning the World Series. We also have stories like: Who is going to sign Japanese star Tanaka? Are the Texas Rangers becoming American League favorites? And then my favorite, When did the Yankees become...responsible spenders?

However, one topic has stood out to me the past few days. What is the best thing that happens every year, between Winter Meetings and Spring Training? Come on, you know it! The Hall of Fame voting is tallied and we find out who (if anyone) will be in Cooperstown this year. Personally, I have 2 clear favorites to make it, and 4 total players who have a good possibility. I'll discuss the latter two in a future post, but here are my two favorites to make it in.

My first clear favorite is a first ballot guy, which pushes some voters away, but I think he gets in easy: Tom Glavine. How in the world does he not get in? He is the last lefty to tally up 300 wins and a .600 winning percentage. During his prime, from 1991-1998, he had an ERA over 3.20 only once. He also won 140 games during that stretch of time. He also tallied 2,607 strikeouts during his fine career, which is higher than 49 pitchers in the Hall. When you think of pitching in the 1990's, Tom Glavine always comes up, but it's one of his teammates that is talked about the most.

Greg Maddux, my favorite player in the 1990's, has to get into the Hall of Fame. 355 wins, 3,371 strikeouts, 3.13 career ERA, 5,000 innings pitched, and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.37. Holy cow. Put it this way, there are only 2 men that have 300 wins and 3,000 strikeouts that aren't in the Hall, and one of them isn't eligible: Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens. Now, I have heard rumors that some voters aren't voting for Maddux simply because Clemens was "better" than him, yet Clemens won't be voted in due to his link to steroids during his playing career. I feel like that should be looked over, because Mad-dog was an absolute beast in his career, and deserves the first ballot honors.

Glavine (left), John Smoltz, and Maddux (right)
hope to all be in the Hall together soon

These two guys are automatically in if I was a Hall voter. Two of the best pitchers in an era where hitting was dominant, and they put up numbers that other guys would have given anything for. Other players, like Clemens, turned to steroids to be what these two gentlemen were. It will be a travesty if they do not get to give a speech on induction day in 2014.