Baseball Hall of Fame

The results of the baseball Hall of Fame voting came out today, and the results were a little interesting. The biggest shock was that no player got elected into the HOF, which is the first time since 1996. I honestly thought that at least Craig Biggio would get in, so I was disappointed to see that he was 39 votes shy of the 75% needed for induction. I also thought that Mike Piazza had a slight chance to get in since he is one of the greatest-hitting catchers of all time, but he didn’t even get 60% of the votes. 

Now it’s time to talk about the steroid users. I’m not at all surprised that none of them got in, but I was surprised at how few votes they got. Slammin’ Sammy Sosa didn’t even get 100 votes, which was weird because of how much he contributed to the Cubs’ success in the early 2000s. He even got fewer votes then Mark McGwire, which I don’t agree with. I did think that Roger Clemens would get at least 45% of the votes, but he only got 37.6%. I felt the biggest surprise was Barry Bonds. I thought if one steroid user got even close to 75% of the votes, it would be Bonds. However, he only received 36.2%. That is quite shocking. I know that he used performing-enhancing drugs, but so did a lot of people he played against, and none of them were even close to putting up his numbers. I personally feel like he deserved more, but we’ll see how many votes he gets next year.

Now I want to talk about players that are currently in the HOF. I’m astonished at the percentage of votes some of these players got. If I were to ask you, “Who do you think got the highest percentage of votes ever?,” who would you say? You might think Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, or even Willie Mays. You would be incorrect. The answer is Tom Seaver. Now Seaver was a great pitcher, but to get the highest percentage of votes ever?! Now that’s not right. It might also surprise you to hear that Hank Aaron isn’t even in the top five. He’s behind Seaver, Nolan Ryan. Cal Ripken Jr., Ty Cobb, and George Brett. I understand Ty Cobb, but I don’t understand how he is behind the other four.

It may also surprise you to know that Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, and Willie Mays aren’t even in the top 10. That’s crazy! Also, how could Stan Musial and Ted Williams not be in the top 15! This is insane! However, the one that grinds my gears the most is Walter Johnson. He only got 83.63% of the votes! There are 14 pitchers that got a higher percentage of votes than he did, and that’s not right. I don’t know what they were thinking, but he should have way more votes then what he got.

I feel that there are a ton of people who deserved more votes, such as Ernie Banks (83.81%), Tris Speaker (82.09%), Whitey Ford (77.81%), Jackie Robinson (77.50%), Rogers Hornsby (78.11%), Mickey Mantle (88.22%), and many more. Everybody who made the HOF are great players and deserve to be there, but I feel like a lot of talented players got way less votes then they deserved. I can’t wait till next year to see who gets in. I think Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine will be first ballot Hall of Famers, and I think Biggio will get in. Frank Thomas will probably be a little short on his first ballot, but I think he’ll eventually make it. I’m curious to see about how close Jeff Bagwell and Piazza will be to making the HOF next year. 

Now I know you are all asking, “Hey C.J., do you think that the steroid users should get in?” Honestly I don’t know. I know that they did cheat, but they played in a time where a lot other players cheated and they were by far the best players in their era. Plus some of those PED users were on track for a hall of fame career without the steroids. I guess we will see what happens to them in the future. 

Here’s the link to the HOF voting percentages: Click here.