Who would you vote for on this year's HOF Ballot?

[HoustonGM]

This year's Hall of Fame ballot was announced the other day. Here are the players on the ballot:

Brady Anderson
Harold Baines
Rod Beck
Bert Blyleven
Dave Concepcion
Andre Dawson
Shawon Dunston
Chuck Finley
Travis Fryman
Rich Gossage
Tommy John
David Justice
Chuck Knoblauch
Don Mattingly
Mark McGwire
Jack Morris
Dale Murphy
Robb Nen
Dave Parker
Tim Raines
Jim Rice
Jose Rijo
Lee Smith
Todd Stottlemyre
Alan Trammell

Who would you vote for?

My picks:

Tim Raines
Alan Trammell
Mark McGwire
Rich Gossage
Bert Blyleven

[Arctic Blast]

Tim Raines, Goose Gossage, Alan Trammell, Bert Blyleven and Jack Morris.

[RickD]

Dave Concepcion
Mark McGwire
Jim Rice
Lee Smith
Alan Trammell

[petrel]

If I have five votes.....

Bert Blyleven
Jack Morris
Andre Dawson
Tim Raines
Dave Concepcion

--Pet

[Reade]

Blyleven
Gossage
Smith
Dawson
Raines
Murphy
Morris
Trammell

[ayhoser]

In no particular order:

Andre Dawson
Rich Gossage
Don Mattingly
Mark McGwire
Dale Murphy

[HoustonGM]

By the way, you're not limited to five votes. I just listed five players because those are the only 5 players I'd vote for. HOF voters can list up to 10 players on their ballot, so feel free to list up to 10 if you believe 10 players deserve to be in the Hall.

[Robert]

Why isn't Bert Byleven in the Hall of Fame? 4k innings 3700 strike outs...?

[CatKnight]

Bert Blyleven
Andre Dawson
Rich Gossage
Don Mattingly

[petrel]

Why isn't Bert Byleven in the Hall of Fame? 4k innings 3700 strike outs...?

They look at his 287-250 lifetime record and figure that he must not be a good pitcher -- after all, it's close to a .500 record....

However, only nine pitchers in baseball history have more than the 250 losses that Blyleven has. Face it, if you have 250 lifetime losses, somebody must have thought you were a great pitcher or they wouldn't keep sending you to the mound.

Of those nine pitchers, eight are in the Hall of Fame. (Cy Young, Pud Galvin, Nolan Ryan, Walter Johnson, Phil Niekro, Gaylord Perry, Don Sutton, Eppa Rixey) The exception is Jack Powell, who had a 245-254 record and whose year to year stats indicate that Powell is what the uniformed think Blyleven is -- namely, an average pitcher with longevity.

--Pet

[HoustonGM]

Good explanation, petrel.

[scooterbracy]

Bert Blyleven
Rich Gossage
Tommy John
Mark McGwire
Jim Rice
Alan Trammell

[Red Sox Fan 734]

Bert Blyleven
Rich Gossage
Mark McGwire
Jim Rice This guy is the best player not in the HOF, put him in!

[HoustonGM]

Jim Rice This guy is the best player not in the HOF, put him in!

Regardless of your opinion on whether or not Rice is a Hall of Famer, I think that claiming he's the best player NOT in the Hall of Fame is quite the overstatement.

[Wassit3]

all except duncan and fryman