My IBWAA Hall of Fame Ballot

As a member of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, I have the privilege of voting for the Hall of Fame.

This is my second year as a voting member as I joined the IBWAA in 2013 as a lifetime member. Just as the case was last year, the ballot is stacked with many qualified candidates for induction into Cooperstown. Unfortunately, my fellow IBWAA members have not made it easier as Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin has yet to be inducted. However, both catcher Mike Piazza and second baseman Craig Biggio were inducted in both 2013 and 2014, respectively.

IBWAA members can vote for up to 15 candidates and just like the BBWAA, 75% of the vote is required for election into the Hall of Fame. In my initial glance at the ballot, I found 16 players that were worthy of induction into Cooperstown. Ultimately, I decided to scratch Carlos Delgado‘s name off my ballot to leave it at the maximum of 15 players. Years ago, I thought Nomar Garciaparra would have been a sure thing for induction but injuries led his numbers to be well below the benchmarks in the key offensive stats.

How would I vote if I was limited to the ten slots in the BBWAA election for the Hall of Fame? Check back in another day or so.

My ballot is as follows, with four holdovers from last year’s ballot:
Jeff Bagwell
Randy Johnson *
Jeff Kent
Barry Larkin (elected by BBWAA in 2012)
Edgar Martinez
Pedro Martinez *
Fred McGriff
Mike Mussina
Tim Raines
Curt Schilling
Gary Sheffield *
Lee Smith
John Smoltz *
Alan Trammell
Larry Walker

Asterisks denote first-time candidates for Cooperstown.