Let them all in......

I understand that the Baseball Writers of America believe they have a job to protect the integrity of the game by voting or not voting in certain players into the Baseball Hall of Fame. However, sometimes I believe them to be too judgemental when it comes to their votes. There are people every year that should be let in that never get the votes or have to wait far too long to get in. My belief is that the doors should be let open a little further. This is not the hall of very good, but it is also not the hall of perfect either. There are many who have not made it in that I believe should be let in. The Hall is a business and the more people that visit means it can stay open for years and years to come. Certain teams getting people in gives their fans a pride they haven't felt, either because they haven't won a world series, or haven't even been to a world series.

Here are some that I would let in....

Roger Clemens

You have made your point about Steroid Users. You've punished him even if the Federal Government hasn't or he was never suspended from Major League Baseball. There were a lot of guys using and not using and using on occasion and the fact we don't know when or who someone was using it is hard to hold this against a guy who could probably, even at his age come into the league and win ten games. He was a gamer and when his fastball started to fail him, he learned a new pitch in the splitter. (footnote, I don't believe steroids help with a splitter)

Barry Bonds

There are plenty of guys in the Hall who were not nice to fans or the media so you can't keep him out for not being a nice guy. He won MVP's, he was as clutch as they come, I don't think that anybody on a Video Game could duplicate the numbers he put up, and not just HR's but batting average and On Base Percentage. He had almost a 600 OBP in 2002. He won Gold Gloves and after striking out over 100 times his rookie year, never did it again in his career.

Albert Belle

Another guy with supposed attitude problems but he should be in the Hall of Fame with the sink he tore off the wall in Triple A. He was the epitome of intensity and nobody wanted to see him when the game was on the line. in 1995 he hit 50 HR's and 52 Doubles. He had a 295 lifetime batting average and almost 400 lifetime HR's which was great before the live ball steroid era numbers warped perception. In the last nine years of his career he played 160+ games three times and only dropped below 140 once....and that was the strike shortened 1994 season (which he still had 36 HR's 101 RBI's in only 105 games).

Steve Garvey

He is a guy who was hurt by the statistical boom on the 1990's. First baseman started blowing up that stats column and what he did became unnoticed. He was a ten time all star, an MVP, a NLCS MVP, batted 294 lifetime, and played in 4 World Series. Oh, and in 222 post season at bats he batted 338 and this was before there were extra rounds of post season.

Edgar Martinez

He may make it in in 2018 after getting momentum in 2017 but its time to acknowledge he was a beast. If he played in Boston he would have been a first ballot hall of famer whether he played the field or not. (talk to me about it when David Ortiz becomes a first ballot HOFer). He was a seven time all star, 5 time silver slugger, hit over 300 ten times, and his OBP is 20th all time. Only in his final season did he strike out more than 100 times. He batted in 145 at age 37.

Fred McGriff

If he was a 1B from the Yankees in the 60's or 70's, how much more love would he have gotten? He was very good for a very long time and never moved to the Great Side and that is the arguement from his detractors. He played 19 seasons. he was seven HR's away from the Magic 500 HR plateau which I would say is close enough. However, he wasn't just a HR hitter, he batted 284 for his career to show he wasn't just a Dave Kingman or Rob Deer copy. He got to almost 500 HR without ever hitting more than 36 in a season. He was the Don Sutton of 1B. He played on great Atlanta Braves teams. Had he not played in the time of Andres Gallarraga, Will Clark, Rafael Palmerio, Jeff Bagwell, and take your pick of great NL 1B on the 90's he would have made a few more All Star Games. Plus he should make it for being the spokesperson for Tom Emansky Videos.

Thurman Munson

A short career but a meaningful career. How exciting would it be for the Yankees fans from the 70's to put their captain in. Playing the toughest position for the toughest team to play for he excelled. In 11 seasons he batted 300 or better five times, won three gold gloves, three times went over 100 RBI's and batted 377 in World Series games. Oh and as a catcher, he had a 292 lifetime BA.

Mike Mussina

The guy was consistent!. He was tough and took on the Roided up batters of his era. If you are going to ignore the Stats of the Roid era, you can't look at a guy like Mussina and punish him for not having just a little better stats. He wasn't as good as Maddux, The Unit, Smoltz, Pedro, or Glavine who also pitched against the same guys. But he could have arguably won 300 games in a different era. And he pitched his whole career in the American League where he had a DH (like Frank Thomas and Edgar Martinez) to face instead of the other team's pitcher. He won 270 games which may not be equaled by today's pitchers considering the over se of bull pens in todays games. He had 2800 K's for almost 3000 and won 20 games at the age of 39. After 1995 he never had less than 27 starts in a season, mostly being over 30. He has a respectful 3.68 ERA for his career facing left handers at Yankee stadium for a better part of his career. His career strikeout to walk ratio is ranked 2nd all time for pitchers with 3000 innings and his career numbers are almost identical to the great Jim Palmer.

Curt Schilling

Schilling had some injury seasons in the mid 90's that cost him some statistics on his career number but the guy made a habit of pitching big when it mattered most. He won 3 world series rings and his Co-MVP from the 2001 WS is already in the Hall. He won 20 or more games three times after he turned 34. He struck out over 3100 batters in his career and struck out over 300 three times. A couple of more breaks health wise in his twenties and he wins over 250 games instead of 220 and might have gotten over the 4000 strike out plateau.

Larry Walker

Coors Field hurts his candidacy as much as injuries. However when he played his was the best player on the field many times and that includes an era that Barry Bonds played in. His arm was impressive as his bat and he was a true 5 tool player. If you are going to keep him out because he played at coors field then let's go rewrite the history books for those who made it in and take out any stats they had at coors field. If you are going to punish him for coor field stats then go ahead and put Pedro Astacio in the HOF since his stats were hurt from pitching at coors field. He took many a beating at Coors and kept his team in it as good as any pitcher of his era. He had a 313 lifetime BA and only batted under 280 once after the 1993 season. He led a third year team to the fastest playoffs ever at the time and stole 230 lifetime bases. In 1997 he batted 366, hit 49 HR's and stole 33 bases.

Dale Murphy

One of the best players of the eighties known for playing on awful Atlanta Braves teams in front a national TV audience on the early days of TBS. Never missed a game between 1982-1985 and became an early 30-30 guy. He hit 398 HR's, including never below 36 while he was playing every day between 82-85. In 1987, which was a big year for HR's, he hit 44 HR's and walked 115 times. He was a guy who was also hurt by the video game stats on the 90's. He played every day, had big hits, stole bases, and did it all on a team that had nothing to play for. As big of a deal as it is to put up numbers when it counts, it also says something when you put up numbers when your team stinks.

Other Guys I would make cases for Dave Parker, Orel Hershiser, Tommy John, Gil Hodges (he showed up on Field of Dreams!!), Mark McGwire, Lee Smith, and Ron Guidry. Like I said, I am not saying water down the HOF, I am only saying these guys were great and should be celebrated by the teams fans and the baseball world. There is nothing wrong with honoring greatness even if a few others happened to be greater.