Results for the Baseball Hall of Fame class of 2016 voting won’t be announced until Wednesday, but we’re already getting a taste of what voting might look like.
MLB.com had 15 writers submit ballots and shared the results. For starters, only Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza would get the nod from MLB.com’s staff as they were the only ones to appear on at least 75 percent of ballots — the minimum needed for election to Cooperstown.
But of all the 15 ballots shared by MLB.com, one from national reporter Marty Noble is the most confounding.
Noble voted for only Griffey and Jeff Kent.
Noble is a big fan of Junior, saying he could be the first unanimous inductee, and writing, “I’d like to have a loop video of his swing — it was perfect.”
Noble did get that right — Griffey’s swing was pretty perfect:
Here is a "loop video" of Ken Griffey Jr.'s perfect swing for the HOF voter who wanted one: https://t.co/p8QKWU5qhB pic.twitter.com/XiIJdPQdJb
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) January 5, 2016
And what about his choice to vote for Kent?
“Kent is the Babe Ruth of second basemen,” Noble says.
He also acknowledged Kent’s defensive shortcomings but believes the second baseman’s offense made up for it.
He considered three other players but says they are not “elite.”
“I almost cast votes for McGriff, Mussina and Wagner. More research and analysis, though, are necessary. And I can’t fathom voting for 10 candidates. The Hall is for the elite, not the exceptional.”
Left off of Noble’s ballot were players like Piazza, Jeff Bagwell, Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds. Other fine candidates include Curt Schilling, Edgar Martinez, Mike Mussina and Trevor Hoffman.
If Noble is omitting players like Clemens, Bonds and Gary Sheffield because of their PED ties, that makes plenty of sense. It’s certainly his prerogative to do so. But why vote for Griffey and Kent and leave out Bagwell and Piazza? Bagwell was even more of an offensive force than Kent. Piazza similarly was a “Babe Ruth” type slugger for his position. What’s Noble’s reason for voting for Kent but not Piazza or Bagwell, who were even better offensive players relative to position?
This also brings up yet another inconsistency among voters: what’s the justification for voting based on who you think used PEDs? Who says Griffey and Kent didn’t use? Do they get the benefit of the doubt because they avoided being mentioned in leaked documents?
Noble has a picky ballot — one that does not seem to be well researched or well reasoned.
