'Tis the Time to Argue

It's that time of year again - the leaves have fallen from the trees, there's a passing chill in the air, football is on the TV, and people everywhere are getting ready to gather around a table and aggressively argue over the family dinner.  I'm not talking about Thanksgiving though - of course, I'm talking about the fact that the BBWA released their annual Hall of Fame ballot yesterday afternoon.  Cooperstown membership credentials are America's second favorite thing to argue about, right behind politics, after all.

The disagreements should be exceptionally passionate this year, seeing as, by my count, there are at least 20 names on the list who deserve a serious discussion about induction.  All these years of gate-keeping are starting to catch up on the writers.

Among the names who will appear on the ballot are several with Cubs ties, with various levels of merit.  Last year, I examined those "Cubbie Connections" via the creation of some custom Conlon cards, using the brand's "Why Not in Hall of Fame?" subset.  Since tradition is also something lingering in the air during this time of year, I figured it would be fun to keep the line going in 2017.  With that, let's start by looking at the new additions to the roll, starting with the most serious:

It's almost hard to believe that the ageless Jamie Moyer has been retired for five years now - it seems like his much publicized comeback with the Rockies was only a few months back.  His astounding 25-year career (filled with many twists and turns) all got started with the Cubs from 1986-88.  Now, the oldest hurler to win a game at the Major League level and his gaudy 269 total wins are, nevertheless, auditioning for the class of 2018.

Sadly, I feel like Moyer plateaus at the "Hall of Very Good," as a classic stat-compiler.  Further working against the lefty is the fact that he never once lead a league in a meaningful stat, never garnered serious consideration for a Cy Young Award, and was only once an All-Star.  Seeing as Jamie is one of my all-time favorites, it pains me to say that he's not going to make it.

 Also appearing on the ballot for the first time are a pair of big names in Chicago from the aughts.  Maybe if things had gone a little differently for the duo, they'd merit some serious discussion.  But, as it stands, Kerry Wood was never able to stay healthy enough to build on the fame brought on by his 20 K game and Carlos Zambrano's hair-trigger temper probably shortened his career, as well.  In the end, while both were valuable, above average Big Leaugers (26.7 and 38.2 WAR, respectively) with some shining moments in the sun, there's little chance they'll earn the 5% of the vote required to stay on the ballot.

Although, if Hall of Fame induction was based solely on a player's final appearance, "Kid K" would make it on the first ballot (a still from which appears on my Conlon custom).  It's still one of the most touching and fitting occurrences that I've ever seen on a baseball diamond:

 

In addition to the new guys, there are also some holdovers from last year's voting who will once again appear on the ballot this winter.  In fact, this group of sluggers merit far more serious discussion about their potential inclusion than the newbies do:

"Slammin' Sammy" Sosa is, simply put, one of the greatest of great sluggers - his membership to the 600 homer club will attest to that.  Of course, as with his fellow participant in the great home run chase of '98, steroid suspicions have kept him from being a serious candidate.  Plus, he seriously pissed off a lot of sportswriters, with a HOF vote, in his time.  Fred McGriff was another great slugger, who, if he played in any other era, would make the Hall.  The Steroid Era overshadowed his 493 long balls (despite seemingly playing clean) and his lack of a strong team identity (he hopped around a lot) have left him somewhat forgotten.  If only he cracked seven more long balls...

 That does it for men who played with the Cubs; however, there is still one more guy with Windy City connections on the list:

Manny Ramirez was signed by Theo Epstein and crew in 2014 to serve as a player-coach for the AAA Iowa Cubs and he then served as hitting consutlant for the next two years before leaving to attempt another comeback as an active player in Japan.  His work with the young Cubs corps has been cited as pivotal in their development, especially that of Javier Baez.  but, despite getting a ring with the Cubs, it's obviously not here where he earned his fame.

The scandal-ridden slugger smashed 555 home runs, which would make him a sure-fire HOF'er if not for his double suspensions for performance enhancing drug use.  Also, like Sosa, his antics on and off the field ticked off a lot of the people now voting on the matter of his induction.  With that in mind, Manny is probably doomed to many years of purgatory on this ballot.

Despite their strong resumes, with the intense back-up on the current ballot, I highly doubt that any of these three break through this year.   Most importantly, the voters need to figure out how they want to handle the Steroid Era because ignoring it is what has caused this ballot constipation, making induction that much more difficult.

This might help...

That does it for former Cubs on the regular 2018 BBWA Hall of Fame ballot - sadly, it doesn't look as though a Cub from that group will be enshrined in Cooperstown next summer.  That said, the regular ballot isn't the only one being voted on this winter.

Earlier this month, the Eras Committee announced the ballot for the Modern Era voting - thus, players who made their name during the 1970's and 80's will get another chance at baseball immortality.  It is on this list that we can find one more name who spent time at Wrigley Field - it's this one that actually has the strongest chance of modeling for a bronze plaque in the near future:

We have the second coach on this roll-call; Alan Trammel was a lifetime Tiger, as a player, but he served as bench coach under Cubs skipper, Lou Piniella, from 2006-10.

The case of "Tram" (and his double play partner, Lou Whitaker) is one of the most discussed snubs of all time.  Despite winning four Gold Gloves, three-silver sluggers, the 1984 World Serives MVP, and being a six-time All-Star as one of the premier, two-way shortstops of his era, Alan fell off the regular ballot in 2016 to much chagrin.  Again, the glut of suspected steroid abusers clogging the ballot and dividing the votes injured his chances (to be fair, so did the last few seasons as an active player and his managerial career).

Will 2018 be the year that "Tram" finally sees justice?  Well, he makes a pretty good case, as do Marvin Miller, Tommy John, Ted Simmons and a handful of others.  It's going to be interesting to see who makes the cut.

And there you have it -  all of the Cubs that find themselves on the ballot for the Hall of Fame's Class of 2018.  Here's hoping that at least Alan Trammell is able to add his name to the list of baseball immortals found in upstate New York; he's, by far, their best hope.  Good luck, Tram!

Again, the writers really need to figure out how to handle the sluggers and power arms from the 1990's and the 2000's.  The congestion on the ballot is already worse than post-game traffic in Wrigleyville and it's only going to get worse in coming years.  Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Sosa, and crew make for some hefty roadblocks!  Do we induct them or not?  What are your opinions on these issues?

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my Conlon customs.  Also, might I recommend arguing about Cooperstown credentials over Thanksgiving dinner instead of politics this year?  Although, I'm sure your old, racist uncle who has had too much to drink will still find a way to ruin that conversation too.

'Tis the season!