Burks, Galarraga Among Newcomers on Hall Ballot
Former Rockies Ellis Burks and Andres Galarraga are among the 15 first-time candidates on the Hall of Fame ballot, which includes 26 candidates. Sentiment aside, neither is expected to receive much support in an election where there is no slam-dunk candidate on the ballot for the first time and where several other newcomers with stronger Hall of Fame credentials will draw votes.
Roberto Alomar, Barry Larkin, Edgar Martinez and Fred McGriff head the group of first-time eligibles, which also includes Kevin Appier, Pat Hentgen, Mike Jackson, Eric Karros, Ray Lankford, Shane Reynolds, David Segui, Robin Ventura and Todd Zeile. The latter played for the Rockies in 2002.
Galarraga, a first baseman who was the Rockies first hero, played for the team from their 1993 inception through 1997, finishing with 172 of his 399 lifetime homers and 579 of his 1,425 career RBI with the Rockies. Burks, an outfielder who played for the Rockies from 1994 until he was traded to the Giants on July 31, 1998.
Galarraga led the National League once in home runs and twice in RBI during his stay with the Rockies. His 150 RBI in 1996 are a club record.
Burks’ output with the Rockies included 115 of his career 352 homers, 337 of his 1,206 RBI and a third-place finish in the National League Most Valuable Player voting in 1996 when he hit .344 with 40 homers, 128 RBI and 32 stolen bases and led the league in both runs scored (142) and slugging percentage (.639).
There are 26 players on this year’s ballot, three more than last year. Holdovers on the ballot include Harold Baines, Bert Blyleven, Andre Dawson, Don Mattingly, Mark McGwire, Jack Morris, Dale Murphy (who played his final two months with the Rockies), Dave Parker, Tim Raines, Lee Smith and Alan Trammell.
Members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America for 10 or more consecutive years are eligible to vote in the Hall of Fame election. A player must receive 75 percent of the votes cast to be elected. Results will be announced Jan. 6.
Last year, Rickey Henderson was elected in his first appearance on the BBWAA ballot, along with Jim Rice, who was on the ballot for a 15th and final time. Dawson missed by 44 votes, and Blyleven was 67 votes short of election.
Sure hope Raines gets more support this year. If he hadn’t played at the same time as Rickey Henderson, he’d be a 1st ballot buy. He’s the second greatest lead-off hitter of all-time!
My hypothetical ballot:
Raines
Blyleven
Trammell
Alomar
Larkin
Martinez
McGriff
I dunno about 1st ballot, but Raines likely would get a lot more attention if Henderson didn’t exist, and for all the wrong reasons.
Both guys are known for their stolen bases, and both players tend to be wildy underrated in terms of their other skills. Raines unfortunately seems to be saddled with a lot of the attributes of the underrated player – his big years were in Montreal, his triple-crown stats don’t reflect his strengths as a player, he didn’t get much of a chance to play in the post-season, and though he had a long and productive career, his play in his 30’s lacked any star years, so at best they defy a handy narrative and at worst he’s seen as one who “just hung around.”
It’s too bad. 80’s baseball was very different from today’s environment and Raines was a special player. Looks like Raines has the most runs scored for any post-1900, HoF-eligible ballplayer who is not in the HoF.
Also worth mentioning that he’s a former Denver Bear.
Help me understand why Jack Morris doesn’t get stronger consideration?
I was thinking the same thing ^^^^
Jack Morris – His pitching in the World Series alone should make him a shoe in.
As I recall, Tracy voted for him last year so he can probably tackle the reasons why Morris should be in.
From my perspective, though, I think he was the beneficiary of being on some very good teams. His win totals don’t really tell you how good he was – they just tell you how good he was compared to his team. Compare him to somebody like Blyleven, who was better in every way except that he played for bad teams and got fewer wins. (The larger point here is that wins and losses tell you basically nothing about how good a pitcher is.)
Morris was a good but not great pitcher who played for some great teams. Yes, definitely, extra credit for his postseason heroics but, for me, he falls well short.
This Joe Posnanski blog article illuminates part of the argument against him: http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2009/09/12/pitching-to-the-score/
Any chance we’ll see Jack and Tracy’s ballots?
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