Both International Editor Mark Lawrence and myself are honored to have a Hall of Fame vote through our membership in the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA). The 2019 ballot was an interesting one—with several worthy first-timers up for consideration. Since the IBWAA has previously voted in Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Edgar Martinez and Mike Mussina, these players did not appear on this year's ballot (by the way, I did not vote for the first two, and did vote for the last two). As I've done in the past, I'd like to share my votes with you. In most years, since I feel the Hall should be reserved for the truly elite, I keep my votes down to three or four (15 are allowed.) This year, however, I found myself enthusiastically voting for twelve players. They are (in alphabetical order):
Lance Berkman; Roy Halladay; Todd Helton; Andruw Jones; Jeff Kent; Fred McGriff; Mariano Rivera; Curt Schilling; Gary Sheffield; Omar Vizquel; Billy Wagner; Larry Walker.
I was undecided until today about Wagner—but his 422 saves and 2.31 ERA (over a stellar 16-year MLB career) finally convinced me. So, of the twelve, two have Red Sox connections—Schilling and Wagner. Feel free to 'haul-off' and let me know what you think about my votes at fenwaynation@comcast.net.