My Hall of Fame Ballot

My ballot would have 8 players. Gossage goes first because his non-selection over the last several years is the biggest travest. Ripken is an obvious candidate. I have no idea why Lee Smith isn't in the Hall of Fame. Tony Gwynn is pretty obvious, as well. Blyleven and Morris were the premier starting pitchers of the generation of starting pitchers between Nolan Ryan and Roger Clements. Trammell was the 2nd best shortstop of his generation and deserves it far more than Ozzie Smith, who already has been selected. Rice is borderline, but mostly because he retired at 35 - his dominance in his prime was unmatched.

In the following order of importance:
1. Gossage, 2. Ripken, 3. Smith, 4. Gwynn, 5. Blyleven, 6. Morris, 7. Trammell, 8. Rice

Just falling below the cutoff line are McGwire (I won't vote for him until after the Steroids era has sorted itself out), Dawson (good player, but not great), and Murphy (see Dawson).

I really liked Eric Davis. Injuries cut into his chances.

Total list: 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 "Goose" 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.