If I Had A Hall of Fame Ballot I'd Vote with Baseball Cards

I have done this type of post a few times in the past, trying it again this year.  The Hall of Fame ballots are out and everyone on Twitter, Facebook, or baseball fans elsewhere has some sort of opinion about who belongs in Cooperstown.  I like a good argument as long as it doesn't go too far.

The Hall of Fame voters are allowed to vote for up to 10 players on the ballot, which has become sort of a problem recently with the backlog of steroid users.  So, while normal Hall of Fame voters are restricted to ten, I am going past that number since I am not an actual voter.  A few other things here before he begin.

If I did have a Hall of Fame vote....

• I would not be the moral police.  
• It still takes talent to hit or throw a baseball even if you are taking steroids
• There are not many relief pitchers that I value.  In case you were wondering, since I am not going to bring it up down below: Wagner > Hoffman.  

Here are my 10 (+2) in no particular order.  I'd be happy to see any of these players in the Hall of Fame, but only a few will actually make it.  

Tim Raines - Raines has more than 2,600 hits, 800 stolen bases, and an on base percentage of .385.  There is not a lot of hardware in the trophy case, but he did spend the end of his career with the Yankees and won a World Series ring in 1996.  The Expos had some good players at different points during his time in Montreal, but I wonder if Raines would have stuck around on the ballot this long if he had played somewhere else during the first half of his career. He led the National League in stolen base in his first four seasons, probably would have run the streak to seven or eight if it weren't for Vince Coleman, and scored more than 90 runs 6 of his first 7 full seasons.  Slam dunk this year.  

Manny Ramirez - Ignore all of the behaviors that people took exception to, and the steroid stuff, Manny could hit.  I first saw Manny at an Interleague Game the Cardinals played against the Indians in 1997.  The Tribe were loaded, but Manny Ramirez was really impressive.  I dabbled in his cards over the years and always enjoyed watching him play.  Maybe not the 2004 World Series, but the rest of the time was good.  He ended his career with more than 550 home runs, 1,800 RBIs, and a .312/.411/.585 slash line.  Again, ignore the drama, just look at the numbers.  The guy should be a no doubter.  I think there is little chance he gets in this year.  

Jeff Bagwell - There was no hitter in the NL Central I feared the Cardinals playing more than Jeff Bagwell.  The guy could hit, and if he did not play in the steroid era, would have been in the Hall long ago.  He's not in the Hall for all the same stupid reasons that Piazza sat around for a few years.  Bagwell ended his career with more than 400 home runs, 400 doubles, and 1,500 RBIs.  His overall slash line was .297/.408/.540 with an OPS+ of 149.  He took home the 1994 NL MVP.  I have seen a few people complain about the length of his career, 15 years, but he was really good throughout those years.  I have high hopes he gets in this year.  

Roger Clemens - I am not even going into numbers here.  I don't care about steroids, put him in the Hall.  I had my doubts about Clemens ever making it into the Hall, but I am starting to think that there is hope.  I am going to say he does not make it this year, but is in within the next year or two.  

Bonds - Just reread the Clemens paragraph, but substitute in Bonds where it says Clemens.  

Curt Schilling - Schilling seems like one of the really heated deabtes around the Hall candidates at the moment.  I don't do politics on this space, but again I am not a moral police kind of a person. When I look at Schilling's career the biggest problem is that there are a lot of lost years.  He had a few good years in chunks, missed time and games with injuries, and then would bounce back and have a few more good years.  216 wins is not very many, but if you are going to argue counting numbers, he did cross 3000 strikeouts.  Schilling also had four really good postseasons with the Phillies in 1993, DBacks in 2001, and Red Sox in 2004 and 2007.  I'd put him in, but I also know there are people who are down on him for baseball reasons and non-baseball reasons.  His vote totals are shrinking, no chance for awhile.  

Larry Walker - I have heard people talk about Walker as a Coors Field hitter, but that's a pretty weak argument.  Before he ended up on the Rockies, Walker was a really good player on the Expos.  In his 6 years in Montreal Walker had an OPS+ of 128 and was a true five star talent.  Walker hit for power, was an elite fielder and won Gold Gloves, and also had speed and stole bases.  By the time his career had ended Walker won three batting titles and ended with a .313/.400/.565 slash line.  I saw Walker several times throughout his career in person, but I watched his final two years with the Cardinals closely.  He was old, and his neck didn't allow him to hit for power anymore, but in two seasons in St Louis he had a 134 OPS+ and almost put up a 3 WAR season in 2005.  Busch Stadium is not a nice place for hitters, so that tells you a lot about the "Coors Field Hitter" argument.  Walker gets into the Hall at some point, but its at least a few years away.  

Mike Mussina - I am not always a huge costing numbers person, but lets start out with 270 wins and almost 3,000 strikeouts in 18 years all pitching in the American League East which was a tough division throughout Messina's career.  Also remember that 10 of those seasons were played in Camden Yards, which is a pretty stadium, but also a band box.  Similar to Raines, Mussina does not have a lot of hardware, but unlike Raines, Mussina did not get a World Series ring out of his time with the Yankees.  Here's where I put Mussina into the Hall: If you follow the WAR7 stat with Jay Jaffe, Mussina is a little short for peak years compared to pitchers like Schilling, but he's still ahead of a few of the 1990s Braves who are in the Hall like Glavine and Smoltz.  His overall career WAR is actually higher than Nolan Ryan, as well as his ERA+.  Mussina makes it at some point, wait a few more years.  

Sammy Sosa - Sammy never failed a drug test.  Sammy has 600 home runs.  Sammy hit more than 60 home runs 3 times.  Sammy belongs in the Hall, put him in.  Sammy gets in after Bonds and Clemens, but that's not far away.  

Edgar Martinez - I know a lot of people who feel the same way about DHs as I do about relief pitchers.  First, let me start by saying that I don't care about being just past 2,000 hits when the player has a career .418 on-base percentage.  That's one argument I have read multiple times about Edgar.  Walks, hits, whatever.  When Edgar did swing the bat though good stuff happened.  His career slash line was .312/.418/.515 with more than 300 home runs and 500 doubles.  The JAWS rankings on Gar are a little bit off since Jaffe lists him as a third baseman, but the last time he played more than 50 games there in a season was 1994.  No comparable really, just a good hitter with some great stats.  

Vladimir Guerrero - Not a really long career, but Vlad was good almost the entire time.  He was an incredible player in Montreal, but I am not sure that very many people saw him while he was playing there.  I first saw him during the summer of 1997 and was really impressed by his defense at the time, but he was also a great hitter.  I think it's the 50 Cent gif where he swings at the bad first pitch and gets a double, but there is this really bad vibe that he swung at everything and was not on base often.  Not true.  Vlad's career OBP is .379 with a .553 SLG and more than 450 home runs and doubles.  Loads of Silver Sluggers and All-Star Appearances, as well as the 2004 American League MVP Award help make up for the fact that he did not get any postseason hardware.  Not a difficult argument here, Vlad is in not in this year, but will be very soon.  

Ivan Rodriguez - As a Cardinals fan I really enjoy watching Yadier Molina.  I did not get to see Pudge very often, but he had that same sort of defensive dynamic to the game.  Teams did not run on him, he called a good game, and he also did a good job handling the bat.  Not always true of Yadier, but Rodriguez has about seven or eight years with a .300+ batting average, pretty good on-base numbers, and good extra base hit totals.  For his career he ended with a .296/.334/.464 slash line, more than 300 home runs, and almost 600 doubles.  He's the all-time dWAR leader for catchers and should be a no brainer for the Hall.  There are some steroid rumblings here, he still should get in soon.  

My Hall of Fame Ballot

Don't worry, I really don't get to vote.  Most years people have strong opinions about the players that get voted into the Hall of Fame and this year is no different.  I've seen arguments all over the place debating the credentials of players on the ballot and whether or not players who played in the steriod era should be included in the Hall.  At times this debate could be contentious, so I have generally steered clear of the topic until today.

The Hall of Fame debate this year seems more like a hearing on gun control than a debate about a game.  Everyone has an opinion on the issue of gun control and their is little you can often do to sway someone one way or the other on the topic.  The issue of steroids and the Hall of Fame seems to be a similar debate at this point.  Some people few the crowd of Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Roger Clemens as permanently tainted while others argue that many players cheated and they should be put in since the field was really level.

What do I think?  I am going to give a quick look at my ballot in baseball cards, of course, and I will explain a little bit about each vote.  I will start off by say that as I have gotten older it is much easier for me to have an opinion about the players since I saw all of the people first hand.   I am sure some people are debated out...

Jeff Bagwell- Bagwell was the National League MVP in 1994, won the Rookie of the Year in 1991, and made four All-Star appearances at first base, which is always a hard position to make an All-Star team.  He missed the 500 home run plateau, but still ended up with over 400.  He also stole over 200 bases.  As a Cardinals fan, Jeff Bagwell spent many summers between being one of my most feared opponents.  However, unlike Barry Bonds, there was a level of respect with Bagwell and Biggio.  

Craig Biggio- He was a catcher, 2nd baseman, and an outfielder at different points of his career which is impressive.  Throw in the fact that he had over 3,000 hits, 600 doubles, and stole over 400 bases.  I loved watching Biggio play and could always enjoy Astros games with Biggio at the top of the line up and Bagwell, Berkman, Alou, and others hitting behind him.  One of the best teams I have ever seen in person, not sure how they didn't win the World Series, was the 1998 Astros.  

Edgar Martinez- The DH has now been around for forty years and I am not sure there is a DH in the Hall of Fame.  Not that there needs to be one just to have one, but Edgar Martinez is the best of the lot in my opinion.  He won two batting titles, hit over .300 for his career, and was an All-Star, Silver Slugger, and MVP vote recipient frequently throughout his career.  He was the "protection" in the line-up for Ken Griffey Jr. for the first half, or about 450 home runs, of his career.  

Fred McGriff- One of the true victims of the steriod era was Fred McGriff.  His career started just before the steroid era and ended somewhere near the end.  He almost hit 500 home runs, made multiple All-Star games, and was a key player on the run of 90s Braves playoff teams.  His comparables on Baseball Reference are Willie McCovey and Willie Stargell.  If McGriff had played ten years earlier he'd be in with little fanfare.  

Mike Piazza - Greatest offensive catcher ever and Florida Marlin for a week.  I know there is a lot of "suspicion" around Piazza, but if nothing comes out then put him in the Hall.  I am not sure their is an offensive statistic, besides steals, that he is not the all-time leader at for catchers.  

Tim Raines - Won stolen base titles at the same time as Rickey Henderson and played in Montreal.  He also has almost 3,000 hits to go along with almost 1,500 walks, and 800 stolen bases.  The stolen bases are about 100 short of Lou Brock, but he got caught half the number of times as the Hall of Fame outfielder.  He was also on-base more.  

Curt Schilling- He was similar to Don Drysdale during the regular season with innings pitched and strikeouts and similar to Bob Gibson during the post season with key performances and wins during the postseason.  Three World Series rings and 3000 strikeouts say he is in the Hall.  

30 Year Top 50: 1991 Topps Stadium Club

#27-The next entry in my countdown was one of the great innovative products during my time in collecting and the Topps answer, two years later, to the release of the Upper Deck sets.  The Stadium Club set was released and hailed as Topps high end set.  The packs MSRP topped Upper Decks at $1.25 per pack for Series 1, but the cards often sold for more than that.  Series 2 climber even higher to $2 a pack.  At the time though the cards were worth their price.

1991 Topps Stadium Club Jim Abbott

The cards arrived in foil packs, just like Upper Deck, and had edge to edge pictures that featured either great action shots of the players or very nice portrait style photography.  Even though it took Topps two calendar years to answer the bell on creating a "premium" baseball card to match Upper Deck, it was well worth the wait for many collectors.  Two of my favorite cards are pictured here.  Above, I have always loved this Jim Abbott card.  The one handed pitcher for the Angels had a unique way of making his physical limitations work and still perform as an above average Major League pitcher.  This card captures his pitching motion perfectly.  Below, is a picture of Ozzie Guillen wearing a White Sox throwback.  Stadium Club always had tons of cards like this and I love the old fashioned White Sox uni.  

1991 Topps Stadium Club Ozzie Guillen

The Stadium Club set still had it's limitations.  First, it lacked important rookies.  The 1989 Upper Deck set hung it's hat on innovation, but also featured the rookie cards of several important players.  The biggest rookie cards in the 1991 Stadium Club release were Jeff Bagwell, Luis Gonzalez, and Kenny Lofton.  That's actually a pretty good clump of rookie cards with what should be one Hall of Famer and two good above average players.  However, Stadium Club ended up having another common problem of sets in the 90s.

1991 Topps Stadium Club Jeff Bagwell

The set was completely overproduced.  Just like Upper Deck, the word "premium" in the 1990s meant that Topps still produced these cards in ridiculous quantities.  The cards are beautiful and if you felt the need to pick up this set, a quick trip down to your local card shop would find plenty still in stock and at a very reasonable price.  I still love this set and every once in awhile spend my extra dollar to rip open a pack or two of old Stadium Club.  

Like the 1991 Stadium Club set?  Not in the Top 50 is the 1998 Stadium Club set.  Actually, there are many good Stadium Club sets and they all generally follow the clean design and great photography mold established by the 1991 set.  The 1998 Stadium Club set is my favorite though, but there are many others out there to collect.  Let's take a look at the 1998 version.

1998 Topps Stadium Club Jermaine Allensworth

There are a few more game action shots in this set then some of the other Stadium Club issues and that is one reason I like looking at these cards.  There is a John Smoltz robbing someone of a batting practice home run and also a Scott Hatteberg card I am pretty sure the Moneyball people knocked off during the movie.  This Jermaine Allensworth card is a perfect example of a great in game shot.  I like that the ball is in the picture after he's bunted it.  Jermaine Allensworth also always had cool baseball cards despite not being very good.  

There were also some good inserts, but the highlight for me was the Co-Signers autograph set.  The Co-Signers cards were also in the 1997 set, but they were signed front and back.  The 1998 version featured the players signatures side by side.  

1998 Topps Stadium Club Co-Signers Roberto Alomar/Tino Martinez Autograph

The Co-Signers set obviously had some pretty big names which were teamed up with other big names. In my quest to find a Tino Martinez autograph, he was a Cardinal, I found a rather cheap and damaged USA baseball autograph.  However, a few weeks later I ran across this card and added to my collection too.  I like the Tino Martinez autograph, but I like the Alomar autograph more.  Of course, there were also big names that were combined with some duds.  For example, I owned a Matt Morris and Roger Clemens Co-Signers card for a couple of years, ended up trading it, but always felt like the Morris ruined my Clemens autograph.  Same with this card which I still own:

1998 Topps Stadium Club Co-Signers Randy Johnson/Jaret Wright Autograph

I understand that Eric Gregg's double wide strike zone during the 1997 playoffs made Jaret Wright and Livan Hernandez look like Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax, but I've always been sad that's he's on this card.  My all-time favorite Stadium Club Co-Signers autograph from this set belongs to Andres Galarraga and Larry Walker.  Both were on the Cardinals.  Both were on the same team at the time of the card.  Both have really nice signatures.  Both were really good players.  

1998 Topps Stadium Club Co-Signers Larry Walker/Andres Galarraga Autograph

30 Year Top 50: 1991 Bowman

#44- It's funny what turns people away from and then back towards certain card sets.  I think I busted a few packs of 1991 Bowman cards and stopped quickly.  This was the third Bowman release which had quickly abandoned the borrowed 1953 Bowman Color design it used in the 1989 release for two consecutive years of rainbow bordered junk.  Here's one of my favorites:

1991 Bowman Donovan Osborne

I considering going with Geronimo Pena, but he might deserve his own blog post one of these days.  So, style wise this set is kind of a dud, but my opinions about it changed greatly over the past twenty years.  The tide started to turn during the 1998 home run race.  I spent some time that summer following the some of the other home run hitters around the National League and really enjoyed getting a chance to see Jeromy Burnitz.  I cannot find a Jeromy Burnitz video that shows his swing, but I feel like this 1998 Upper Deck Ovation card catches the best part of it.  He had a really long swing and a really long follow thru.  I don't think he ever got cheated on a swing.  Ever.

1998 Upper Deck Ovation Jeromy Burnitz

So, I was enjoying the Jeromy Burnitz swing and on my next trip into my local card shop I started looking around for some Burnitz cards.  The shop owner quickly prompted me to a cheapy table of late 1980's wax and a few odds and ends.  In the middle of the table: 1991 Bowman Sets.  I actually considered not buying the set.  They were on clearance for $10.  He also had some Score wax for $5.  I bought the set, took it home, and threw it in the closet sealed.  I eventually stumbled upon a loose single copy of the Burnitz rookie and was happy to add a second to my collection.

1991 Bowman Jeromy Burnitz

Sometime in between 2000-2005 I forgot I had the set.  It was in my closet of baseball cards, but it was largely ignored.  I the fall of 2005 I moved to Durham, North Carolina for a new job.  In finding a new job I also found out that sports card stores in North Carolina are mainly about basketball cards.  Instead of walking in the door hearing about a cool Cardinals card, or great autographed ball someone just got, I had to hear about either the Heels, Deacs, Devils, or Wolfpack.  Disappointed, I spent one Saturday morning driving out to a Flea Market somewhere out in the middle of nowhere.  

The selection at the sports cards tables was sparse.  There was the ever present cool ACC basketball stuff.  One guy tried to convince me that I needed a Ralph Sampson signed basketball to complete my collection.  I settled for an old friend.  A $7.00 box of 1991 Bowman with sticks of gum.  I took the box home and started busting open packs.  I was amazed at the quality of rookie cards in the set.  Amazed.  Here they are:

1991 Bowman Chipper Jones  

1991 Bowman Jeff Bagwell

1991 Bowman Jim Thome

1991 Bowman Ivan Rodriguez

1991 Bowman Mike Mussina

I returned to the Flea Market a few weeks later, bought a second box, and finished off the set.  I am proud to own two copies of this set, I still have the factory set too, and I frequently flip through the cards.  Tell me this:  What other set can you buy as inexpensively as you can buy this one and guarantee yourself the rookie cards of four Hall of Famers and one really good pitcher?  I cannot think of one.  I have ever come to appreciate the awesome borders on this set.  They are a good feature of any early 90s Topps release.  This set is a great add to any collection.   

Like the 1991 Bowman Set?  Not in my Top 50 is the 1989 Bowman Set.  Topps issued this product to relaunch the Bowman product which has put out a set ever since this release.  Theses cards borrowed their style and size from the 1953 Bowman Color release.  If you own any old Bowman cards you know they are a quarter inch larger than the standard trading cards issued today.  

1989 Bowman Ozzie Smith

The reissue of Bowman not only served as a relaunch, but also acted as a traded set/prospect set for the company.  Many people complain about the 1989 set not resembling the current product at all in style or in substance, but the substance argument is actual dead wrong.  A quick flip through the set and you will see many players that were draft picks or prospects.  In fact, every team has at least one prospect or draft pick card in it's team set in addition to the veteran players.  For example, the Giants draft pick is none other than Miguel Tejada from Moneyball: Royce Clayton.  

1989 Bowman Royce Clayton

The most important rookie/prospect card in this set belongs to Ken Griffey Jr.  The Bowman Griffey rookie is actually my second favorite behind the classic 1989 Upper Deck rookie.  The card has a really clean look and he is not wearing a minor league uniform like the Upper Deck card.

1989 Bowman Ken Griffey Jr. 

  

Topps also used the 1989 Bowman set as a traded/update set that year in addition to the regular release of the Topps Traded set.  The most significant update card that year was the Texas Rangers issue Nolan Ryan card.  

1989 Bowman Nolan Ryan

Overall, the 1989 Bowman set is another great set from the late eighties that is worth adding to your card collection.  It has great pictures and design elements combined with a great checklist of players.  You can find these sets for around $10.  Worth your time and money to find.  

  

  

30 Year Top 50: 1996 SPX

#45- This was the only card set I could put on this list from 1996.  Not one of my favorite years, but this was my favorite set from that year.  This set was really popular when it was released and was starkly simple compared to some of the later releases of SPX Upper Deck would issue during the late 90s.  The set was a 60 card set with two commemorative cards, a Mike Piazza and Ken Griffey Jr., and two autographed cards, a Mike Piazza and Ken Griffey Jr., one parallel set, and an insert set of 10 cards.

2006 SPX Jeff Bagwell

The cards were all holographic.  Base cards, Inserts, and Autographs.  One of the real challenges of collecting this set was the fact that the cards on came one per pack, with a $3.50 per pack price, 24 packs a box meant it took a few boxes to put this set together.  The insert set, Bound for Glory, was seeded at one per box, but the Piazza and Griffey commemorative cards were seated at one out of three boxes for Griffey and one out of four boxes for Piazza.  Never quite sure if I bought the odds on the Piazza and Griffey cards.  I've opened a few boxes of this products over the years and I always seem to end up with one.  Hmmm.

1996 SPX Bound For Glory Cal Ripken Jr.

1996 SPX Ken Griffey Jr. Commemorative Card

                                      

Which brings us at last to the reason most people went after the cards in this set: the autographs.  The 1996 SPX set was released at a time when autographs had long, long odds, and the card companies didn't put a bunch of scrubby players on the autograph checklist to purposely lower the odds.  This set had only two autographs, but they will both be in the Hall of Fame shortly, and the odds for both autographs was set at 1:2000.  So, I went through a few boxes in 1996, put together my set, and did not  get a single Griffey or Piazza autograph.  Which lead me to having to track one down.

Now, I am not often a fan of Beckett pricing.  They tend to be arbitrary and lean heavily towards the large hobby shops and not the collectors.  Notice we have few shops now a days.  So, one such victim of the ever-shrinking list of card shops was not far from my house in West Saint Louis County.  They had both a Piazza and Griffey autograph.  For years, the two cards set in their cabinet with a really high price tag on both.  Beckett.  

Finally, the card shop high ended itself out of existence and I had a choice to make between which card to add.  Now, Griffey has signed in every Upper Deck baseball release between 1996 and 2011.  There are thousands and thousands of Griffey autographs.  Piazza, not so much.  Plus, this was Piazza's first certified autograph and I consider it the real prize of all the Mike Piazza autographs.  Not really much of a debate.

1996 SPX Mike Piazza Tribute Autograph

Like the 1996 SPX Set?  Not in my Top 50 is the 1998 SPX Finite Set.  This was Upper Deck's 1998 version of the SPX line, but it had some cheese metal plaques on the card.  Also, all the cards were serial numbered, hence the term Finite.  Don't worry if you like the cards, the word finite was used liberally with 1990's card releases.  Basically, the set was broken down into different subsets.  Each subset had a different stated print run.  The lowest, or most finite, was the Heroes of the Game and the Cornerstone subsets, which ran at the rather Finite print run of only 2000.  The commons and various other print runs ran between the Finite amounts of 9,000 and 5,000.  Finite to the max.   There were also parallels which were less Finite.  Below is a Spectrum Parallel of a Ray Lankford Common with a Finite Print Run of 2,500.  You can find them for $1.00 or less on Ebay, COMC, or your local card shop.

1998 SPX Finite Ray Lankford

At the time of its release some of the rookie cards were actually pretty tough to find along with some of the parallels.  I've only once been threatened at a card show (I was also once threatened by an elderly women at a Wendy's in West Virginia for wearing a Duke shirt) over a card and it was from this set.  The card show was at the Cape Girardeau Mall in 1999 and the dealer, who owned the local card shop, had a cool Manny Ramirez parallel from this set with the super Finite print run of 3,500.  He asked for $30.  I asked for $15.  All 5'2 of him told me he'd beat my ass and call mall security.  I laughed.  I tripped over a crate behind his table.  I also bought the card off of Ebay last year for $0.50.  

1998 SPX Finite Manny Ramirez

The set was actually rather challenging to assemble in terms of time, but the cards are all out there if the your desire a display of Upper Deck's late 90s Finite printing.  

1999 Pacific Revolution Jeff Bagwell Foul Pole

I really love some of the inserts from the late 90's Pacific sets.  Pacific was definitely part of the over abundance of cards at that time, but they were at least creative with their card set designs.  Especially some of the inserts.  There are plenty of cool die-cuts and designs within the old Pacific sets which are sadly lacking from the hobby today.  Case in point is this gem which I picked up for $2 recently.

1999 Pacific Revolution Jeff Bagwell Foul Pole 

The net card was used an insert in several different Pacific sets over the years, but the 1999 Revolution set was the first.  Pacific used the same insert in the 2000 Revolution set and also added a Dugout Net card to the 2000 Aurora release, as seen below.  

2000 Pacific Aurora Shawn Green Dugout Views Net Fusions

Note to Topps employees: Notice the player on the card has been traded, but there is not a bad airbrush of a Dodgers jersey.