Monday, December 3, 2012

2013 BBWAA Ballot, Part 1: The Jays Players

So here we go in what is unquestionally going to be the most memorable Hall Of Fame induction. One that I am sure is going to pave the way, one way or another for what we are all going to do with all the PED users.

But for now I digress and choose to look at some of the players on this years ballot who wore the Blue and White Toronto Blue Jays:

Name: Royce Clayton

Years on Ballot: 0 (First Year, and probably Last Year)

Blue Jay From: 2007

To: 2007 (69 Games)

Hall Of Fame Chances: Pretty much none, although he was one of best fielding shortstops of his time as he was consistantly among the leaders in Range Factor Per Game and Range Factor Per 9 Innings. He didn't hit for much of an average (.258 BA and .312 OBA) and little power (110 homeruns).

Name: Roger Clemens

Years on Ballot: 0 (First Year)

From: 1997

To: 1998

Hall Of Fame Chances: Oh, here we go. I'd say I would stay clear of this, but...

Anyways, the minute I bring up his lifetime stats, you say, "Yeah, you want to know how get got those..."

There really is no point with the stats. It is thought that Clemens started using PEDs in 1998, although, just to satisfy you haters, I'm going to go a little further than this and say, 1997.

The reason I say this, is Clemens came to the Jays that year. And here is a breakdown of his career up until his last four seasons in Boston:

Seasons: 9

G: 273

GS: 272 (His one relief stint you ask? July 18th, 1984 vs Oakland)

W: 152

L: 72

W%: .679

ERA: 2.80

IP: 2031.0

H: 1703

K: 1873

BB: 552

OBA: .226

OOBP: .282

Then came 4 bad years (1993-1996)

Seasons: 4

G: 110

GS: 110

W: 40

L: 39

W%: .506

ERA: 3.77

SHO: 4

IP: 745.0

H: 656

K: 717

BB: 304

OBA: .236

OOBP: .316

So the totals of the Rocket in Boston are:

Seasons: 13

G: 383

GS: 382

W: 192

L: 111

W%: .634

ERA: 3.06

SHO: 38

IP: 2776.0

H: 2359

K: 2590

BB: 856

OBA: .229

OOBP: .292

So he turned it around in '97 with the Jays in '97 going 21-7 with a 2.05 ERA. The Jays won only 76 games that year. They then improved to 88 wins next year, the most games won by a Jays team in a single season since they last won it all in '93 (Clemens had never had a losing season up 'til that point, but he went 11-14 that season).

Clemens started out slow that 1998 year, though. By the end of May, he was 5-6 and his ERA was 3.50!

Then something clicked.

Roger went 15-0 from there until the end of the season, 22 starts. His ERA was 2.29 for that stretch and batters hit .201 against him. He fanned 201 batters in 165.1 inning. That's an average of almost 11 K's per nine innings!

I'm guessing, this is the PEDs kicking in for sure. This is someone 36 years old, leading the league in ERA for the second straight year (2.65), winning 20 games and fanning 271 batters!

From there, it's off to New York for David Wells, and then to Houston, where in 2005, at the age of 43(!) he compiles a 13-8 record and an ERA of 1.87!

Oh, wait a minute, the above doesn't count, now does it?

Seems to me like Clemens was on pace for the Hall of Fame before 1993, dipped to "win one, lose one" for the next 4 seasons, really came back in '97, and was almost as good in '98.

So odd that he has that great year in 1997 with no PEDs, though. I gotta think he was doing something with them in '97, else how do you explain how he does so well with a sub .500 team?

Clemens finished with 354 wins, 3.12 ERA and 4672 Ks. Opponents batted just .229 against him lifetime.

But, let me guess, the PEDs did all that.

I think Clemens could have finished his career with around 250-275 wins. Lotta Ks and and a low batting average against. He would have made the Hall of Fame eventually with those numbers, although, perhaps not first ballot.

At any rate, he's going in.

And on this coming year, 2013.

Name: Shawn Green

Years on Ballot: 0 (First Year)

From: 1993

To: 1999 (716 games)

Hall Of Fame Chances: Green came up to Toronto in '93, was okay for a few years, then suddenly caught fire in 1998, and went on to finish his career with 328 homeruns, more than 1000 RBIs and more than 1100 runs scored. His lifetime batting average was just .283, but he did have a .355 on base percentage.

I also though he was a very, very good fielder.

But his numbers fall short. He might stay on the ballot for a few years, but that's all you can expect

Name: Fred McGriff

Years on Ballot: 3 (Fourth Year)

From: 1986

To: 1990 (578 games)

Hall Of Fame Chances: The Jays needed someone to replace George Bell in left, so they made a trade with San Diego that sent McGriff and Tony Fernandez for Joe Carter and Roberto Alomar.

McGriff went from there to Altanta to Tampa Bay to the Cubs to the Dodgers and finally back to the Rays.

Everywhere he went, he hit.

And he basically contended (although he never won) for the triple crown each year.

He finished his career with 493 homeruns, 1550 RBIs, .284 BA and a .377 OBP.

These totals are good. And there has never been any steriod accusations, which helps him even more. I think he'll make it, but he might have to wait 5-7 years.

Name: Jack Morris

Years on Ballot: 13 (14th Year)

From: 1992

To: 1993 (61 games)

Hall Of Fame Chances: Morris is an interesting case. He did win 254 games, which brings considerable consideration (Just remember, I invented that saying!) to the Hall. He also won a World Series with the Tigers in '84, the Twins in '91 and the Jays in '92. And he did have a lot to do with all three. Let's not forget, prior to Morris coming to the Jays, no Toronto pitcher had won 20 games. Morris did that and 1 better.

Now, the knock against Morris is that his ERA is high (3.90). And it had nothing to do with Tiger Stadium:

Morris Home ERA Lifetime: 3.90 in 288 games

Morris Away ERA Lifetime: 3.90 in 269 games

Morris Tiger Stadium ERA Lifetime: 3.80 in 224 games

See, it was actually lower at Tiger Stadium than at other ballparks.

But still, Morris brought the right attitude to clubhouse. He never made excuses, never pointed at teammates. To the Jays he brought a swagger, an arrogance, that I really think helped the team. And this rubbed off on Toronto, even on days Jack wasn't pitching. The Jays were missing these things.

For a while, I would have said no to Morris. Consider me, if I was a voter to vote.

Vote for Morris.

Name: David Wells

Years On Ballot: 0 (First Year)

1st Tour Of Duty With Jays

From: 1987

To: 1992 (237 Games)

2nd Tour Of Duty

From: 1999

To: 2000 (69 games)

Hall Of Fame Chances: If it was what he looked like, Wells would have a difficult time explaining what he was doing in a baseball uniform, much less the Hall Of Fame for baseball.

Seriously though, Wells looked to me like a guy who was inconsistant, season to season and even start to start. But he got it together in the Bronx, came back to Toronto and won every game he pitched, then pretty much went wherever he wanted and won everything.

What's impressive to me about Boomer is, all those teams he played for, he'd give up hits, have a high ERA and he'd just win, win, win, no matter how good or bad the team was. That's how he did it with teams like New York and Boston, but also in teams like Toronto and Detroit.

He finished his career with 239 wins and only .604 W%. And no PEDs, although good thing Wells didn't take them. Might have done, god only knows to him.

Anyways, he pitched in the postseason for, ready?

Toronto

Cincinatti

Baltimore

New York

Boston

San Diego

See, winning just followed this guy around! And he was 10-5 (That's a .667 W%) in the postseason.

Wells is up against Clemens, Morris and Curt Schilling. Only Clemens has a better  W%, and that's under a cloud according to you.

Morris was 7-4 in the postseason (.636)

Schilling was 11-2 in the postseason (.846)

Clemens was 12-8 in the postseason (.600)

So Wells is right there with wins in the postseason and W% in the postseason.

So he gets my vote, because Wells wins everywhere, everytime, April to November!

Plus, baseball players come in all shapes and sizes. Gotta have someone in the Bronx that looks a litte different. Perfect for the Hall!

Name: Woody Williams

Years on Ballot: 0 (First Year and probably Last Year )

From: 1993

To: 1998 (166 games)

Hall Of Fame Chances: I still remember thinking about Woody as the 4th or 5th starter on the Jays. But as Toronto declined from 1994 on, he moved on up and became a "good 3rd or 4th starter". Once he got out of Toronto, he went from San Diego to St Louis back to San Diego and finally to Houston in 2007, where he retired.

Actually, he was better than I remember. The guy actually won 132 games, led the NL in winning % back in 2006 at the age of 39 (?!) and had seasons of 18, 15, 12 (x2), 11, 10 (x2).

Great enough for a #3 or #4 starter. Too bad there is isn't a "#3 or #4 starter Hall Of Fame, because my favs Claude Osteen, Mike Cuellar, Mike Garcia and Johnny Podres would get in.

Alas, none of these guys or Williams will ever get in!


References


Sports Reference LLC.  Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 3 Dec. 2012.


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