Who will make the baseball hall of fame soon?

Question

what pitchers? i made a list of hitters you can discuss. who am i missing? who doesn't belong at all? and what pitchers will go or might go? in your opinion.

should or will go in soon:

ricky hendersonn (deff)
dwight evans 8 gold gloves 24hr.272ave-obp.370
jim rice 30hr.298ave-obp.352
mark mcgwire
juan gonzalez
pete rose

doubtfull but mentionable:

fred mcgriff
dale murphey
joe carter
don baylor
dave parker
andre dawson
kent hrbek
albert belle
matt williams
jeff bagwell

still playing but has had full good careers already:

jim thome
frank thomas
gary sheffield
many remirez
barry bonds
jim edmonds
omar vizquel
ken griffey jr.
craig biggio
moises alou

Answer 1

From the 2007 ballot, un-elected return candidates for 2008: Gossage (71.2%) has gotta reach the finish line next year. Rice, Dawson, and the ever-underappreciated Blyleven remain in strong position. McGwire is a cypher; that the writers would hand him a smackdown this year was a given, but the 2008 ballot will reveal much more -- was it a one-time thing or will they hold their grudges? (What little buzz I've heard indicates that, yes, they're serious about not voting for him. Wait and see.)

The current edition of the Veterans Committee has yet to induct anyone, so predicting it ever will is pointless, but Santo has been looking good, and deserves it.

2008 first-timers: Tim Raines is far and away the cream of this crop, but I can't see him getting a first-ballot welcome. Certainly deserves it.

2009 first-timers: Rickey... who, in thematically correct fashioin, will be going in all by himself.

2010: Roberto Alomar easily; worthy but harder to predict are Barry Larkin, Fred McGriff, and the first great acid test for designated hitters, Edgar Martinez.

2011: Bagwell. Juan Gonzalez is going to get dismissed as badly as Canseco did, which will be not at all fair. Palmeiro is going to get trampled, lucky to stay above the 5% retention minimum.

Among those still playing, predicting is always dodgy, but here's some names I consider sure things: Clemens, Bonds, Maddux, Glavine, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Biggio, Sosa with an asterisk, Griffey, Frank Thomas, Ramirez, Ivan Rodriguez, Alex Rodriguez, Jeter, Thome, Piazza, Chipper Jones, Guerrero, Hoffman, and Rivera. There are others for whom I could argue, but having to argue for misses the point. Some just don't yet have an ironclad playing record as testimony, but someday might.

Answer 2

Hopefully Ron Santo - the fact that he's not already in is a sin.

Rickey Henderson will go
Andre Dawson should go as well as Jeff Bagwell and Dale Murphey.
Joe Carter is a possibility as well as Albert Belle but I'd say it was a stretch on these two.

Naturally Barry Bonds will go (unfortunately) unless something huge happens with all of the 'roid investigations. Craig Biggio is a shoe in and should be a first ballot inductee as well as Ken Griffey Jr. Frank Thomas will probably make it but it might take a few tries - same with Thome. Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Roger Clemens (if he'll ever retire!) will all go in easy. Randy Johnson should go after a try or two.

Omar Vizquel and Moises Alou... you could make a case for these guys. The rest of the current player list I don't see as having complete enough careers as far as both sides of the ball to get in. Many of them are great on one side of the game but are mediocre at best on the other (i.e. Manny Ramirez is a joke in the outfield - that'll keep him out unless he hits like 900 homeruns with a lifetime .400 average). Jim Edmonds might have a chance... but I wouldn't count on it.

And how about this one: Julio Franco! Just for the fact that he refuses to hang it up! He ought to get some kind of recognition for that!

Answer 3

Henderson will go,
If Rice isn't in, Evans won't be in.
I agree on all your doubtfuls, they won't get in.

Still playing list.
Thome - No
Thomas - Yes
Sheffield - No
Ramirez - not yet
Bonds - Yes
Edmonds - No
Vizquel - No
Griffey - Yes
Biggio - Yes (may be hard to believe, but I think he's going in)
Alou - No

For current pitchers, I will put my 2 cents in for starters only because they don't respect closers yet.
Maddux - guarenteed
Clemens - Guarenteed
Johnson - guarenteed
Glavine - most likely.
Schilling - no
Pedro Martinez - not yet
Smoltz - no. (if Jack Morris doesn't make it, Smoltz doesn't)

Can't think of many more.

Answer 4

Roger Clemens, Mariano Rivera, Frank Thomas, Ichiro Suzuki, Miguel Tejada, Alfonso Soriano, Joe Borowski...

Answer 5

Ron Santo should be in there based on his numbers alone

Maddux and Clemens should be unamoius because they were that good, Glavine, Randy Johnson and Smoltz will all find their way some day


Belle, Sheffield, Edmonds, Vizquel and Alou are nowhere near good enough to be in the hall.

Answer 6

Greg Maddox.
Tom Glavine.
The Rocket.
Randy Johnson.

Answer 7

Pete Rose For One needs to get in.

Others Mark McGwire, Rickey Henderson, Jim Rice, and Dusty Baker.

Answer 8

Here's a list of the eligible players for next year:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_Hall_of_Fame_balloting%2C_2008