Baseball Hall-of-Famers By Team, 2020 Edition

With the announcement of the elections of Derek Jeter, Larry Walker, Ted Simmons and Ken Harrelson, it is time to update this list.

A player is counted as a Hall-of-Famer with the team if he played at least 4 seasons with them. However, there will be the occasional exception. Teams are ranked in order of most HOFers.

If there is a tie, it will be broken by which team has more players, as opposed to those who were elected in other categories. If there is still a tie, then I go to which has more non-broadcasters. If it's still a tie, which has more players whose contributions were mostly with that club. If it's still a tie, which team has played fewer seasons will be ranked ahead -- since, for example, 5 HOFers is more impressive for a team that's been around since 1977 than it would be for one that's been around since 1961.

Teams that no longer exist in that form will be listed in italics, and in the position where they would be ranked if they still did.

Players are listed in chronological order of when they arrived at the club, then managers, then broadcasters.

1. New York Yankees, 42: It works out to a little over 1 for every Pennant the team has won:

Clark Griffith (the team's first manager, elected as a pitcher and he was still a solid pitcher while he was their manager), Willie Keeler, Jack Chesbro, Frank "Home Run" Baker, Waite Hoyt, Herb Pennock, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Tony Lazzeri, Earle Combs, Bill Dickey, Red Ruffing, Lefty Gomez, Joe DiMaggio, Joe Gordon, Phil Rizzuto, Yogi Berra, Johnny Mize, Whitey Ford, Mickey Mantle, Enos Slaughter, Jim "Catfish" Hunter, Reggie Jackson, Rich "Goose" Gossage, Dave Winfield, Rickey Henderson, Wade Boggs, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Mike Mussina.

Also, managers Miller Huggins, Joe McCarthy, Casey Stengel and Joe Torre; owner Jacob Ruppert; executives Ed Barrow and George Weiss; broadcasters Mel Allen, Red Barber, Joe Garagiola, Jerry Coleman (played for the Yankees but elected as a broadcaster, first for the Yankees, then for the Padres) and Tony Kubek (played for the Yankees but elected as a broadcaster).

Bucky Harris managed the Yankees to the 1947 World Championship, but was only their manager for 2 seasons (1947 & '48), so I'm not counting him with the Yankees. In this case, according to the rule I set, I have to count Rickey Henderson as a Yankee. If Lou Piniella is ever elected as a manager, I wouldn't be able to count him as a Yankee HOFer, since he wouldn't be elected as a player ,and only managed them for 3 seasons, none of them a title season.

Rizzuto was also a longtime broadcaster. Lee MacPhail was elected for what he did as American League President, not as Yankee general manager. Bernie Williams and Paul O'Neill have dropped off the writers' ballot. They, like Don Mattingly, will, in a few years, become eligible once again, through the Veterans' Committee -- but in all 3 cases, let's not kid ourselves.

And then there's Roger Clemens: Even if he does get in, would you want to count him as a Yankee? George Steinbrenner, now being dead, is now eligible through the Veterans' Committee.

Tim Raines was a Yankee for only 3 years, although 2 of them were title seasons. Ivan Rodriguez was a Yankee for about 3 minutes. So neither of them can be included here.

Andy Pettitte is eligible. Alex Rodriguez becomes eligible, in 2022 -- the same year as David Ortiz, who hit a lot fewer home runs, was not the runner or fielder that A-Rod was, and, unlike A-Rod, is known to have flunked a steroid test. Bet you any money you like, Ortiz gets in in his 1st year of eligibility, and A-Rod goes through his entire 10-year BBWAA eligibility without getting in.

Andy and A-Rod have the stats to get in. They ar big question marks, but will probably, at least for a while, become victims of the Yankee Doodle Double Standard.

2. St. Louis Cardinals, 32: Charlie Comiskey (played for them before managing and owning teams elsewhere), Jake Beckley, Roger Bresnahan, Rogers Hornsby (won a World Series as their player-manager), Jesse Haines, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Jim Bottomley, Charles "Chick" Hafey, Burleigh Grimes, Frankie Frisch (elected as a player, won a World Series as their player-manager), Dizzy Dean, Joe Medwick, Johnny Mize, Enos Slaughter, Stan Musial, Red Schoendienst (elected as player, also managed them to a title), Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Orlando Cepeda, Steve Carlton (7 seasons), Ted Simmons, Bruce Sutter, Ozzie Smith, Lee Smith (4 seasons, so he qualifies here).

Also, Miller Huggins (manager, also played several years for the Cards), Billy Southworth (manager, also played for them), Whitey Herzog (manager-executive), Tony LaRussa (manager), Branch Rickey (executive), Harry Caray (broadcaster), Jack Buck (broadcaster), Joe Garagiola (broadcaster).

Jesse Burkett won a batting title with the Cards, but only played 3 seasons with them, so he just misses qualifying. On the other hand, Cepeda didn't even play 3 full seasons with the Cards, but his tenure included the 1967 title and the 1968 Pennant, and he, as much as Gibson, was a symbol of that team, and he may be better remembered as a Cardinal than as a Giants, so I'm bending the rule for him. Leo Durocher was a good player for the Cards, but was elected as a manager and never managed them, so he doesn't qualify here.

Larry Walker was only a Cardinal for a year and a half, so, although that time did include the only Pennant he ever won (2004), he doesn't count for the Cards. Mark McGwire and Jim Edmonds did not qualify on enough ballots, and won't be eligible again until they qualify under the Veterans Committee. Surprisingly, longtime owner Gussie Busch has never been elected.

3. Chicago Cubs, 28: Adrian "Cap" Anson, Mike "King" Kelly, Clark Griffith (elected as a pitcher for them, later a manager and owner elsewhere), Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, Frank Chance (elected as a player but should have been elected as a manager instead), Mordecai "Three-Finger" Brown, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Hazen "Kiki" Cuyler, Lewis "Hack" Wilson, Charles "Gabby" Hartnett (also managed them to a Pennant), Rogers Hornsby, Billy Herman, Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Ron Santo, Ferguson Jenkins, Bruce Sutter, Ryne Sandberg, Lee Smith, Andre Dawson, Greg Maddux (spent enough time with them).

Also, Al Spalding (elected as an executive but was also a great pitcher), Frank Selee (manager), Joe McCarthy (manager, managed them to a Pennant before going to the Yankees), Leo Durocher (manager), Jack Brickhouse (broadcaster), Harry Caray (broadcaster).

Sammy Sosa is eligible, but he's not getting in. If Lou Piniella is elected as a manager, I'll have to count him as a Cub HOFer, since he managed them for 4 seasons.

Lou Boudreau was a beloved broadcaster for the Cubs after his playing and managing career, but never played or managed for them, and so I can't count him as a Cub HOFer. Santo was also a longtime broadcaster. Surprisingly, longtime owner Phillip K. Wrigley is not in.

New York Giants, 26: Roger Connor, Buck Ewing, Tim Keefe, Mickey Welch, John Montgomery Ward, Roger Bresnahan, Christy Mathewson, Joe McGinnity, George Davis, Richard "Rube" Marquard, Dave Bancroft, Ross Youngs, Frankie Frisch, George "Highpockets" Kelly, Fred Lindstrom, Travis Jackson, Bill Terry, Mel Ott, Carl Hubbell, Johnny Mize, Monte Irvin, Willie Mays, Hoyt Wilhelm.

Also, John McGraw (manager, also played for them), Leo Durocher (manager), Russ Hodges (broadcaster).

Casey Stengel played for the Giants, but was elected as a manager, so I can't count him as a Giant HOFer.  

Counting all figures who played or managed at least one game for the Giants, in New York and San Francisco, they have 76, more than any other team; however, many of those were with the club only briefly. But even by my definitions, they are ahead of the arch-rival Dodgers.

4. Chicago White Sox, 25: Ed Walsh, George Davis, Eddie Collins, Ray Schalk, Red Faber, Ted Lyons, Luke Appling, Nellie Fox, Luis Aparicio, Early Wynn, Hoyt Wilhelm, Goose Gossage (5 years with them), Carlton Fisk, Harold Baines, Frank Thomas, Tim Raines, Jim Thome, Al Lopez (manager), Tony LaRussa (manager), Charlie Comiskey (owner), Bill Veeck (owner), Jack Brickhouse (broadcaster), Bob Elson (broadcaster), Harry Caray (broadcaster), Ken Harrelson (broadcaster).

Although Clark Griffith pitched for them in their 1st 2 seasons and won the 1st American League Pennant as their manager, those 2 seasons are not enough to qualify with the White Sox. Although Tom Seaver notched his 300th victory with the Pale Hose, he pitched for them in just 3 seasons, and can't be counted as one of their HOFers.

Thome was a White Sock for less than 4 full seasons, but did play for them in 4 seasons, so he counts with them.

5. Pittsburgh Pirates, 23: James "Pud" Galvin, Vic Willis, John "Honus" Wagner, Fred Clarke (elected as a player, also won Pennants as their manager), Jack Chesbro, Jake Beckley, Max Carey, Hazen "Kiki" Cuyler, Waite Hoyt (5 seasons with them), Harold "Pie" Traynor (also managed them), Paul Waner, Lloyd Waner ("Big Poison" and "Little Poison," though Lloyd was actually taller), Joseph "Arky" Vaughan, Al Lopez (elected as a manager but was an All-Star catcher for the Pirates), Ralph Kiner, Bill Mazeroski, Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Bert Blyleven.

Also, Bill McKechnie (manager), Barney Dreyfuss (owner), Branch Rickey (executive), Bob Prince (broadcaster).

Blyleven was only a Pirate for 3 seasons, but I'm bending the rule because he was a key cog on their last World Championship team in 1979. Barry Bonds is eligible, but while the stance against steroid cheats is softening, he still, for the moment, falls under the category of, "Who's kidding who?"

6. Boston Red Sox, 23: Jimmy Collins (elected as a player but also managed them to the 1st World Series title in 1903), Cy Young, Tris Speaker, Harry Hooper, Babe Ruth (6 seasons with Sox before going to Yanks), Herb Pennock (7 seasons before Yanks), Red Ruffing (also 7 seasons before Yanks), Joe Cronin (elected as a player, but also managed them to the 1946 Pennant, though unlike Collins had already retired as a player; was also longtime AL President), Rick Ferrell, Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove, Bobby Doerr, Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk, Jim Rice, Dennis Eckersley, Wade Boggs, Pedro Martinez.

Also, Dick Williams (manager, no relation to Ted), Tom Yawkey (owner), Curt Gowdy (broadcaster), and Ken Harrelson (broadcaster). "Hawk" only played 2 seasons for Boston, though 1 was the 1967 "Impossible Dream" Pennant season; but he broadcast for them for 7 years, so he counts here.

I am bending the rule slightly for Dick Williams, who only managed 3 seasons for the Red Sox, but 1 of them, 1967, was the most important season in the club's modern history. Luis Aparicio played 3 seasons for the Red Sox, so by my rule he is not eligible to be counted with them. Eckersley, however, played 7 seasons with them, so I have to count him with them, and with their living HOFers for as long as he lives.

It was long suspected that owner Jean Yawkey would become the 1st woman elected to the Hall of Fame, but Effa Manley, who owned the Negro Leagues' Newark Eagles, is in, while Mrs. Yawkey is still out.

David Ortiz (500 Home Run Club but known steroid cheat) becomes eligible in 2022. Manny Ramirez (500 Home Run Club but known steroid cheat), Roger Clemens (300 Win and 3,000 Strikeout Clubs but suspected steroid cheat) and Curt Schilling (3,000 Strikeout Club but possible steroid cheat) are eligible, but not yet in.

Boston Braves, 22: Harry Wright (player and manager), George Wright, Al Spalding, Jim "Orator" O'Rourke, James "Deacon" White, Charlie "Old Hoss" Radbourne, Mike "King" Kelly, John Clarkson, Charles "Kid" Nichols, Cy Young, Hugh Duffy, Tommy McCarthy (he and Duffy were known as "the Heavenly Twins"), Billy Hamilton, Vic Willis, Jimmy Collins, Johnny Evers, Walter "Rabbit" Maranville, Dave Bancroft.

Also, Frank Selee (manager), Bill McKechnie (manager, though with no success with the Braves), Casey Stengel (ditto, also played for Braves), Billy Southworth (manager).

Brooklyn Dodgers, 21: Willie Keeler, Joe Kelley, Richard "Rube" Marquard, Zack Wheat, Burleigh Grimes, Charles "Dazzy" Vance, Joseph "Arky" Vaughan, Billy Herman, Joe "Ducky" Medwick, Harold "Pee Wee" Reese, Jackie Robinson, Edwin "Duke" Snider, Roy Campanella, Ned Hanlon (manager), Wilbert Robinson (manager), Leo Durocher (elected as a manager but was also a good player), Walter Alston (manager), Branch Rickey (owner), Walter O'Malley (owner), Red Barber (broadcaster), Vin Scully (broadcaster).

Casey Stengel played 6 seasons for the Dodgers, and was good, but not Hall of Fame good.  He managed 3 seasons for them; in spite of their poor performance under him, had he managed them for 1 more season, he would still qualify as one of theirs under my rule.  Dick Williams played 5 seasons for them, but was elected as a manager, and never managed the Dodgers. Owner Charles Ebbets is not in.

7. Detroit Tigers, 18: Sam Crawford, Ty Cobb, Harry Heilmann, Henry "Heinie" Manush, Charlie Gehringer, Goose Goslin, Hank Greenberg (the last 3 nicknamed the "G-Men" in those early days of the FBI), Mickey Cochrane (elected as a player, also managed them to 2 Pennants), Hal Newhouser, George Kell, Al Kaline, Jim Bunning, Jack Morris, Alan Trammell, Ivan Rodriguez, Hughie Jennings (manager, also played for the team), Sparky Anderson (manager), Ernie Harwell (broadcaster).

With Trammell getting in through the Veterans Committee, Lou Whitaker's chances of also doing so increase. Kaline and Kell were also longtime broadcasters. Longtime owners Frank Navin, Walter Briggs and John Fetzer are not yet in. Former executive Will Harridge is in, but for what he did as President of the AL, so I can't count him as a Tiger HOFer.

8. Philadelphia Phillies, 18: Billy Hamilton, Ed Delahanty, Sam Thompson, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Eppa Rixey, Dave Bancroft, Chuck Klein, Richie Ashburn, Robin Roberts, Jim Bunning, Steve Carlton, Mike Schmidt, Jim Thome, Roy Halladay, Harry Wright (manager), Pat Gillick (executive), By Saam (broadcaster), Harry Kalas (broadcaster).

Thome spent 3 seasons with them, then left, then returned for a 4th, so he counts here. Ashburn was also a longtime broadcaster for the Phils. If Curt Schilling gets in, he can be counted with the Phillies. Pete Rose, of course, is ineligible.

9. Cincinnati Reds, 18: Bid McPhee, Jake Beckley, Joe Kelley, Sam Crawford, Edd Roush, Eppa Rixey, Ernie Lombardi, Frank Robinson, Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, Joe Morgan, Tom Seaver (6 seasons with Reds), Barry Larkin, Ken Griffey Jr., Bill McKechnie (manager), Sparky Anderson (manager), Red Barber (broadcaster), Marty Brennaman (broadcaster).

Pete Rose, of course, is ineligible. John Franco is not yet in, but if he gets in, he pitched enough seasons with the Reds to qualify for this list. If Lou Piniella is elected as a manager, I'll count him as a Reds HOFer: He only managed them for 3 seasons, but 1 was a World Championship season. Miller Huggins played several years for the Reds, but was elected as a Yankee manager.

Longtime owner Powel Crosley and GM Bob Howsam should be in, but they're not. Waite Hoyt broadcast for the Reds, and was beloved in that role, but has not been given the Ford Frick Award, so I can't count him with the Reds.

And while 2 members of the 1st openly professional baseball team, the 1869-70 Cincinnati Red Stockings, are in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Harry and George Wright -- the other Wright Brothers who "invented" something important in American life -- that team was not the same team as the current Reds franchise, which began in the old American Association of 1882 and joined the NL in 1892.

10. Cleveland Indians, 17: Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie, Elmer Flick, Addie Joss, Tris Speaker (elected as player but also managed them to a title), Stan Coveleski, Joe Sewell, Earl Averill, Bob Feller, Lou Boudreau, Bob Lemon, Larry Doby, Early Wynn, Gaylord Perry, Jim Thome, Al Lopez (manager), Bill Veeck (owner), Jimmy Dudley (broadcaster).

Barring a major shift in voters' attitudes, Manny Ramirez is probably out of luck. Satchel Paige reached the majors with the Indians, but only pitched 2 seasons for them. So, although I can count him with 3 different Negro League teams on this list, I can't count him with any major league team. Indeed, that fact is the reason I've included the Negro League teams on this list, along with moved and defunct major league teams.

11. Baltimore Orioles, 14: Brooks Robinson, Hoyt Wilhelm, Robin Roberts (4 seasons with O's), Luis Aparicio, Frank Robinson, Jim Palmer, Eddie Murray, Cal Ripken, Roberto Alomar, Harold Baines, Mike Mussina, Earl Weaver (manager), Chuck Thompson (broadcaster), Jon Miller (broadcaster).

Although he won his only World Series with the Orioles, we don't usually associate Aparicio with them, but he did play 5 seasons with them, so, by my own rule, I've got to count him here. Same with Robin Roberts, who played 4 seasons in Baltimore. Rafael Palmeiro is eligible, but he's not getting in.

Mike Mussina should be in. Frank Cashen should be in as an executive. Dick Williams played enough seasons with the O's to qualify, but was elected as a manager and never managed them, so he doesn't qualify as an O's HOFer.

Philadelphia Athletics, 13: Eddie Plank, Rube Waddell, Frank "Home Run" Baker, Chief Bender, Eddie Collins, Herb Pennock, Al Simmons, Mickey Cochrane, Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove, George Kell, Connie Mack (owner-manager), By Saam (broadcaster).

Washington Senators, 11: Walter Johnson, Bucky Harris (elected as a manager but was also a great player), Sam Rice, Henry "Heinie" Manush, Goose Goslin, Joe Cronin (elected as a player but also managed them to a Pennant), Rick Ferrell, Early Wynn, Clark Griffith (owner), Arch McDonald (broadcaster), Bob Wolff (broadcaster). 

No, you can't count Ted Williams as a manager.

12. New York Mets, 11: Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, Gary Carter, Mike Piazza, Tom Glavine (5 seasons), Pedro Martinez (4 seasons), Casey Stengel (manager, 4 seasons), Joe Torre (manager), Lindsey Nelson (broadcaster), Bob Murphy (broadcaster), Tim McCarver (broadcaster). So that's 3 broadcasters, 2 managers, and 6 players.

Still, you didn't realize the Mets had so many, did you? And that's without counting Ralph Kiner, who was elected as a Pirates' player, not as a Mets' broadcaster. Nor can you count Richie Ashburn, Duke Snider, Warren Spahn or Willie Mays -- and why would you want to count Eddie Murray, Rickey Henderson or Roberto Alomar as Mets?

I had not previously counted Ryan. However, he did appear in at least 1 game for 5 different seasons, including the 1969 World Championship season. So I have to count him here.

I had previously counted Yogi Berra, but while he managed them for 4 seasons, including winning a Pennant, he was elected to the Hall as a player, not as a manager, and so I can't count him as a Met HOFer.

As for Torre: Yes, he managed in 4 seasons for them. They were awful then, and there wasn't much he could do about it, but he counts as a Met Hall-of-Famer. Although I notice that, unlike Yogi and Willie, he wasn't invited to the farewell ceremony at Shea Stadium in 2008.

Frank Cashen should be in as an executive. If John Franco is ever elected, you can count him.

13. Atlanta Braves, 10: Hank Aaron, Phil Niekro, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, Chipper Jones, Bobby Cox (manager), Joe Torre (managed them in between Cox's 2 tenures there, also a player), John Schuerholz (general manager), Milo Hamilton (broadcaster).

Fred McGriff and Andruw Jones will be listed with them if they are elected. Don Sutton broadcasts for the Braves, but can't be counted among their HOFers. Former owners Bill Bartholomay and Ted Turner are not in, nor do I ever expect them to be elected, but maybe they should be.

14. Los Angeles Dodgers, 10: Duke Snider (played 5 seasons for them in L.A.), Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax, Don Sutton, Mike Piazza, Walter Alston (manager), Tommy Lasorda (manager), Walter O'Malley (owner), Vin Scully (broadcaster), Jamie Jarrin (broadcaster).

Steve Garvey is not getting in. Pedro Martinez started out with the Dodgers, but only played 2 seasons for them.

15. San Diego Padres, 9: Dave Winfield, Ozzie Smith, Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage, Tony Gwynn, Trevor Hoffman, Dick Williams (manager), Jerry Coleman (broadcaster), Dick Enberg (broadcaster).

Yes, the Wizard and the Goose each played 4 seasons in Mission Valley. Considering how many they have in a comparatively short history, you shouldn't also count Willie McCovey, Gaylord Perry or Roberto Alomar. Longtime owner Ray Kroc, who saved the team from being moved to Washington in 1974, is not in. Steve Garvey, who is not my Padre, is not getting in.

16. Oakland Athletics, 9: Jim "Catfish" Hunter, Reggie Jackson, Rollie Fingers, Rickey Henderson, Dennis Eckersley, Dick Williams (manager), Tony LaRussa (manager), Lon Simmons (broadcaster), Bill King (broadcaster).

Mark McGwire is eligible, but he's not getting in. Owner Charlie Finley is eligible, but I don't think he'll ever get in, either. I am bending the rule slightly for Williams, who only managed 3 seasons for the A's, but got them into the postseason in all 3, including 2 World Championships.

Montreal Expos, 8: Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Tim Raines, Larry Walker, Pedro Martinez, Vladimir Guerrero, Dick Williams (manager), Dave Van Horne (broadcaster). Duke Snider cannot be counted for the Expos, although he broadcast for them. He also played in Montreal for the Dodgers' farm team, the Montreal Royals, as did Tommy Lasorda.

Chicago American Giants (Negro Leagues), 8: Andrew "Rube" Foster (also manager and owner), Bill Foster (a.k.a. Willie Foster, Rube's brother), Cristobal Torriente, Pete Hill, George "Mule" Suttles, John Henry "Pop" Lloyd, Norman "Turkey" Stearnes, Willie Wells.

Kansas City Monarchs (Negro Leagues), 8: Jose Mendez, Leroy "Satchel" Paige, James "Cool Papa" Bell, Wilber "Bullet" Rogan, Norman "Turkey" Stearnes, Andy Cooper (also manager), Hilton Smith, J.L. Wilkinson (owner).

Bell played 3 seasons for them, but because Negro League players bounced around as much as international soccer players do, and also like club soccer there were often loan deals involved, I'll bend my 4-season rule. John "Buck" O'Neil, 1st baseman and manager, is not in the Hall of Fame, a terrible oversight, especially given that his contributions to the game include what he did in the last 15 or so years of a very long life.

Jackie Robinson played his first season in professional baseball, 1945, with the Monarchs. They were also the first pro team of Ernie Banks. But neither was elected on the basis of anything he did in Kansas City.

Homestead Grays (Negro Leagues), 7: Cumberland "Cum" Posey (pitcher, then manager, then owner), Smokey Joe Williams, Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, James "Cool Papa" Bell, Jud Wilson, Ray Brown.

Oscar Charleston and Judy Johnson each played 2 seasons for them, but I'm not willing to bend the rules THAT much. Gibson was known as the Black Babe Ruth, Leonard as the Black Lou Gehrig, and together they were known as the Thunder Twins or the Dynamite Twins. Williams was sometimes known as Cyclone Joe, sometimes as Smokey Joe (but never as Smokin' Joe, like boxer Frazier).

As for Posey, "Cum" was short for "Cumberland," and it is possible that, like James "Pud" Galvin, his nickname was not considered sexually explicit in his time. As an athlete, he was probably better in football, and Wendell Smith, the leading black sportswriter of the between-the-wars years and a winner of the Hall's Taylor Spink Award for media work, called him "the smartest man in Negro baseball and certainly the most successful."

Newark Eagles (Negro Leagues), 7: George "Mule" Suttles, Ray Dandridge, Leon Day, James "Biz" Mackey (also manager), Monte Irvin, Larry Doby, Effa Manley (owner, the only woman in the Baseball Hall of Fame). Don Newcombe also played for the Eagles, and if his service there is counted, I believe that it makes him worthy of election to the Hall, but he hasn't been elected.

17. San Francisco Giants, 7: Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal, Gaylord Perry, Lon Simmons (broadcaster), Jon Miller (broadcaster).

Barry Bonds is eligible, and his rising percentages suggest that he might get in despite his known cheating. And I'm surprised that longtime owner Horace Stoneham isn't in, and that neither is his son-in-law, Charles "Chub" Feeney, a Giant executive who became President of the NL.

18. Houston Astros, 7: Joe Morgan, Nolan Ryan, Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, Gene Elston (broadcaster), Milo Hamilton (broadcaster), Harry Kalas (broadcast 6 seasons for them before joining the Phillies' broadcast team).

Roger Clemens is eligible, but only played 3 seasons with the Astros, and, even with his legal exoneration, it's not clear that he will ever get in.

19. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 6: Nolan Ryan, Rod Carew, Reggie Jackson, Bert Blyleven, Vladimir Guerrero. Dick Enberg (broadcaster). Jim Edmonds will have to wait for the Veterans Committee. Founder-owner Gene Autry is not in, but should be. All but Guerrero played for them under the "California Angels" name.

20. Milwaukee Brewers, 6: Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Rollie Fingers, Ted Simmons, Bud Selig (owner), Bob Uecker (broadcaster). No, you can't count Hank Aaron, because, while he played 14 seasons in Milwaukee, only 2 of those were for the Brewers.

Baltimore Orioles, AA & NL 1882-1899, 6: John McGraw, Wilbert Robinson, Hughie Jennings, Willie Keeler, Joe Kelley, Ned Hanlon (manager).

While McGraw, Robinson and Jennings were all elected as managers, all could have been elected on the basis of their playing for the old Orioles. Indeed, to this day, McGraw has the highest lifetime batting average of any 3rd baseman, .334. Dan Brouthers played 2 seasons with them, the 1894 and '95 Pennant seasons, but can't be counted with them.

St. Louis Browns, 6: Bobby Wallace, George Sisler, Rogers Hornsby (also managed them), Rick Ferrell, Branch Rickey (executive), Bill Veeck (owner).

Rube Waddell, Goose Goslin, Heinie Manush and Satchel Paige just miss, each having played 3 seasons for the Browns. That was also the length of time that Veeck owned the team, but since he (and his one-at-bat midget Eddie Gaedel) are now the people most identified with this team, I'm bending the rule for him.

Pittsburgh Crawfords (Negro Leagues), 5: Oscar Charleston, Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, James "Cool Papa" Bell, WIlliam "Judy" Johnson.

21. Texas Rangers, 5: Ferguson Jenkins, Gaylord Perry, Nolan Ryan, Ivan Rodrgiuez. Eric Nadel (broadcaster). Bert Blyleven pitched just 2 seasons for them. Rafael Palmeiro and Juan Gonzalez are eligible, but who's kidding who? No, you can't count Ted Williams as a manager. And I sure hope former owner George W. Bush is never elected; but, since the team won nothing while he was in control, that seems safe.

22. Minnesota Twins, 5: Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, Bert Blyleven, Kirby Puckett, Herb Carneal (broadcaster).

Tom Kelly could be elected as a manager, but Tony Oliva seems unlikely to ever be elected as a player, having missed in a recent Vets' Committee election by a single vote.

No, you can't count Dave Winfield, Paul Molitor, or, if he ever gets in, Jack Morris: Although hometown heroes, none played 4 seasons with the Twins. Jim Thome played only 2 seasons with them. Founder Calvin Griffith is not in, nor should he be.

23. Toronto Blue Jays, 5: Roberto Alomar, Roy Halladay, Pat Gillick (executive), Tom Cheek (broadcaster), Tony Kubek (broadcaster). No, you can't count Dave Winfield, Rickey Henderson, Paul Molitor or Frank Thomas. Or Roger Clemens, if he ever gets in.

Milwaukee Braves, 4: Warren Spahn, Eddie Matthews, Hank Aaron, Red Schoendienst. Joe Torre began his playing career with them, but can't be counted here.

Buffalo Bisons (NL 1879-1885), 4: Dan Brouthers, Jim "Orator" O'Rourke, James "Deacon" White, James "Pud" Galvin.

24. Seattle Mariners, 4: Edgar Martinez, Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr., Pat Gillick (executive). If Lou Piniella is elected as a manager, I'll have to count him as a Mariner HOFer.

25. Kansas City Royals, 4: George Brett, Whitey Herzog (manager), John Schuerholz (executive), Denny Matthews (broadcaster). Founder-owner Ewing Kauffman, surprisingly, is not in.

Lincoln Giants/Brooklyn Royal Giants (Negro Leagues), 3: Louis Santop, Smokey Joe Williams, John Henry "Pop" Lloyd. Imagine that, a Brooklyn team called the Giants. What the heck, from 1944 to 1948, the NFL had a Boston Yanks (defunct); and, in the 1961-62 season, the NBA had a Chicago team called the Packers (today's Washington Wizards).

Cuban Giants (Negro Leagues, based in New York), 3: Frank Grant, Sol White, Pete Hill. Unlike the later Cuban Stars and New York Cubans, both also based in New York, this 1880s-90s team had no Cubans: They were called "Cuban" so their all-black roster would be better accepted. Grant has been called the best black player of the 19th Century.

Detroit Stars (Negro Leagues), 3: Pete Hill, Andy Cooper, Norman "Turkey" Stearnes. Stearnes now has a statue at Comerica Park, alongside several Tiger greats.

Indianapolis ABCs (Negro Leagues), 3: Oscar Charleston, Ben Taylor, James "Biz" Mackey (also managed them). A later team, the Indianapolis Clowns, was the first professional team of Hank Aaron.

Philadelphia Giants (Negro Leagues), 3: Sol White, Pete Hill, John Henry "Pop" Lloyd.

Philadelphila Hilldale (Negro Leagues), 3: Martin DiHigo, James "Biz" Mackey (also managed them), William "Judy" Johnson.

St. Louis Stars (Negro Leagues), 3: George "Mule" Suttles, James "Cool Papa" Bell, Willie Wells.

Cuban Stars (Negro Leagues, based in New York), 3: Jose Mendez, Martin Dihigo, Alex Pompez (owner).

Providence Grays (NL 1878-1885), 2: John Montgomery Ward, Charlie "Old Hoss" Radbourn. Their 1879 Pennant was managed by original 1869 Cincinnati Red Stocking George Wright, but he only played with them for 2 seasons.

Cleveland Spiders (NL, 1887-1899), 2: Cy Young and Jesse Burkett.

Detroit Wolverines (NL, 1881-1888), 2: Sam Thompson, Ned Hanlon (elected as a manager but played 8 seasons for them). Dan Brouthers and Deacon White played 3 seasons for them.

26. Miami Marlins, 2: Felo Ramirez and Dave Van Horne (both broadcasters). Ivan Rodriguez was only a Marlin for 1 season, although it was a World Championship season. If Gary Sheffield gets in, he can be counted as a Marlin, but I don't think he's getting in. No, you can't count Miami native Andre Dawson, although he did close his career with the club and is now working in their front office. So is Tony Perez, who briefly managed the team, but you can't count him, either.

Baltimore Black Sox (Negro Leagues), 2: Jud Wilson, Ben Taylor. This team is not to be confused with the Elite Giants.

Washington/Baltimore Elite Giants (Negro Leagues), 2: James "Biz" Mackey (also manager), Roy Campanella. And that's pronounced EE-light, not the usual Eh-LEET.

Birmingham Black Barons (Negro Leagues), 2: George "Mule" Suttles, Satchel Paige. Willie Mays played his first professional season, 1948, for the Black Barons, but only that 1 season, so he can't be counted here.

Kansas City Stars (Negro Leagues), 2: James "Cool Papa" Bell, Willard Brown.

New York Cubans (Negro Leagues), 2: Martin DiHigo, Alex Pompez. Although DiHigo and Pompez were also involved with the Cuban Stars, and that team was also based in New York, it was not the same team as the New York Cubans. Like several of the Negro League owners, Pompez got some funding from the black organized crime bosses of the era, and eventually turned state's evidence to avoid prison. He later worked as an unofficial scout for the New York/San Francisco Giants, helping to sign Hispanic stars like Orlando Cepeda, Juan Marichal, and the Alou brothers.

Philadelphia Stars (Negro Leagues), 2: James "Biz" Mackey (also manager), Jud Wilson.

27. Arizona Diamondbacks, 1: Randy Johnson. If Curt Schilling gets in, he can be counted with them.

28. Colorado Rockies, 1: Larry Walker.

29. Washington Nationals, 1: Frank Robinson, their 1st manager, was already in the Hall long before MLB returned to D.C., but he did manage for them for 5 years, 1 more than my rules require. But you can't count the HOFers from this franchise's previous incarnation, the Montreal Expos.

Bacharach Giants (Negro Leagues), 1: John Henry "Pop" Lloyd.  This team played its home games in Atlantic City, and were named for Harry Bacharach, who was that city's Mayor on and off from 1912 to 1935. He was played by John Rue on the TV series "Boardwalk Empire." Lloyd stayed in Atlantic City after he retired, died there, and a youth baseball facility there is named for him.

Harrisburg Giants (Negro Leagues), 1: Oscar Charleston.

San Antonio Black Bronchos (Negro Leagues, pronounced like Broncos), 1: Smokey Joe Williams.

30. Tampa Bay Rays, none: With the Rockies being able to claim Larry Walker, the Rays are now the only team without a legitimate Hall-of-Famer. If Fred McGriff gets in, he can be counted with them. Wade Boggs cannot. Nor, if he is ever elected as a manager, can Lou Piniella.

Kansas City Athletics, none: No player in the Hall of Fame was with the A's in their K.C. tenure for at least 4 seasons. Ken Harrelson played 5 seasons for them, but he was elected as a broadcaster, not a player, so he doesn't count as one of their Hall-of-Famers.

Analyzing the 2020 Baseball Hall of Fame Vote

Yesterday, there were 2 new players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America:

* Derek Jeter. The Yankee shortstop of 1996 to 2014 getting in surprised no one. What did is that he got 396 of a possible 397 votes. That's 99.7 percent of the vote. Just 1 voting member of the BBWAA refused to vote for him. Last year, his longtime teammate Mariano Rivera became the 1st-ever unanimous honoree. If Jeter doesn't get in unanimously, I don't see anyone else being so honored.

I would understand it if there were 5 people who didn't vote for him, or even 2. But one? I don't yet know who he is, and I don't favor him getting harassed over this for the rest of his life. But I do think he should come to Yankee Stadium on Opening Day, and stand before a microphone, and explain his vote to the fans.

* Larry Walker. The right fielder played for the Montreal Expos from 1989 to 1994, the Colorado Rockies from 1995 to 2004, and the St. Louis Cardinals in 2004 and 2005. He was a 5-time All-Star, a 7-tie Gold Glove, a 3-time National League batting champion, and in 1997 led the NL in home runs and won its Most Valuable Player award. It was his 10th and final year on the ballot. He got 76.6 percent of the vote, and is the 2nd Canadian native and/or citizen in the Hall, following Ferguson Jenkins.

These men got the necessary 75 percent of the vote. They will join the honorees by the Modern Baseball Era Committee, one of the groups that took the place of the old Veterans Committee: Ted Simmons, catcher for the 1970s St. Louis Cardinals and the 1980s Milwaukee Brewers; and Marvin Miller, Executive Director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, the players' labor union, from 1966 to 1982. He had been denied election several times, most likely due to his having exposed the team owners as greedy and swindling players, before his death in 2012.

They will also join the late Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe, who was posthumously given the Hall's award for sportswriters, the J.G. Taylor Spink Award, named for the longtime publisher of The Sporting News, once known as "The Bible of Baseball"; and Ken Harrelson, a slugger for 4 teams in the 1960s, now a broadcaster for the Chicago White Sox, given the Hall's award for broadcasters, the Ford Frick Award, named for the sportswriter who served as NL President, and later as Commissioner of Baseball, and himself a Hall inductee.

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There were 4 players who got between 40 and 75 percent of the vote, all of them with a higher percentage than they got last year, missing this time, but suggesting that they will eventually get in through the writers' ballot: Curt Schilling, 70.0 percent; Roger Clemens, 61.0 percent; Barry Bonds, 60.7 percent; and Omar Vizquel, 52.6 percent.

It should be pointed out, though, that Schilling, Clemens and Bonds were each in their 8th year on the writers' ballot. Where once a player fell off the ballot if he failed 15 times, now, that threshold is 10. In other words, if they don't get elected in 2021 or 2020, they will have to wait for the Modern Baseball Era Committee.

Schilling has over 3,000 career strikeouts and an enviable postseason pitching record, but he might not be in yet because of all the feathers he's ruffled. If character truly counts, he goes from a good choice (but not an absolute choice) to a borderline choice.

And speaking of character and for how much it counts, Clemens and Bonds are still under the steroid cloud, despite Clemens' acquittal in a court of law. And I'd still like that bloodstain on Schilling's famous sock tested.

The fact that Clemens and Bonds, both of whom have overwhelming career statistics, are getting closer (but not much closer) to the magic 75 suggests that maybe, just maybe, the writers believe they have been punished enough for whatever cheating they may have done, and are getting closer to being willing to overlook it.

Or maybe they're just warming up for the election of 2022, when both Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz will become eligible. But, based on how the baseball world reacted to each of these men, we can guess that Big Papi will be elected that year, and A-Rod will not.

This is despite the facts that, when he got caught, A-Rod came clean, and Big Papi got caught, and continues to lie about it to this day. People hate the Yankees, and, as the Yankees' biggest rivals, they love the Red Sox, and they want to believe that the Yankees' achievements are illegitimate, while their opponents' achievements are worthy of admiration, and not of suspicion. The truth is, it shouldn't work that way, given the evidence that we have.

If you are wondering about the other major known or suspected steroid cheats: Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro have failed to get 5 percent of the votes on a ballot, and thus have dropped off the ballot completely, and are waiting to become eligible through the Veterans Committee. Manny Ramirez, Gary Sheffield and Sammy Sosa are hanging on, and I'll get to them shortly.

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The following players got between 5 and 40 percent of the vote, making it unlikely that they will ever get in through the writers' ballot:

* Scott Rolen, 35.3 percent in his 3rd year. In 1 year, he jumped 18 percent, suggesting he could make it. The Hall doesn't have many 3rd basemen, and this may work to Rolen's advantage. After all, for most of his career, the only 3rd baseman with notably better stats and a comparable fielding acumen was A-Rod.

* Billy Wagner, 31.7 percent in his 5th year. Among left-handed pitchers, only John Franco has more career saves (barely, 424 to 422). What hurts Wagner is the statistics that make him, arguably, the worst relief pitcher in postseason history, even worse than Armando Benitez.

* Gary Sheffield, 30.5 percent in his 6th year. Over 500 home runs, but that asterisk likely means it's the Veterans Committee or bust.

* Todd Helton, 29.2 percent in his 2nd year. This nearly doubles his percentage from last year. Being a hitter for the Colorado Rockies, in the high elevation of Denver, hurts him, as it had hurt Walker. But Walker now getting in may have, as was said yesterday, "taken the curse off of Coors Field." And being a contact hitter, a hitter for average, first and a power hitter second may actually help him.

* Manny Ramirez, 28.2 percent in his 4th year. He 5.4 percent over last year. Here's a guy who, like Clemens and Bonds, was good enough that he didn't have to cheat, but he did anyway. And he proved himself to be someone of a very low character. In spite of over 500 home runs, I don't think he'll ever get in.

* Jeff Kent, 27.5 percent in his 7th year. Being the all-time home run leader at the position of 2nd base has helped his Hall of Fame chances about as much as a degree in ancient astrology has helped someone go from barista to manager at Starbucks.

* Andruw Jones, 19.4 percent in his 3rd year. Here's a guy who played 17 major league seasons, reached the postseason in 13 of them, hit 434 home runs and won 10 Gold Gloves. How could he not even get 20 percent of the Hall of Fame vote?

* Sammy Sosa, 13.9 percent in his 8th year. With steroids, he hit 609 career home runs. Without them, he might have had half as many. He's not getting in unless the Veterans Committee is really lenient about performance-enhancing drugs.

* Andy Pettitte, 11.3 percent in his 2nd year. He was far more honest about what he did (very briefly) than some others we've mentioned. He won 256 games in the 5-man rotation era, and a record 19 more in postseason play. But he didn't gain much over last year, and the writers may be holding his Yankeeness against him.

* Bobby Abreu, 5.5 percent in his 1st year. Very good player, and clean as far as we know, but he'll never get in.

These players, all in their 1st year of eligibility, got very few votes, and thus fell off the ballot completely: Paul Konerko, 10 votes for 2.5 percent; Jason Giambi and Alfonso Soriano, 6 votes for 1.5 percent; Eric Chavez and Cliff Lee, 2 votes for 0.5 percent; and Adam Dunn, Raul Ibanez, Brad Penny and J.J. Putz, 1 vote for 0.3 percent.

Remember when Lee was supposed to be the best pitcher in baseball? He, Konerko and Soriano may have better luck when they become eligible through the Modern Baseball Era Committee.

These players, all in their 1st year of eligibility, got no votes at all, and thus fell off the ballot completely: Josh Beckett, Heath Bell, Chone Figgins, Rafael Furcal, Carlos Pena, Brian Roberts and Jose Valverde.

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Based on the preceding, who is likely to be elected next year? Among the first-time hitters are Torii Hunter, Shane Victorino, Grady Sizemore and Nick Swisher. Unless the voters consider Hunter's 9 Gold Gloves along with his 2,452 hits, 353 of which were home runs, neither of which is a HOF stat by itself, I don't think any of them gets in.

Among the first-time pitchers are Tim Hudson, Mark Buehrle, Dan Haren, Barry Zito and A.J. Burnett. Hudson and Buehrle are borderline cases at best, and the others aren't even that.

It's possible that no first-timers will get in next year -- as opposed to 2022, when the first-timers will include the aforementioned A-Rod and Big Papi, and also Mark Teixeira and Jimmy Rollins, who are less likely, although not because of steroid use, because they've never been seriously suspected of it.

Therefore, with 2022 probably being Ortiz' year, and maybe also A-Rod's, 2021 could be it for Schilling, Clemens and Bonds. If they don't get elected in 2021, then it's the Modern Baseball Era Committee for them -- which, unlike the BBWAA vote, will include former players, and maybe the respect they've generated from their peers will help.

If they don't get in in '21, then, in '22, the steroid question will be forced with the eligibility of A-Rod and Papi.

Two years from now, give or take a few days, we will know whether the writers are willing to overlook PED use for all, some, or none. Given what we have seen, about their feelings for the Yankees and the Red Sox, I'm still thinking it will be Clemens and Ortiz in, and Rodriguez and Pettitte out, with Bonds a toss-up. After all, it is widely presumed that Clemens wasn't cheating while with the Red Sox.

Top 10 Players Who Should Be In the Baseball Hall of Fame

Tomorrow afternoon, we will see the results for this year's vote of the Baseball Writers' Association of America for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Many players will be eligible for the first time. Others will get an additional chance.

I've done this exercise before. My answers may be different now, partly because some that I've said should get in have since gotten in, and partly because I've had additional chances to look at these players' statistics and legacies and see them in a new light.

I am not going to count the newly-eligible, such as Greg Maddux and Frank Thomas. This is only for those who have thus far been denied election, even once, for whatever reason. If that reason is performance-enhancing drug use (from this point onward, abbreviated to PEDs), and we know they're guilty, I won't consider them.

So you won't see Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa or Rafael Palmeiro here. And while no proof of his use has ever been publicly revealed, I'm not going to consider Roger Clemens, either. And since Shoeless Joe Jackson and Pete Rose are still on the "permanently ineligible" list, neither will I consider them.

You'll see me cite Baseball Reference's "Hall of Fame Monitor," which is weighted toward peak performance, and for which a score of 100 is considered a "Likely HOFer"; their "Hall of Fame Standards," which is weighted toward career statistics, and for which a score of 50 is considered the "Average HOFer"; and their "Similarity Scores," which shows the 10 most statistically similar players to the player in question, weighted (more or less) toward said player's position.

I'm going to list these men in chronological order. That means I'm going to start with some names you may not recognize. Where do I begin? At the Start.

Top 10 Players Who Should Be In the Baseball Hall of Fame

1. Joe Start. If Harry and George Wright -- the Wright Brothers who invented open professional baseball, rather than the ones who invented the airplane -- are in the Hall of Fame, and so is Al Spalding (albeit more for his pioneering executive role than for his superb pitching), and so is Candy Cummings (who almost certainly was not the first man to throw a curveball in a professional game), why not the man who may have been the best player in the game in the era of transition between amateur and professional?

Born in Manhattan on October 14, 1842, Joseph Start (he appears to have had no middle name) was a 1st baseman, batting and throwing lefthanded. He went across the East River to the then separate city of Brooklyn, and first played in 1860, at age 17, for the Enterprise Club. Having impressed there, the next season he was enticed to join perhaps the best club of the amateur era, the Brooklyn Atlantics. (Like English soccer teams were in the early days, these teams really were "clubs.")

He helped the Atlantics to a Pennant in 1861, and undefeated seasons in 1864 and 1865. (Their league being the National Association of Base Ball Players. Most references to the sport in the 19th Century listed the sport as two words: "Base ball.")

How depleted other teams' rosters were due to the American Civil War may not, as yet, have been seriously studied, and the truth is that, unlike a modern team, they didn't play every day, the streak lasting 36 games over those 2 years, before a team from Irvington, New Jersey stopped it in June 1866.

But the Atlantics had a longer winning streak than any professional sports team in North America has ever had, topping the 33 of the 1971-72 Los Angles Lakers, the 26 of the 1916 New York Giants that is the longest in MLB history, the 29 of the 1987 Salt Lake City Trappers which is the longest in minor league history, and even the 35-game unbeaten streak (with 9 ties) of the 1979-80 Philadelphia Flyers. (If there was a longer streak in Negro League play, I can't find a reference to it.)

Only Harry and George Wright's 1869-70 Cincinnati Red Stockings have had a longer streak, 89 straight wins, before falling on June 14, 1870 -- to Start and the Atlantics. Put together, these facts must say something about their quality. That Cincinnati-Brooklyn game was regarded, well into the 20th Century, as the greatest baseball game ever played. Harry Wright, in spite of being on the losing side, went to his grave believing so.

When the first professional league, the National Association, began play in 1871, Joe signed with the New York Mutuals, which had also been one of the leading clubs of the amateur era. In spite of their name, they played their games first in Hoboken, New Jersey, at the Elysian Fields, where the long-held version of the game's invention says the first game was played in 1846; and later in Brooklyn, at the Union Grounds, the first enclosed ballpark ever built, in 1862.

Start remained with the Mutuals for the rest of their existence, including the first National League season in 1876, when they ran out of money and had to fold. He stayed in Brooklyn for the 1877 season, as Union Grounds owner William Cammeyer, technically the Mutuals' owner, bought the Hartford Dark Blues, and moved the Connecticut club to Brooklyn (yet keeping the name), and put Start on the Blues. In 1878, he finally did what so many Mutuals had done, go west, and played for the Chicago White Stockings (forerunners of the Cubs), and led the NL in hits and total bases.

Though he turned 36 at the end of that season, Joe was just getting warmed up. From 1879 until the team folded in 1885, he played for the Providence Grays, helping them win the 1879 and 1884 NL Pennants -- the latter being the year when Charlie "Old Hoss" Radbourn won 60 (or 59) games, a pitching record that, under today's conditions, means nearly 4 years' work for even today's aces.

As late as 1882, Start batted .329; as late as 1885, when he was closing in on his 43rd birthday, he had an OPS+ of 121 -- not that anybody had heard of that stat back then. (Hell, even in 1985, most people hadn't heard of OPS+.) He played one more season, with the first club to be named the Washington Nationals, and packed it in.

When Joe Start played his first game at what was then the highest level of baseball available, James Buchanan was President, the Civil War hadn't yet begun, the transcontinental railroad was still just an idea, there were no telephones or light bulbs, Italy was newly unified, Germany wouldn't be for more than a decade, and Brooklyn was known for its ferry into Manhattan, with a bridge not being seriously considered or even, by many, thought possible; and there were people in their 40s who had grown up without ever having seen, let alone played, baseball.

When he played his last pro game, Grover Cleveland was President, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty had debuted, the automobile and the motion picture camera were being invented, and it seemed like just about anything was possible if a man like Thomas Edison put his mind to it.

The numbers we have on Start are woefully incomplete, since the NAABP's stats simply haven't survived the last century and a half. And context is needed: In his prime, a "full season" was about 60 games. Only in his next-to-last year, 1885, despite his age, did he play more than 100 games in a year. So it makes no sense for me to post the Baseball Reference numbers for him.

The batting average we have for the years 1871 to 1886 is .299, meaning that he was likely well over .300 for his career if we count his Atlantics seasons. He hit 15 home runs in the 1871 to 1886 period, but then, hardly anybody hit home runs then. So know that, on September 6, 1869, playing for the Atlantics against another Brooklyn club, Eckford, he became the first player known to have hit 4 home runs in any game, amateur or professional. Clearly, he had some power.

We have an NA and NL record of 1,417 hits, over the course of 1,070 games. Prorate that to 2,500 games (not unreasonable, that's about 100 fewer than Derek Jeter has already played), and we get 3,311 hits (again, comparable to Jeter).

Charlie Comiskey, the greedy owner of the Chicago White Sox who helped found the American League, had previously been a player, and is cited by many as the first man to play away from the bag at 1st base, thus "inventing the position as we know it today." But this is apparently untrue, as there are surviving accounts of Start doing it 20 years earlier. And, unlike Comiskey, who played with a glove that was barely more than a mitten, Start did it with no glove at all. So he wasn't just the greatest 1st baseman ever for a long time, perhaps into the 20th Century, he was the first great 1st baseman. As well as a great hitter.

He stayed in Providence long after the Grays folded, running a hotel, and died there on March 27, 1927, at the age of 84. He not only outlived most of baseball's other pioneers (although not George Wright, who survived until 1937, the last remaining Red Stocking), he lived long enough to see the entire careers of Honus Wagner and Christy Mathewson, nearly all of Ty Cobb and Walter Johnson, and the rise of Babe Ruth and Rogers Hornsby.

But he did not live long enough to see the establishment of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Which is too bad, because he deserves election. This fall, players from "the Pre-Integration Era," 1871 to 1946, will be considered by the Hall's Committee on Veterans. There is time to convince committee members of the worthiness of Joe Start, and other pioneers of the game, such as his Atlantics teammate Dickey Pearce, his Mutuals teammate Bob Ferguson, and a star of the original Philadelphia Athletics, the first Jewish baseball player of any renown, Lip Pike.

2. Gil Hodges. If the Hall's voters were allowed to combine playing and managing achievements, Gil would be an easy choice, because managing the 1969 Met "Miracle" would put him over the top. Unfortunately for Gil, it just doesn't work that way. It shouldn't have to.

Gilbert Raymond Hodges was born on April 4, 1924 in Princeton, Indiana, and grew up in nearby Petersburg. He signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers, and got a single-game callup at the end of the 1943 season, before enlisting in the Marines and serving in World War II. He was seasoned in the minors in 1946, and from 1947 to 1961, including the move to Los Angeles in 1957-58, he was a Dodger mainstay, helping them win Pennants in 1947, '49, '52, '53, '55, '56 and '59, including the 1955 and 1959 World Series. He closed his career with the Mets in their first 2 seasons, 1962 and '63.

Batting average .273, OPS+ 120. He hit 370 home runs. That doesn't sound like much now, but it was 11th all-time when he retired, and it's more than Joe DiMaggio. In 6 seasons, he hit 30 or more homers; 7 seasons in a row, he had more than 100 RBIs. He made 8 All-Star Teams. He was considered the greatest defensive 1st baseman of his time: The Gold Gloves were established in 1957, and he won the first 3 in the NL for his position. Had they been in place when his career began, he might have won 8 or 9 more.

HOF Monitor: 83. HOF Standards: 32. 10 Most Similar: Norm Cash, George Foster, Tino Martinez, Jack Clark, Boog Powell, Rocky Colavito, Joe Adcock (who, like Gil, once hit 4 home runs in a game), Lee May, Willie Horton and Derrek Lee -- none of whom will ever get into the Hall. All of this suggests that he shouldn't get in, and doesn't even come particularly close. To hell with that: His defense should more than make up the gap.

Perhaps Gil's biggest problem is that he was unable to speak on his own behalf, due to his death from a heart attack on April 2, 1972, while still the Mets' manager, not quite 48 years old. Even if he had lived (he'd now be 88, unlikely with his bad heart having already failed him once before that,but theoretically possible), he wouldn't have tooted his own horn. He was known as The Quiet Man for a reason. But his bat, his glove and his character spoke volumes, and they all say he should be in.

3. Dick Allen. First, let's put it out of the way: There is not one teammate of Allen's that has ever publicly called him a bad teammate. And he certainly can't be held responsible for the fact that the Philadelphia Phillies didn't win the 1964 Pennant, or that the Chicago White Sox didn't win the 1972 AL Western Division title, or that the Phillies lost the 1976 NL Championship Series.

Whatever was wrong with his head, teammates ranging from Johnny Callison to Mike Schmidt swore by him, not at him. And the one man who had cause to say he was a bad teammate, Frank Thomas (not the one who might get elected tomorrow)? He was a racist bastard, and I don't give a damn about his thoughts.

Richard Anthony Allen -- don't call him "Richie," he hated that -- was born on March 8, 1942 in Wampum, Pennsylvania, outside Pittsburgh. He was a Phillie from 1963 to 1969, a St. Louis Cardinal in 1970, a Los Angeles Dodger in 1971, and a White Sock from 1972 to 1974. He's the only man ever to lead 4 different teams in home runs in 4 years. It wasn't his teammates that had issues with him, or even his managers; it was the front office, who didn't like that he was a black man doing his own thing and standing out from the crowd.

He returned to the Phils in '75 and '76, before closing it down with the Oakland Athletics in 1977, just 35, with bad knees and problems with drinking and gambling. He eventually got straightened out, and has spent the last 20 years working in the Phillies' front office.

Allen, right, with Mike Schmidt on a Phillies Alumni Night

(their version of Old-Timers' Day)

In that tumultuous 1964 season, he was NL Rookie of the Year, leading in runs, triples and total bases. In 1972, he was AL MVP, setting what was then a White Sox record with 37 home runs. He led the AL in home runs in 1972 and 1974. He made 7 All-Star Teams.

Batting average .292, OPS+ an stunning 156. He hit 351 home runs, more than Hank Greenberg, and nearly as many as Joe DiMaggio, despite playing only 12 full seasons' worth of games, with none of his home games in hitter-friendly parks. (Comiskey was very pitcher-friendly, and Connie Mack Stadium also was unless you pulled the ball straight down either line.)

It wasn't just that he hit home runs, but how far. Like Jimmie Foxx of the then-Philadelphia A's before him (the park was then known as Shibe Park), he cleared the long double-decked bleachers at Connie Mack Stadium a few times, leading Hall-of-Famer Willie Stargell to say, "Now I know why they boo Richie all the time. When he hits a home run, there's no souvenir." He was also one of the few players ever to hit one over the left-field roof at Chicago's Comiskey Park.

The big knock on him, as far as his actual playing goes, is his defense. Like Harmon Killebrew of the Minnesota Twins, he started at 3rd base, but his defense was so atrocious, they had to move him to 1st base, because that was the position on the field where he could do the least amount of damage. (No designated hitter then, and still not in the NL. When the AL added it in 1973, he DH'ed a lot.)

HOF Monitor: 99, getting him just under the magic number. HOF Standards: 39, putting him well underneath. 10 Most Similar: Lance Berkman, Reggie Smith, Ellis Burks, Brian Giles, Jermaine Dye, George Foster, Fred Lynn, Tim Salmon, Shawn Green and Rocky Colavito. (Funny that Colavito should be one: He hit more homers than Dick, 374, but the thing most people remember about him was his great defense.) None of those guys is in.

But then, except for Foster, briefly when he hit 52 home runs in 1977 (the only 50-homer season in the NL between 1962 and 1998), none of those guys had anywhere near the presence that Dick had. There's an old expression in baseball: "Hot dog and Coke hitter." The kind of guy who, when he comes to the plate, you know you're not going to miss anything, so you might as well get up and get a hot dog and a soda. Nobody got up and went to the concession stand when Dick Allen came to the plate. Like the Babe, like Mickey Mantle, like Reggie Jackson, like McGwire and Bonds, when he came up, you had to watch, because you didn't want to miss the kind of home run he could hit.

He's a member of the Phillies Wall of Fame and the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame. But not, as yet the Baseball Hall of Fame. He even had a minor hit record, singing "Echoes of November" -- and November is now the month in which the Hall's Veterans Committee meets. Who knows...

4. Ted Simmons. If you think Mike Piazza is the best catcher not in the Hall, you may want to look at Simba. I know he gets hyped by Cardinal fans, because they think they're the best baseball fans in the country. But, in this case, they know what they're talking about.

Ted Lyle Simmons (not "Theodore") was born on August 9, 1949 in the Detroit suburb of Highland Park, Michigan, and grew up in nearby Southfield. He reached the Cardinals in 1968, too late to qualify for their World Series roster, and stayed with them through the 1980 season. Like Keith Hernandez (who won't be on this list), he feuded with Cardinal manager Whitey Herzog, and was traded, to the Milwaukee Brewers, and played with them from 1981 to 1985 -- including in the 1982 World Series, the only one the Brewers have ever reached, losing to... the Cardinals. He wrapped up his career with the Atlanta Braves from 1986 to 1988.

Batting average .285, OPS+ 118, 2,472 hits including 483 doubles and 248 home runs. He had 3 100-RBI seasons and nearly had 3 more. Was so respected as a hitter than he led the NL in intentional walks in 1976 and '77, and made 8 All-Star Games. He never won a Gold Glove, because he played in the NL at the same time as Johnny Bench and Gary Carter, and then in the AL at the same time as Carlton Fisk, Rick Dempsey and Jim Sundberg. But he was an excellent defender behind the plate.

HOF Monitor: 124, suggesting he should definitely be in. HOF Standards: 44, suggesting that he falls short. 10 Most Similar: Miguel Tejada, Trammell, Joe Torre, Fisk, Carter, Whitaker, Barry Larkin, Joe Cronin, Yogi Berra and Ryne Sandberg. Fisk, Carter, Larkin, Cronin, Berra and Sandberg are in. So is Torre, but as a manager; as a player he, like Trammell and Whitaker, falls a little short. Tejada is PED-tainted.

But these numbers suggest that Simmons deserves very serious consideration. He would have had a better chance had the Cardinals reached the postseason while he was there (they had near misses for the NL East in 1973 and '74), or if the Brewers had won just 1 more game to take the '82 Series. He is now working in the Seattle Mariners' front office.

5. Al Oliver. If you are under the age of 30, he may be the greatest living baseball player that you've never heard of. Which wouldn't be the case if he were, in fact, in the Hall. But playing the bulk of his career in the Seventies and the early Eighties, away from cities like New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and (except for half a season) Los Angeles meant that he's almost forgotten now.

Albert Oliver Jr. (no middle name) was born on October 14, 1946 in Portsmouth, Ohio, and grew up there. He reached the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1968, when they were building Three Rivers Stadium and would soon be known, for their heavy hitting, as the Lumber Company. He stayed with them through the 1977 season, helping them win the NL Eastern Division in 1970, '71, '72, '74 and '75, and nearly in '73. This included winning the 1971 World Series.

He didn't stick around to become a member of the "Family" that won the 1979 Series, however: After the '77 season, a wild 4-team trade that also involved Bert Blyleven (who, until recently, would have been on this list, but is now in the Hall), John Milner and Willie Montanez led to him joining the Texas Rangers. Previously wearing Number 16, he asked to be assigned the number zero -- so the 0 could be seen as an O for Oliver.

O for odd? Not when you consider he gave the Rangers 4 solid seasons. He bounced around a bit after that, spending 1982 and '83 with the Montreal Expos, dividing '84 with the San Francisco Giants and the Phillies, and finishing up in '85 with the Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays, reaching one more postseason as the Jays won the AL East. All those teams let him wear the zero. He's probably the greatest player to have played for both of the Canadian teams.

A center fielder who later moved to 1st base, he nearly won the NL Rookie of the Year in 1969. In 1970, he hit the last home run at the Pirates' Forbes Field, and had the 1st RBI at Three Rivers. Surprising for a player whose best years were away from big markets, he made 7 All-Star Teams.

Batting average .303, including 11 .300+ seasons, including .331 to lead the NL in 1982. That was also one of 2 100-RBI seasons for him, and he led the NL with 109. He also led the NL in hits, doubles and total bases that year. 2,743 hits -- the only eligible & untainted players not yet in who have more are Craig Biggio, Harold Baines and Vada Pinson. He hit only 219 homers, but 529 doubles. OPS+ 121. Andre Dawson, himself a victim of the mid-1980s "collusion," has gone on record saying Al was forced out by that collusion, denying him a legitimate shot at 3,000 hits. Could he have made it? I don't think so: He was about to turn 39, and his OPS+ had fallen from 103 to 75 in just 1 year.

HOF Monitor: 116, suggesting he should be in. HOF Standards: 40, suggesting he shouldn't. 10 Most Similar: Steve Garvey, Garret Anderson, Bill Buckner, Pinson, his former Pirate teammate Dave Parker, Zack Wheat, Joe Medwick, his former Pirate teammate Roberto Clemente, Mickey Vernon and Enos Slaughter. Wheat, Medwick, Clemente and Slaughter are in. Cases can be made for Pinson, Parker and Vernon. And the other 3 aren't that far behind.

Al is now the official ambassador for his hometown of Portsmouth.

6. Tim Raines. Timothy Raines (no middle name) was born on September 16, 1959 in Sanford, Florida, and grew up there. Montreal Expos 1979-90. Chicago White Sox 1991-95. Yankees 1996-98. Oakland Athletics 1999. Expos and Baltimore Orioles 2001. Florida Marlins 2002. He is now a coach for the Toronto Blue Jays.

You often hear that Rickey Henderson was the greatest leadoff man in history. What Henderson then was in the American League, Raines was in the National League, only he wasn't a braggart about it. He made 7 All-Star teams. He led the NL in stolen bases 4 times, runs twice, doubles once, and in 1986 won the battle title. Although he was unable to help the Expos win a Pennant, he helped the Yankees win 2 World Series.

Lifetime batting average .294, OPS+ 123, hits 2,605, including 430 doubles (but only 170 homers). He stole 808 bases in his career. Think about that: Eight hundred and eight. Do you know how many guys have topped that? Four: Henderson, the aforementioned Ty Cobb, Billy Hamilton and Lou Brock. They're all in the Hall. (The active leader is Juan Pierre, with 614. I don't think he's going to make it to 808.) The Expos retired his Number 30, although it was put back in use when they moved to become the Washington Nationals.

Playing most of his career in Montreal probably hurt him: It took a while for his teammates Gary Carter and Andre Dawson to get their deserved elections to the Hall. It may also be that Raines' cocaine use, during his Montreal days, has caused some people to vote against him. (This is also cited as a reason why Keith Hernandez isn't in, and why it took so long for Orlando Cepeda and Fergie Jenkins to get in.) Well, they need to get over it: He belongs. This piece calls him the best player not in the Hall.  Hopefully, that's true only for another few hours.

7. Craig Biggio. Craig Alan Biggio was born on December 14, 1965, in Smithtown, on New York's Long Island, and grew up in nearby Kings Point. He played his entire career, 1988 to 2007, for the Houston Astros -- and if you don't think playing in what has become a huge city but remains an under-reported market hasn't hurt him, think again.

He was 7 times an All-Star, and 4 times a Gold Glove. Of his 3,060 hits, 668 were doubles -- a figure topped in history only by Cobb, Rose, Tris Speaker, Stan Musial, meaning that he is the leader among human beings born after 1941. He helped the Astros to their last 6 postseasons, including their one and only Pennant in 2005.

He hit 291 homers and stole 414 bases. Of all players with more steals, only Henderson, Bobby Bonds and Barry Bonds had more homers. While this stat doesn't help him, I think it is worth knowing: He was hit with 285 pitches. Only Hugh Jennings, who straddled the turn of the 20th Century and was hit 287 times, was hit more.

Four members of the 3,000 Hit Club are not in the Hall. Rose has been banned from baseball, and therefore is ineligible. Derek Jeter is still active, and therefore is ineligible. Rafael Palmeiro was caught using steroids, so while he is eligible, it's highly unlikely that he'll ever get in. The other is Biggio, and there is no good reason to keep him out -- not last year, his first time on the ballot, and not this year.

HOF Monitor: 169, meaning he should easily be in. HOF Standards: 57, meaning he should definitely be in. 10 Most Similar: Robin Yount, Jeter, Joe Morgan, Paul Molitor, Roberto Alomar, Cal Ripken, Johnny Damon, Brooks Robinson, Lou Whitaker and George Brett. It doesn't look like Damon or Whitaker will ever get in; but Jeter will, and the other 7 already have.

8. Jeff Bagwell. For 15 years, 1991 to 2005, Biggio and Bagwell were teammates in Houston, each what English soccer fans would call a "one-club man," and were often combined with others (most notably Derek Bell) to be called the Killer B's.

(Biggio, left, and Bagwell.)

Jeffrey Robert Bagwell was born on May 27, 1968 -- the same day as Frank Thomas, who is newly eligible -- in Boston. His hometown Red Sox drafted him, and foolishly let him go before he could reach the majors, trading him to the Astros for relief pitcher Larry Andersen in 1990. In fairness, the Sox needed Andersen to win the AL Eastern Division that year. But Bagwell, like Biggio, helped the Astros to 6 postseasons, and might well have made the difference for the Red Sox in their 1995, 1999 and 2003 postseasons, before they finally won it all in 2004. (Yes, they did pretty well with Mo Vaughn at 1st base. No, Mo was not better than Bags.)

Batting average .294, OPS+ a whopping 149. 2,314 hits, including 488 doubles and a club-record 449 home runs. (Yes, he played the 2nd half of his career at Minute Maid Park, formerly Enron Field, a.k.a. Ten Run Field; but he played the 1st half of his career at the Astrodome, so that cancels that out.) Had 100 or more RBIs in 8 seasons, nearly 10. An All-Star 4 times and a Gold Glove 1. 1991 NL Rookie of the Year, 1994 NL MVP. Surprisingly, considering how he looked, a good baserunner, stealing 202 bases, twice reaching 30, and led the NL in runs scored 3 times. He's one of only 12 players with at least 400 homers and at least 200 steals. 1,529 RBIs: Of all players from 1991 to 2005, only Barry Bonds had more.

HOF Monitor: 150, meaning he should easily be in. HOF Standards: 59, meaning he should definitely be in. 10 Most Similar: Carlos Delgado (not yet eligible and a borderline case anyway), Frank Thomas (newly eligible and will get in, if not this time then within a couple of years), Fred McGriff (not in but should be), Vladimir Guerrero (not yet eligible and a borderline case), Todd Helton (not yet eligible and a borderline case), Jason Giambi (not yet eligible and not getting in), David Ortiz (not yet eligible and a borderline case even if he wasn't a lying cheating bastard), Albert Pujols (not yet eligible but probably getting in), Andres Galarraga (not in and not getting in), Willie Stargell (deservedly in). So, 1 in, 2 who probably will be, 1 who should be, 4 who could get in, and 2 who won't.

He's already been denied 3 times. Why? Some people think he used PEDs. No evidence of this has ever been publicly revealed. He belongs.

Because Biggio and Bagwell are so closely linked, I'm going to purposely futz up the chronology a little, and next mention a player who debuted between them.

9. Curt Schilling. I hate his guts. So do a lot of people, which probably cost him last year, in his 1st year of eligibility. And, despite some of his behavior, after October 2004 we have to admit that he does have quite a bit of guts to hate. Remember, this isn't about personality, only performance.

Curtis Montague Schilling -- even his name is annoying -- was born on November 14, 1966 in Anchorage, Alaska, and is easily the greatest player ever born in the 49th State. However, he (for want of a better phrase) grew up in Phoenix. Baltimore Orioles 1988 to 1990, Astros 1991, Phillies 1992 to 2000, his hometown Arizona Diamondbacks 2000 to 2003, Red Sox 2004 to 2007.

For a guy who appeared in 20 different MLB seasons, 216 wins isn't much, but against only 146 losses, that's a .597 winning percentage. He is a member of the 3,000 Strikeout Club, with 3,116. Of all eligible pitchers with more, only Clemens isn't in the Hall. His career ERA is 3.46, not especially impressive, but his ERA+ is a neat 127. His WHIP is 1.137. He was 3 times a 20-game winner, 4 times a League leader in complete games, and 6 times an All-Star. He never won the Cy Young Award, but finished 2nd 3 times.

It was in the postseason that he was most impressive. With the 1993 Phillies "Macho Row," he was the MVP of the NLCS, and nearly saved their bacon with a shutout in Game 5 of the World Series. In 2001, he and Randy Johnson were named World Series co-MVPs for the D-backs. And then there was the bloody sock that led the Red Sox past the Yankees and then the Cardinals en route to the 2004 title. He helped them win another title in 2007. In both '04 and '07, he won a game in every postseason round. His career postseason won-lost record is a sizzling 11-2, his ERA 2.23, his WHIP 0.968.

HOF Monitor: 137, meaning he should definitely be in. HOF Standards: 46, meaning he doesn't quite make it. 10 Most Similar: Kevin Brown, Bob Welch, Orel Hershiser, Freddie Fitzsimmons, Milt Pappas, John Smoltz, Don Drysdale, Dazzy Vance, Jim Perry and his former Sox teammate Pedro Martinez. Drysdale and Vance are in. Smoltz will be. Pedro, also a 3,000 Strikeout Club member, probably will get in (he becomes eligible next year at this time). The rest won't make it, although Hershiser comes close. (Perry's brother Gaylord made it.)

The big question mark is whether Schilling used PEDs. I've said many times, we have the blood on the sock, let's test it. Don't bet on that ever happening. Still, Schilling was as much a Clemens acolyte as Andy Pettitte. Is it really so hard to believe Schilling used PEDs? If it ever comes out that he has, and he's not in yet, he'll have no chance thereafter. But without proof, he should be in. The bastard.

Speaking of guys who wouldn't make it if I were basing it on whether I liked them personally...

10. Mike Piazza. I've already done a piece on whether I think he belongs, and concluded that he does. The evidence of his PED use is flimsy, and I can't say I'm convinced. Barring proof or a confession, he belongs on this list.

Michael Joseph Piazza was born on September 4, 1968, in the Philadelphia suburb of Norristown, Pennsylvania.  Los Angeles Dodgers 1992 to 1998, briefly a Marlin in 1998, a Met 1998 to 2005, a San Diego Padre in 2006, and an Oakland Athletic in 2007.

The fact that he was a Met and a Dodger, and the feelings I have for those teams, are irrelevant. Even if he was also a Red Sock, I wouldn't keep him out based on teams alone. (The same would go for Pedro Martinez, as far as I know the only player either in the Hall or worthy of consideration who put up big numbers for all 3 teams.)

Batting average .308, OPS+ an exceptional 143. 427 home runs, including a record 396 of them at the position of catcher. 12 times an All-Star, although, as you won't be surprised to know, never a Gold Glove. 1992 NL Rookie of the Year. Reached the postseason with the Dodgers in 1995 and '96 (and probably would have in '94 if the strike hadn't happened), and with the Mets in 1999 and 2000, but only won 1 Pennant, in 2000, and didn't win the World Series. (That he made the final out of the Series shouldn't be held against him: Babe Ruth made the last out of the '26 Series, Willie McCovey did so in '62, and Carl Yastrzemski made the last outs of the '75 Series and the Bucky Dent Game in '78, and they each got in on the first try.)

HOF Monitor: 202, meaning he's an easy choice. HOF Standards: 62, also making him an easy choice. 10 Most Similar: Johnny Bench, Yogi Berra, the aforementioned Gary Carter, Carlton Fisk, Gabby Hartnett, Bill Dickey, Jorge Posada, Duke Snider, Juan Gonzalez and Lance Parrish. Posada doesn't have the stats to get in, Parris probably doesn't either, and even if Gonzalez was innocent of PED use, he'd be a borderline case. The other 7 are all deservedly in. So Piazza, at the least, compares well to catchers already in the Hall.

*

Others I considered for my Top 10: Pioneers Dickey Pearce and Lip Pike; 1920s-30s slugger Lefty O'Doul; Tiger double-play duo Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker; Red Sox right fielder Dwight Evans; White Sox right fielder Harold Baines; Mariner DH Edgar Martinez; and Expos & Rockies right fielder Larry Walker.

UPDATE: As of the election of 2026, of these, Start, Oliver and Schilling still aren't in.

Top 10 Should-Be Baseball Hall-of-Famers

In the wake of the Baseball Writers' Association of America electing no one to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Wednesday's vote, the question needs to be asked: Who is eligible for the Hall of Fame, and deserves it, but is not in?

Someone (I forget who) said that one good way to judge whether a player is deserving is if he's a "1 in 100" kind of player. That is, if you think he's in the top 1 percent of all baseball players, ever.

There are 297 people in the Hall. Of these, 236 were elected as players, rather than as managers, umpires, or executives of any kind (owners, general managers, league presidents, commissioners, or "pioneers").

Of those, 35 were elected due to the perception of their performance in the Negro Leagues -- for which statistics are, through no fault of the players involved, woefully incomplete, so we're essentially just guessing how good they were, based on the word of those who saw them play, either in contemporary newspaper accounts or from reminiscences.

That leaves 201 players whose statistical performances we can look at, and from which we can draw our own conclusions.

According to Baseball Reference, a website which is your friend whether you know it or not, there have been 17,943 men who have appeared in at least one regular-season Major League Baseball game.

Therefore, if we were adhering to the 1 percent guideline, there should be 179 players in the Hall of Fame that fit the description I gave. Not 201. Which means we may have more than we should.

Nevertheless, I'm going to list 10 players that I think should be in the Hall, but aren't.

I previously did such a list on May 14, 2010. Here were my Top 10 at that time:

10. Don Newcombe
9. Wes Ferrell
8. Allie Reynolds, Eddie Lopat and Vic Raschi
7. Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker
6. Ted Simmons
5. Tommy John
4. Jim Kaat
3. Bert Blyleven
2. Ron Santo
1. Gil Hodges

Some explanation is needed. I reckoned that, if Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers and Frank Chance, the 1906-10 Chicago Cub double play combination, could be elected as a unit, why couldn't we do this for others?

Separately, Reynolds, Lopat and Raschi were not HOFers; together, they formed a HOF unit, every bit as much as did the later Atlanta Braves triad of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz. And "TramWhit" was much worthier of the Hall than Tinker-Evers-Chance, if you're judging them solely on their playing: Chance deserved election as a manager, but was a step below greatness as a player. Tinker was no better, and Evers, while better, is a close call.

In the nearly 3 years since, Blyleven and Santo have been elected -- although Santo died before it could happen.

The Hall does not combine records for playing and managing, which hurts Hodges, but shouldn't: He should be in as a player. The Hall also does not combine records for playing and broadcasting, which hurt Santo, and still hurts Kaat. In all 4 major North American sports, only one man has been honored by his sport's Hall of Fame for both playing and broadcasting, pro football's Frank Gifford.

UPDATE: Len Dawson has joined Gifford as having been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as both a player and a broadcaster. But no baseball, basketball or hockey player has been so honored.

Here is Baseball Reference's top 10 nonpitchers eligible but not in, using "WAR," or "Wins Above Replacement," which is defined as how many games said player appears to have won for his team, above and beyond what a rookie just called up from the minors might do. It's subjective, and the part of it that is statistical includes a formula that I don't think I've ever seen, and don't care to. Keep in mind that Shoeless Joe Jackson and Pete Rose are not currently eligible:

1. Barry Bonds
2. Jeff Bagwell
3. Lou Whitaker
4. Bill Dahlen
5. Larry Walker
6. Bobby Grich
7. Alan Trammell
8. Tim Raines
9. Rafael Palmeiro
10. Kenny Lofton

UPDATE: Bagwell, Walker, Trammell and Raines are now in.

Incidentally, the difference between Bonds at 1 and Bagwell at 2 is, by the standards of this stat, enormous. Indeed, Bonds is 2nd all-time behind Babe Ruth.

You say Bonds and Palmeiro shouldn't be up there, because they used steroids? I agree. But this particular list isn't about who's worthy, which is based on opinion; it's about who's high-ranking and eligible, which is based on facts.

Here's the top 10 pitchers, based on Pitching WAR:

1. Roger Clemens (all-time, trails only Cy Young and Walter Johnson)
2. Curt Schilling
3. Jim McCormick
4. Bobby Mathews
5. Rick Reuschel
6. Kevin Brown
7. Luis Tiant
8. Tommy Bond
9. David Cone
10. Charlie Buffinton

UPDATE: Through the election of 2025, none of those have made it.

No, I'd never heard of McCormick, either, even though he lived most of his life in my native North Jersey. He played his last game in 1887, the 1st term of President Grover Cleveland, and anybody who played back then and isn't in the Hall of Fame is, almost certainly, going to be forgotten. And that's the difference between getting into the Hall, and not.

I had heard of Mathews, whose finale was also in 1887, but only because I read an article about the 300 Wins Club, and saw that, if you count what he did in the National Association of 1871-75 (some sources do, some don't), his career win total was 297, just short. If he'd gotten just 3 more, he'd have had 300, and he would be in. But he didn't, so he's not, and so I never heard of him until a few years ago, when I read the article online.

Bond was one of the best pitchers in the game as it moved from the first professional league, the NA, to the first totally major league, the National League, in 1876. It was a very different game then, especially as far as pitching is concerned: It was all underhanded, and batters could call for a high or a low pitch. As in baseball's British cousin, cricket, where the position is called the bowler, the pitcher was the least important defensive player, not the most important, as it would become once overhand pitching was legalized in 1884. (In the pitcher's favor, though, it then took 9 balls to walk a batter, not 4.)

And the pitching distance was extended from 50 feet to 60 feet, 6 inches in 1893, and a lot of pitchers who were good before that year either lost their effectiveness or retired. So it's hard to say that a pitcher whose best years were before 1893, and even harder if they were before 1884, would have excelled afterward. It's a bit easier to say a pitcher good between 1893 and the dawn of the Lively Ball Era in 1920, and easier still for one good between then and the dawn of the Integration Era in 1947, would have excelled afterward.

Buffinton was a pitcher for whom the 1884 legalization of overhand pitching was a godsend, but for whom the 1893 extension appears to have been the end of the line, as his last appearance was in 1892, when he was only 31. I had never heard of him until I read the book about Edward Achorn's book about the 1884 Pennant race between the Charlie "Old Hoss" Radbourn's Providence Grays and Buffinton's Boston Beaneaters, Fifty-Nine in '84: Old Hoss Radbourn, Barehanded Baseball, and the Greatest Season a Pitcher Ever Had. Again, it's the difference between being in the Hall of Fame (Radbourn, career record 309-194) and not (Buffinton, 233-152).

But let's get real: While Clemens is in the 300 Wins Club, he and Schilling are both in the 3,000 Strikeouts Club, and both Tiant and Cone have their advocates, I don't know why anyone would think Rick Reuschel or Kevin Brown was a Hall-of-Famer. And that would be my stance even if Brown hadn't broken his hand in September 2004 and then had that horrible start in Game 7 of the ALCS for the Yankees.

So who are the top 10 deserving men?

Well, if we were including the Negro Leaguers, for whom the stats just aren't available in full, we would have to include Buck O'Neil. And if Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui get considered, why not Sadaharu Oh? It's not his fault that he never played in the North American majors. But we're only looking at major leaguers.

And I won't cop out by suggesting the joint entries of ReynLopSchi and TramWhit. One TinkEvAnce in Cooperstown is enough.

But it is worth pointing out where they stand. Baseball Reference has a Hall of Fame Monitor, on which 100 is a "Likely HOFer." They also have a Hall of Fame Standards, on which 50 represents the "Average HOFer." And they have "Similarity Scores," which shows the 10 players whose statistics most closely resemble that player's, and is weighted toward players who also that player's position, so as to compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges.

HOF Monitor: Trammell 118, Reynolds 110, which means they should be in; Whitaker 92, which means he falls a little short; Raschi 82 and Lopat 64, which means they fall well short.

HOF Standards: Whitaker 43, Trammell 40, Reynolds 33, Lopat 27, Raschi 25, which means they all fall short.

10 Most Similar: Of the Yankee trio, only Reynolds has anyone in his Top 10 who are in, but those are his Top 2: Lefty Gomez and Bob Lemon. Trammell's 10 Most Similar include Whitaker, and also Barry Larkin, Ryne Sandberg and Pee Wee Reese, who are in; and Jimmy Rollins, who will probably make it. Whitaker's 10 Most Similar include Trammell (obviously); already-in players Sandberg, Larkin, Roberto Alomar and Joe Morgan; and Joe Torre, who will be in as a manager.

UPDATE: Rollins had a major dropoff that may have knocked him out of consideration. He will be eligible in 2022.

As for my Top 10, I am listing these in chronological order, not in ascending (or descending) order of how much they deserve it.

And since we're going chronologically, let me mention 3 players who are so far back that it's difficult to judge their careers, but for their pioneering roles, should be in.

Doc Adams. After all, if we're reflecting the history of the game, shouldn't we go back to the beginning of its history? Daniel Lucius Adams (1814-1899), a physician from Mount Vernon, New Hampshire, even more than the man usually credited, Alexander Cartwright, was the guiding force behind the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club and, more than any other person, comes close to being the man who shaped the rules of earlier forms of "base ball" (even into the early 20th Century, it was often printed as two words) into a game that we would recognized as "baseball," and thus comes closer than anyone else to being "the man who invented baseball."

He began with the New York Base Ball Club -- the team that beat the Knickerbockers 23-1 in what's long been considered "the first baseball game" in Hoboken, New Jersey on June 19, 1846. That club split over some dispute or other, and led to the formation of the Knickerbocker Club. So that New York Club was already in existence, and now you know why they clobbered the supposed inventors of the sport in "the first game." Adams played in that game.

According John Thorn, author of a slew of books about the sport and now the official historian of Major League Baseball, Adams essentially invented the position of shortstop, more as what we would now call a cutoff man than as a way to better stop grounders. Adams played every position available at the time except pitcher, and was a lefthanded hitter with, under the conditions of the time, power, hitting some balls from Hoboken's Elysian Fields into the Hudson River. Thorn has called him the best player of the 1840s, and he played until 1859.

More important that his performance were his innovations. In addition to inventing shortstop, he was the man who, at a New York convention to standardize rules in 1857, convinced the other men to settle on 9 innings for a game, 90 feet between bases (making official the rough estimate Cartwright made of "42 paces" between home plate and 2nd base, and between 1st and 3rd bases), and eliminating the rule of catching the ball on the first bounce still counting as an out.

Cartwright has been overcredited -- including by myself, on this blog, in years past. He is in the Hall of Fame, but probably shouldn't be, just as Abner Doubleday, whom we now know to have had nothing to do with baseball, is not. Adams should be in the Hall. And case can also be made for another Knickerbocker, William R. Wheaton (1814-1888).

Jim Creighton. Born in Brooklyn in 1841, James Creighton Jr. didn't last long, but his impact was tremendous. He was a superb batter, and as a pitcher, he used what may well be the first "trick pitch." Pitching was done underhand, but he managed to put in a snap of his wrist, and make the pitch much faster. Essentially, he invented the fastball.

A lot of people thought this was unfair. Most of them were probably in favor of big offense. Even during the American Civil War, people dug the long ball. But Creighton's delivery was described as being "as swift as it was shot out of cannon" and "fairly unhittable." Up to that point, high scores were common. If you think ERAs are high now, in the amateur era, there were scores that today's football purists would have found to be a bit high.

He played for several amateur clubs in Brooklyn, until 1898 a separate city from New York (then just Manhattan Island). He helped establish the Excelsior Club (named for the motto of New York State, meaning "Ever upward") as one of the dominant clubs. The Excelsior Club lured Creighton in 1860 but getting him a job that paid him $500 a year -- a big sum for a working man then.

Another player they lured was Asa Brainard, himself a great pitcher. They also lured his brother Henry Brainard. They were probably the first professional players, but, in American baseball as in English soccer, professionalism was then considered ungentlemanly.

On October 14, 1862, in a match against the Union Club of Morrisania (which was included in the City as part of the Borough of The Bronx when Consolidation happened in 1898), Creighton hit a home run, but suffered a hernia. With medicine being what it was then, he couldn't be helped, and spent 4 days in immense pain until he died. He was only 21.

William Arthur "Candy" Cummings is in the Hall of Fame, even though statistics suggest he wasn't such a great pitcher, because of his claim to inventing the curveball. That claim has been revealed to be highly questionable, as another pitcher seems to have thrown one in a game earlier. If Cummings is in the Hall for "inventing the curveball," why is Creighton not in the Hall for being a superb hitter and the almost-certain inventor of the fastball?

Lip Pike. While Creighton and the Brainards were the first professional players, Lipman Emanuel Pike (1845-1893) was the first player revealed to have been paid to play. The Manhattan native is also the first baseball player known to have been Jewish.

His willingness to let it be known that he was paid to play, by the first team to be known as the Philadelphia Athletics, in 1866, paved the way for the first openly all-professional team, the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings. That team included Asa Brainard, who had become the best pitcher in the baseball after Creighton's death, and whose name led to a star pitcher being called an "ace." (Brainard is also worthy of HOF consideration.)

The Red Stockings went through the entire 1869 season without losing a game, and were still undefeated on June 14, 1870 (their streak being anywhere from 81 to 130 games, depending on whose story you believe), before crossing the ferry to Brooklyn (the Brooklyn Bridge was in the first stages of construction and wouldn't open until 1883) to face the Atlantics at the Capitoline Grounds in what's now the Bedford-Stuyvesant section.

A crowd of at least 12,000 came out, and in a game that required 11 innings to be completed, the Atlantics -- with early stars Pike at 2nd base, Dickey Pearce at shortstop, Joe Start at 1st base, George Zettlein pitching, and the man with the wildest nickname in baseball history, the fine-fielding Bob "Death to Flying Things" Ferguson, catching -- won 8-7 to give the Cincy club their first defeat. It was the first great game in professional baseball history.

When the NA was founded in 1871, Pike was one of its first stars, leading it in home runs in each of its 1st 3 seasons. Ironically, he later played for and managed a new club called the Cincinnati Reds. He played his last game in 1887, at age 42. Unfortunately, he died of heart disease at 48, just as the 60-and-6 pitching distance ended forever the game he knew.

But, having been a nonpitcher, he is much more likely than Brainard or even Creighton to have been able to adapt to the modern game, had someone time-traveled back to the 1870s and offered him the chance to play in the 21st Century.

Now, the Top 10:

1. Wes Ferrell.  Born in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1908, Wesley Cheek Ferrell debuted in the majors with the 1927 Cleveland Indians. In his 1st 4 full seasons, he won 91 games -- all before his 25th birthday. He won 21 at 21, 25 at 22, 22 at 23 and 23 at 24. That was from 1929 to 1932, one of the biggest periods ever for hitters, rather than the Dead Ball Era of the 1900s and 1910s, or the 1960s. And it was for an Indians team that really didn't contend while he was there.

Acquired by Tom Yawkey in his bid to buy championships for the Boston Red Sox, he rode better support to add 2 more 20-win seasons, and finished with 193 wins and a .601 winning percentage.

And he was a really good hitter, too: In 1931, he won 22 games and hit 9 home runs. In 1935, he won 25 and hit 7. His lifetime batting average was .280, he had a .797 OPS, and OPS+ of exactly 100 (How many pitchers hit as well as the average hitter of their time?), and had 107 extra-base hits, including 38 home runs, more than any player whose primary position was pitcher. (This, of course, excludes former pitcher Babe Ruth.) He last appeared in the majors in 1941, and died in 1976.

So why is he not in the Hall? Well, an injury meant that his last productive season was at age 30, and he last pitched in the majors at at 33, and then came World War II. His career ERA was 4.04. Granted, that was, as I said, in the power-happy 1930s, and his career ERA+ was 117, meaning he was 17 percent better at preventing runs than the average pitcher of his time. But his career WHIP was also high, 1.481. And he also gave up a lot of home runs, including a league-leading 25 in 1937. His brother Rick Ferrell, a fine defensive catcher, is in the Hall. Wes deserves it more.

HOF Monitor: 75. HOF Standards: 22. Both mean he shouldn't be in. None of Ferrell's 10 most similar pitchers are in the Hall, and if you're under age 75, the 2 you're most likely to have seen are Rick Sutcliffe and Dave Stewart, and you don't see much agitation for either of those to be elected.

It doesn't matter: I think Ferrell should be in.

2. Gil Hodges. They don't combine playing and managing. If they did, Gilbert Raymond Hodges, born in 1924 in Indiana, would be, to mix my sports metaphors, a slam dunk. After all, he managed the New York Mets to a World Championship.

True, so did Davey Johnson, and no one recommends him for the Hall. Then again, Johnson was lucky: While he also managed L.A. and Baltimore to postseason play, he only won that one Pennant. We'll never know what else Gil could have done as a manager: He died right before the '72 season, and the Mets won the '73 Pennant.

But what a player: A 120 OPS+, 370 home runs, 10th all-time when he retired, and he did not play in a homer-happy era; and the best-fielding 1st baseman of his generation. 

HOF Monitor: 83. HOF Standards: 32. Both mean he falls a little short. Keep in mind, though, this measures only hitting, not fielding. 10 Most Similar: Norm Cash, George Foster, Tino Martinez, Jack Clark, Boog Powell, Rocky Colavito, Joe Adcock, Lee May, Willie Horton, Derrek Lee. Lee has not yet officially retired, but he isn't going to the Hall. But Colavito might belong, and Foster, Powell and Clark sure looked like they would end up in before tailing off. No matter: Gil Hodges belongs.

(UPDATE: In 2021, Hodges was finally elected.)

3. Don Newcombe. The fact that Donald Newcombe, born in 1926, is a lifelong resident of New Jersey (grew up in Madison Borough, Morris County, and has lived most of his adult life in Woodbridge) is nice, but has nothing to do with his qualifications.

Unlike a lot of the early black players, racism didn't keep him out long enough to cost him his prime, as he was 23 years old when he debuted. But injuries and alcoholism ended his career at 34, and the Korean War cost him the seasons in which he turned 26 and 27, and half of the season when he turned 28, ruining what could have been his 3 best seasons.

(Shocking: The Dodgers won the Pennant in 1952 and '53 without him -- imagine them facing the Yankees in those World Series with him. Though it's worth noting the Yanks were, themselves, without Whitey Ford due to the same war in '51 and '52, and won the Series in those seasons anyway.)

In the 3 seasons before that, his 1st 3, he won 56 games; in his 1st 2 after that, he won 47 -- he went 47-12! In 1955, he won 20 games and hit 7 home runs, a feat matched only by Wes Ferrell (twice), Bob Lemon, and Newk's eventual Dodger teammate Don Drysdale. Cy Young died the following off-season, and the Cy Young Award was established to honor the pitcher (first in all of the majors, then in 1967 in each League) judged to be most valuable to his team, a reflection of the idea that, not playing every day, pitchers didn't deserve the MVP. Newk ended up winning the 1st Cy Young, and the MVP anyway, with 27 wins, a total topped only once since and matched only 2 other times.

He had a lifetime batting average of .271, a .705 OPS (though only an 85 OPS+, still amazing for a pitcher), and had 51 extra-base hits, including 15 home runs. He won 149 games despite missing almost 3 prime seasons, with career stats of a .623 winning percentage and a 1.203 WHIP. In his 1st 6 seasons, the Dodgers finished 1st or 2nd every year; in each of his 1st 5 full seasons, the Dodgers either won the Pennant or lost it on the final day.

The knock on Newk was that he wasn't a big-game pitcher. In 1949, as a rookie, he started Game 1 of the World Series and held the Yankees scoreless for 8 innings, but Allie Reynolds held the Dodgers scoreless for 9 and Tommy Henrich homered off Newk in the bottom of the 9th to win it. On the final day in 1950, he held the Phillies off for 9 innings, before giving up Dick Sisler's Pennant-winning homer in the 10th. 

In the final game of the 1951 Playoff, he threw his 264th through 272nd innings of the season, complained that he was tired in the 270th, was told by teammate Jackie Robinson (who didn't want people to see a black man complain of fatigue), "You keep pitching until your fucking arm falls off," and was finally relieved in the 9th while still holding a 4-2 lead in the Polo Grounds. (Ralph Branca was brought in, and you know what happened: The Giants won the Pennant.) Newk gave his all in big games, and that his opponents were often the better team isn't his fault.

Finally, allowance should be made that, while he was just 23 when he reached the majors, he did pitch in the Negro Leagues, and quite well, helping the Newark Eagles win the 1946 Negro World Series.

HOF Monitor: 78. HOF Standards: 28. Both mean he should not be in. 10 Most Similar: Ray Kremer, Dizzy Dean, Schoolboy Rowe, Dennis Leonard, Chris Carpenter, Newk's Dodger teammate Elwin "Preacher" Roe, Roy Oswalt, Nig Cuppy, Rip Sewell, Mike Garcia. Dean is in. Kremer and Rowe fall a little short. Leonard, Roe, Sewell and Garcia are well short. So was George Cuppy, a righthander for the 1890s Cleveland Spiders, who was, in that politically incorrect time, called "Nig" because he was a white man with a dark complexion. Oswalt and Carpenter are still active, but neither will make it.

4. Jim Kaat. Born on the Lake Michigan coast of Michigan in 1938, he won 283 games and 16 Gold Gloves. He was the ace of the Minnesota Twins' 1st Pennant, and was a key member of a St. Louis Cardinals' World Championship -- 17 years later. As far as I know, that's the longest gap between World Series appearances of any player.

In between, he helped the Twins reach the LCS twice and the Philadelphia Phillies to 3 times. He won 18 games at age 23, and 20 at age 36. And he was a terrific broadcaster. And as both a player and a broadcaster, "Kitty" was a man of sterling character. Put him in.

HOF Monitor: 130, which means he should be in. HOF Standards: 44, which means he falls a little short. 10 Most Similar: Tommy John (No, but should be), Robin Roberts (Yes), Fergie Jenkins (Yes), Eppa Rixey (Yes), Jamie Moyer (officially still active but probably won't make it), Bert Blyleven (Yes), Early Wynn (Yes), Burleigh Grimes (Yes), Frank Tanana (No) and Red Ruffing (Yes).

(UPDATE: Kaat was elected in 2022.)

5. Tommy John. Born in 1943 in Terre Haute, Indiana, Thomas Edward John used a blazing fastball to win 124 games for the Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers -- which would be a fine career for most pitchers.

Then he wrecked his elbow. Then he had surgery, a pioneering procedure that now bears his name. Then, after sitting out a season, he became a sinkerballer, and won 164 games for the Dodgers, New York Yankees, California Angels and Oakland Athletics -- winning more games after the surgery that could have ended his career (had it gone wrong) than he did before it.

Think about this: Due to an injury, Dizzy Dean won "only" 150 games, and he's in the Hall of Fame. Due to an injury, Sandy Koufax won "only" 165 games, and he's in the Hall of Fame. Though, to be fair, from 1933 to 1937, Dean was one of the top 3 pitchers on the planet along with Carl Hubbell and Satchel Paige; and from 1961 to 1966, Koufax was one of the top 5 pitchers on the planet at the time and from 1963 to 1966 was one of the top 5 pitchers who has ever lived. TJ was only occasionally (1973-74, 1977-80) one of the top 5 or even one of the top 10 pitchers on the planet.

But he won more games after his potentially career-ending injury than Dean did in his entire career, and almost as many as Koufax won in his entire career. Total wins: 288, the closest any pitcher (aside from the aforementioned Bobby Mathews) comes to 300 major league wins -- long considered a benchmark for Cooperstown -- without making it. His .555 career winning percentage also opens eyes.

HOF Monitor: 112, which means he should be in. HOF Standards: 44, which means he falls a little short. 10 Most Similar: Kaat (No, but should be), Roberts (Yes), Blyleven (Yes), Jenkins (Yes), Wynn (Yes), Grimes (Yes), Tom Glavine (Not yet eligible, but will get in), Tony Mullane (No), Don Sutton (Yes), Rixey (Yes).

6. Ted Simmons. You have to judge the stats of catchers, who play the hardest defensive position, a little differently from those of outfielders and 1st basemen. Ted Lyle Simmons (not "Theodore"), born in 1949 in the Detroit suburbs, has a lifetime batting average of .285. His OPS is .785, his OPS+ 117, and he hit 248 home runs despite his position and playing most of his home games at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

As the man who sponsors his Baseball-Reference.com page points out, compared to other HOF catchers of the last half-century, "The Mighty Simba" had more career RBIs than Johnny Bench, scored more runs than Gary Carter, and collected more hits than Yogi Berra or Carlton Fisk. He had 3 seasons of 100 or more RBIs and just missed 4 other times. He played in 8 All-Star Games.

He led the Milwaukee Brewers to their 1st 2 postseason appearances in 1981 and '82 -- until 2008 their only postseason appearances -- but, ironically, ran into his former Cardinal teammates in his only World Series appearance, and still almost won it for the Brew Crew, hitting 2 home runs in that 7-game thriller. (In another irony, the Series MVP was his replacement as Cardinal catcher, Darrell Porter.) He never won a Gold Glove, but that was because he played in the same league at the same time as Bench and Carter, and then switched leagues and got stuck behind Fisk.

From the ages of 22 to 33, he was one of the most productive catchers ever, was still a productive regular at 35, and still a productive pinch-hitter at 37 -- pretty good considering he caught 1,771 games in his career, more than all but 4 players before him.

HOF Monitor: 124, which means he should be in. HOF Standards: 44, which means he falls a little short. 10 Most Similar: Miguel Tejada (not yet eligible, and wouldn't get in even if you didn't know he was a juicer), Trammell (No, but should be), Joe Torre (No, falls a little short as far as his playing is concerned), Fisk (Yes), Carter (Yes), Whitaker (No, but should be), Larkin (Yes), Joe Cronin (Yes), Berra (Yes), Sandberg (Yes).

(UPDATE: Simmons was elected in 2019.)

7. Tim Raines. Quick: Tell me what these 4 men have in common: Rickey Henderson, Lou Brock, Billy Hamilton and Ty Cobb? Answer: They are the only 4 human beings, living or dead, male or female, black or white or whatever, American or foreign-born, who stole more bases in Major League Baseball games than the 808 stolen by Raines.

And he wasn't just about the steals. Born outside Orlando in 1959, Timothy Raines was the NL's answer to Henderson, the best leadoff hitter the league had ever seen. He batted .294 lifetime, topping .300 7 times and just missing one other, had an OPS+ of 123, and collected 2,605 hits. With the Montreal Expos, he led the NL in stolen bases in 1981, '82, '83 and '84; in runs scored in '83 and '87; in doubles in '84; and in batting average and on-base percentage (.334 and .413) in 1986.

He nearly won the NL Rookie of the Year in 1981, as the Expos came within 1 run of a Pennant. He didn't return to the postseason until 1993 with the Chicago White Sox, and in 1996 and 1998 won rings as the closest thing the Joe Torre Yankees had to a regular left fielder.

HOF Monitor: 90. HOF Standards: 47. In each case, he falls a little short. 10 Most Similar: Brock (Yes), Kenny Lofton (No), Max Carey (Yes), Johnny Damon (still active but I don't think he makes it), Willie Davis (No), Jimmy Ryan (No), Jose Cruz Sr. (No), Julio Franco (No), Fred Clarke (Yes) and Enos Slaughter (Yes).

(UPDATE: Raines was elected in 2017.)

8. Curt Schilling. Born in 1966 in Anchorage and grew up in Phoenix, I am judging Curtis Montague Schilling totally on performance, not on personality. 216-146 (including 3 seasons of 21 or more wins), for .597. ERA, 3.46; ERA+, 127. WHIP, 1.137. Strikeouts, 3,116, including 2 (nearly 3) seasons of 300 or more.

Big pitcher in big games, which certainly helps his cause. Pitched a shutout in Game 5 of the 1993 World Series to keep the Phillies alive. Went 4-0 with a 1.11 ERA for the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2001 postseason. Gutted out wins on an injured ankle in 2004 in Game 6 of the ALCS and Game 2 of the World Series to help the Red Sox finally win the Series after 86 years. Went 3-0 in the 2007 postseason as the Sox did it again.

HOF Monitor: 171, meaning he's an easy choice. HOF Standards: 46, meaning he's a little short. 10 Most Similar: Kevin Brown, Bob Welch, Orel Hershiser, Freddie Fitzsimmons, Milt Pappas, John Smoltz, Don Drysdale, Dazzy Vance, Jim Perry, and his former Red Sox teammate Pedro Martinez. Only Drysdale and Vance are already in, and only Smoltz and Pedro are likely to get in.

9. Larry Walker. Born in 1966 in a suburb of Vancouver, Larry Kenneth Robert Walker got skunked for a 3rd year in a row this week. Part of it was the fact that he played 1st 1/3rd of his career with the Expos, making him the greatest player to both come from and play in Canada. Part of it was the fact that he played his most productive years for the Colorado Rockies in homer-happy Coors Field.

And part of it was a thin postseason resume: He helped the Rox reach the Playoffs in 1995, but didn't get back until 2004, when he was one of the few St. Louis Cardinals to hit well in the World Series (.357, 2 homers, 3 RBIs).

For a guy who played in a homer-happy park, his career home run total doesn't look so hot: 383. Although that's more than a few guys who are in, like Joe DiMaggio, Johnny Bench and Jim Rice. But he batted .313 at a time when few players had lifetime averages over .300. He batted .300 9 times and just missed a 10th; he batted at least .322 6 times, and 3 times in 4 years he won the NL batting title: .363 in 1998, .379 in '99, and .350 in 201. His career OPS+ is 141.

HOF Monitor: 148, an easy choice. HOF Standards: 58, also an easy choice. 10 Most Similar: Duke Snider (Yes), his former Rockies teammate Ellis Burks (No), Moises Alou (Not yet eligible and won't make it), Jim Edmonds (Not yet eligible and will be a tough call), DiMaggio (Yes), Johnny Mize (Yes), Vladimir Guerrero (Active and has an excellent shot if he's not proven to be a juicer), Carlos Beltran (Active and probably won't make it), Chuck Klein (Yes) and his former Rockies teammate Todd Helton (Active but has really declined the last 3 seasons, and now might not make it).

(UPDATE: Walker was elected in 2020.)

10. Craig Biggio. Like the Casey Stengel-era Yankee Big 3 and TramWhit, Biggio should have been elected in a package deal with Jeff Bagwell. But if you can only pick one, it should be Craig Alan Biggio, born in 1965 in Smithtown, Long Island, because he has the 3,000 hits. And when 668 of those are doubles -- only Tris Speaker, Pete Rose, Stan Musial and Ty Cobb had more, and of those only Rose debuted after World War II -- and there's no accusation of steroid use, you should have an easy case.

Not that you could go particularly wrong by selecting Jeffrey Robert Bagwell, born in 1968 in Boston and grew up in Killingworth, Connecticut. Lifetime batting average .297, with 6 .300+ seasons and 8 100+ RBI seasons. OPS+ 149 -- among players debuting in my lifetime, only Bonds, Albert Pujols, Mark McGwire, Frank Thomas, Joey Votto, Manny Ramirez and Miguel Cabrera are higher; only Pujols, Thomas and Votto have avoided serious juicing allegations.

Bags has been suspected, but unless something is being hidden, those suspicions are just guesses. His 449 home runs make him the Astros' all-time leader, and he added 448 doubles. Yes, they played the 2nd half of their careers' home games at hitter-friendly Minute Maid Park, but they also played the 1st half at the pitcher-friendly Astrodome.

HOF Monitor: Biggio 169, Bagwell 150. HOF Standards: Bagwell 59, Biggio 57. Easy choices.

Biggio's 10 Most Similar: Robin Yount (Yes), Derek Jeter (Active but an easy choice), Morgan (Yes), Paul Molitor (Yes), Alomar (Yes), Cal Ripken (Yes), Damon (Active but probably won't make it), Brooks Robinson (Yes), Whitaker (No but should be) and George Brett (Yes).

Bagwell's 10 Most Similar: Carlos Delgado (Not yet eligible, hard to think of him as a HOFer but he did hit 473 home runs with 9 100+ RBI seasons in mostly pitchers' parks), Thomas (Not yet eligible but should make it), Fred McGriff (Not yet in but should be), Guerrero (Active and has an excellent shot if he's not proven to be a juicer), Helton (Active but now a question mark), Jason Giambi (Not yet eligible and wouldn't make it even if you didn't know he juiced), Andres Galarraga (No, and is a borderline case at best), Willie Stargell (Yes), Pujols (Active but will almost certainly make it unless he's outed as a juicer) and Orlando Cepeda (Yes).

Of these, the most deserving? Biggio, which makes sense, as he is the one of these who has come the closest to election.

(UPDATE: Biggio was elected in 2015.)