News / Sports
Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot Features Cal Ripken Jr., Tony Gwynn, and Mark McGwire as First-Time Candidates
The Baseball Writers’ Association of America released their Hall of Fame ballot on Monday.
Among the first-time candidates, Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn can begin to practice their speeches. After that the debate will rage as to who belongs and who should be forgotten.
First the good news: For baseball fans there have always been numbers that have been ingrained in their memory, numbers associated with records that were considered unbreakable, Cy Young’s 511 career wins, Ty Cobb’s .366 career batting average, Joe DiMaggio’s 56 game hitting streak, and Lou Gehrig’s 2,130 consecutive games were among them. Cal Ripken Jr. made every baseball fan learn a new number, 2,632. While Ripken earned the title as baseball’s new Iron Man he may have earned the title as baseball savior as well. Ripken’s record setting performance came on the heels of the 1994-95 baseball strike that left fans disenchanted with the game, Ripken’s efforts brought the fans back.
Ripken helped redefine the shortstop position as well. His 6’4” frame and ability to hit for power and average was considered an oddity in baseball for a shortstop. He picked up two MVP Awards in his 21-year career and finished with a .276 batting average, 431 career home runs, 3,184 hits, and 1,695 career RBI’s. His induction into the Hall is a lock.
Tony Gwynn spent his entire 20-year career in relative obscurity playing for the San Diego Padres. Had he played in a larger market or for a better team Gwynn’s name would be at the top of the list when talking about the greatest hitters over the last 70 years. Gwynn totaled eight batting titles, hit over .309 in 19 consecutive season, and was hitting .394 in 1994 when the strike stopped baseball. He finished his career with a .338 batting average and a surprising 319 career stolen bases. Gwynn was next to impossible to strike out as well. Of his 9,288 official at-bats Gwynn went down on strikes just 434 times.
Gwynn’s induction is a certainty.
Now for the debate: Will Mark McGwire get a bust or will he be a bust? The steroid scandal that surrounds the man who hit 583 career home runs, appeared in 12 all-star games and broke the single season home run record held by Roger Maris may just keep him out of the Hall. His former teammate Jose Canseco also appears on the ballot for the first time and he will likely face the same fate as McGwire. The 462 home runs he hit will be overshadowed by his admitted steroid use.
This may be the year Jim Rice gets his deserved spot in the Hall. He fell 53 votes shy last year.
Players on Hall of Fame ballot
Harold Baines
Albert Belle
Dante Bichette
Bert Blyleven
Bobby Bonilla
Scott Brosius
Jay Buhner
Ken Caminiti
Jose Canseco
Dave Concepcion
Eric Davis
Andre Dawson
Tony Fernandez
Steve Garvey
Rich Gossage
Tony Gwynn
Orel Hershiser
Tommy John
Wally Joyner
Don Mattingly
Mark McGwire
Jack Morris
Dale Murphy
Paul O'Neill
Dave Parker
Jim Rice
Cal Ripken Jr.
Bret Saberhagen
Lee Smith
Alan Trammell
Devon White
Bobby Witt
