Baseball Hall of Fame ballot out today....felt dirty looking at it..who gets in?

As a Hall watcher, this is probably the most important ballot in BBWAA history. I'm genuinely curious how they are going to treat Clemens and Bonds, who are no question about it, inner circle Hall of Famers from a performance standpoint. Any vote they do not get is a voter who literally will not vote for any "steroid" player. It is an automatic disqualification for those voters. Because there is simply no way to deny them entry based on performance.

I think Bonds and Clemens will get between 40-50% of the vote.

I also feel that our recent run of borderline candidates getting in is the old guard's last stand. The BBWAA skews older, and they hate the new sabermetrically inclined writers. I think the statistical cases for Raines and Blyleven actually hurt their candidacies, and the poor statistical case actually helped Perez and Dwason get in, and will help Morris get in.

I think Morris and Piazza get in. Maybe Biggio. But there is no way a "steroid candidate" gets in until Bonds does. He's the guy. You cannot let in a guy with a steroid taint and keep out Bonds and have any hope of legitimacy.

This is the most loaded ballot of my lifetime. Two of the greatest players who ever lived, the greatest hitting catcher in history, the second or third best leadoff hitter ever, a top 10 1st baseman, and one of the best "rate" players ever in Biggio.

Oh, and I have a better chance of getting elected to Cooperstown than Sosa.

Gimme Bagwell, Biggio, and Piazza

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needed a shower after seeing their filthy names.

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Biggio, Piazza, and Schilling on for the first time.

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Also, do not think any of the above are first ballot worthy. Second time around for Schilling for sure, maybe Biggio and Piazza. Maybe.

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Bagwell, Jack Morris and Tim Raines are making another run at it...as are McGwire and Palmeiro.

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No to all except McGwire. I believe he should go in at some point.

I'd vote in Piazza as a first ballot.

The first three probably get in eventually, but it needs to be delayed a few years.

Schilling and Morris should make it eventually but not Schilling as a first timer and I am not sure how many more Morris has left. Same with McGwire, Palmiero, Bags. Probably could make a case for all of them eventually, Raines would be the weakest in my opinion though.

So, bottom line, my votes would be:

Piazza

Morris, McGwire, Palmiero only if it is their last run.

Fairly certain Bags has a couple years left.

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Baseball Hall of Fame ballot out today....felt dirty looking at it..who gets in?

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And, I just want to say something. Before we start bashing guys like Sosa, Clemens, and Bonds, let's remember that Bud Selig turned a blind eye to steroids/PED's for the longest time. It became part of the baseball culture. Does that make guys like Sosa and Clemens blameless? Of course not, but let's realize that much of the blame also falls on the League Offices.

Should they have an asterisk next to their names? HELL NO! Babe Ruth played in a league full of white men. He didn't have to deal with African American pitchers, Cuban hitters, or Japanese hitters. Where is his asterisk?

My point is that I find it ironic and disgusting that MLB puts an asterisk next to these names saying, "What they did was wrong because it wasn't a level playing field." Well, before Jackie Robinson broke the race barrier, the playing field wasn't fair either.

I'd vote for the following:
Bonds
Sosa
Clemens
Biggio
Piazza
Schilling
Bagwell
Raines
McGwire
Palmeiro


Every one of them had a HOF career and I don't really give a shite about the steroids.

Bonds is dirty to you but Bagwell is not??



Classic.

Schilling gets in and maybe Jack Morris

Bonds and Clemens get a lot of votes but fall short. Sosa gets fairly few votes (the McGwire treatment)

not sure on Piazza - I always assumed he was juicing but his name stayed out of the headlines on the issue