If I Had A Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot

I have always wanted to have a Baseball Hall of Fame ballot so hypothetically speaking if I had a ballot for the 2015 Baseball Hall of Fame Election this is who I would put in. All statistics from baseball reference.com

Golden Era (Veterans Committee) 

Gil Hodges- only person who received more than 50% of the vote at some time during his time on the ballot not in the Hall of Fame, hit 370 homeruns for the Dodger teams of the 50's and manager of the Miracle 69' Mets. He may be a little lacking compared to the more modern day Hall of Fame 1st Basemen but it's time to let him in. 

Jim Kaat- He has 283 wins and a 3.45 ERA, and he won 15 straight gold gloves from 62-77. A pitcher may never reach that high of a win total again so I think we now need to honor those that reached it in the past

Bob Howsam- There are few executives in the Hall of Fame, and I think Bob Howsam deserves to join them. Besides the fact that he founded the AFL and the Denver Broncos, he also was the GM of the Cardinals during the 60's and made some big moves acquiring Orlando Cepeda and Roger Maris. He then left the Cardinals for the Reds and was the GM during the Big Red Machine years from 1967-1977. He hired an unproven manager named Sparky Anderson and turned him into a Hall of Fame one. He developed prospects such as Don Gullett, Bobby Tolan, and Dave Concepcion and executed trades for Joe Morgan and George Foster. 

BBWAA Hall of Fame Ballot

Just Missed

Alan Trammell- shortstop for Detroit Tigers during 80's and 90's and had over 2300 hits, almost 200 homeruns and had over 1000 RBI's with a batting average of .285. He was also an elite fielder as well, in this election with a lot of good candidates he does not make it although he should be a surefire candidate for next year as it is his final year.

Carlos Delgado- one of the best power hitters of all time and hit 473 career homeruns, has the 23rd best at bats per homerun rate of all time. He was only a 2 time all star however and there are some steroid suspicions about him due to the abrupt end of his career which is why he won't make it in this election

Barry Bonds+Roger Clemens- Bonds is the has the most homeruns of all time with 762 and Clemens has 354 career wins, those statistics alone should get them into the Hall of Fame but with the steroid controversies surrounding them I don't know if they will ever get in but I know I would not put them in this year.

Mark McGwire- hit 573 homeruns but publicly admitted to taking steroids which keeps him out in my opinion for this year.

Mike Piazza- former 62nd round pick who was only drafted because he was Tommy Lasorda's nephew and became the best hitting catcher of all time with 427 homeruns and a .308 career batting average, won 10 straight gold gloves from 1992-2002. There are many steroid allegations against him which keep him out another year on my ballot.


Official Hall of Fame Ballot

Jeff Bagwell-1st Baseman for the Houston Astros during 90's and 2000's hit 449 homeruns and had a .297 career batting average. He won the Rookie of the year in 1991 and won the 1994 MVP, and was a 4 time all-star. He has a 79.6 career WAR, when the average Hall of Fame 1st baseman has a 65.9 career WAR. He has the 6th best JAWS for 1st baseman of all time, ahead of Hall of Famer's such as Willie McCovey and Frank Thomas.

Craig Biggio-Catcher, 2nd Baseman, and Left Fielder for the Houston Astros during 90's and 2000's had 291 homeruns and hit .281, he was a 7 time all star and had 3060 hits which should make him a lock for the Hall of Fame. He is 18th of all time in Times on Base, ahead of greats such as Cal Ripken Jr., and Lou Gehrig. He received 74.8% of the vote last year which should make him a lock for this year.

Randy Johnson-Won 303 games for many different teams but most notably the Diamondbacks in the 90's and 2000's. Had 4875 Strikeouts which is 2nd all time, won 5 Cy Young awards including 4 in a row from 1999-2002. Has the highest K/9 rate of all time with 10.61. He is a 10 time all-star and definitely one of the best pitchers of this generation.

Jeff Kent-Best hitting second baseman of all time who had 377 career homeruns which is the most all time for second baseman and over 1500 RBI's, solid fielder who had a .980 fielding percentage. Won the MVP in 2000 when he hit 33 homeruns and had 125 RBI's while hitting .334. Was a 4 time all-star and won 4 Silver Sluggers as well. There were whispers that he did steroids but I think he was one of the clean guys in a dirty era so that's why I would put him in.

Pedro Martinez-one of the most underrated players of all time in my opinion. Won 219 games and lost only 100 and had a 2.93 ERA while pitching in the AL East the best hitting division during one of the most offensively powered eras of all time. He is an 8 time all-star who won 3 Cy Young awards and finished in the Top 5 four other times. He has the 6th highest winning percentage, and the 5th highest WHIP of all time. He has the 3rd best K/9 rate, and the 3rd best K/BB ratio of all time.

Fred McGriff-hit 493 homeruns, if he hit 7 more homeruns he would not be mentioned in this article because he would already be in the Hall of Fame. He has 1550 career RBI's which is more than Willie Stargell or Joe DiMaggio had.  He is 47th all time in extra base hits and 50th all time in total bases and was one of the best fielding 1st baseman of his era.

Mike Mussina-won 270 games and had an era of 3.68 while pitching in the AL East his entire career. He was a 5 time all star, and won 7 Gold Gloves. He finished in the Top 6 in Cy Young award voting 9 times, and is 24th all time in WAR for pitchers. He is very highly ranked in sabermetrical statistics as he is 8th all time in Base-Out Runs Saved, he is 9th all time in Win Probability Added, he is 8th all time in Situational Wins Saved, and he is 10th all time in Base-Out Wins Saved.

Curt Schilling-one of the greatest postseason pitchers of all time with an 11-2 record in 19 starts with a 2.23 ERA and 120 strikeouts. He is a 6 time all-star who finished 2nd in the Cy Young award race 3 times. He is 15th all time in strikeouts, and he also has the 2nd best K/BB ratio of all time. He is also 9th all time in Situational wins saved. 

Lee Smith- Has the 3rd most saves of all time with 471. He is a 7 time all-star and won 3 Rolaids Relief Man awards. He has the 17th highest K/9 of all time, and has finished in the Top 5 of Cy Young voting 3 times. The reason I think that he should be in the HOF is that he held the saves record for 12 seasons, while many closers such as Bruce Sutter, and Goose Gossage didn't have as many saves as him and are in the hall. Lee Smith also had many more 2 and 3 inning saves than Hoffman and Rivera did. 

John Smoltz-Only person in history with more than 150 saves and 150 wins. Won Cy Young award in 1996, and finished in the Top 5 two other times. He is 16th all time in strikeouts and is a 8 time all-star. He is one of the greatest postseason pitchers of all time, as he is 15-4 with 199 strikeouts in 209 innings with 4 saves as well. He is 39th all time in WAR for pitchers ahead of Hall of Famers Bob Feller, Don Drysdale and Juan Marichal.