I enjoyed seeing Raf win a gold glove at 1B when he was the team's primary DH.Bonds. Dude was just an unbelievable player.
He was HOF worthy before going to the Giants IMO.
I think all the steroid era guys deserve it, except Raf, I was never impressed.
Yours is almost exactly the same as my take on Manny...clearly you are correct, He had the prettiest right handed swing I have seen in my relatively long life time. Weird dude, but so it goes...Looks like I voted for everybody the same as you except I added Manny. So, he's the one I'll defend.
Best RH hitter I have ever seen. He was far more than just a power guy. He was a special talent.
I considered Big Mac on my list, but his career was trending in the wrong direction (due to injuries) prior to his known steroid use.
I loved Gary Sheffield when I was a kid, but I don't recall him being considered for the HOF, can someone fill me in?
That’s the exact reason he isn’t in. Writers make it personal. If you never knew who he was or ever heard him speak, he’d be unanimous.I voted almost entirely on the basis of who are jerks (should not get in) and who are not jerks (should get in). I have a much easier time excusing PED use from seemingly good guys (McGwire, Sosa, Ramirez), who have been denied immediate HOF induction, then jerks (Bonds, ARod, Clemens) who were just straight up unlikeable.
The exceptions:
Palmeiro I voted as not getting in, even though he seemed like a good guy. But being all indignant about not using PEDs in front of congress, then getting busted... really lame.
Rose bet on baseball. There's no coming back from that.
Shoeless Joe is dead. So he can get in now.
Damn, he was even better than I remembered!His career statistics are certainly HOF worthy
.292 / . 393 / .514 career slash line
62.1 WAR despite being pretty awful defensively
509 HR
2689 Hits
Steroids have certainly tanked his chances, but he did show a promising surge in votes last year at 30.2%. I think he has 4 chances left and it will be interesting to see. Bonds and Clemens only have 2 more chances to get in. Each received a greater percentage of votes back in 2013 than Sheffield did in 2020. Those guys getting in could be a big turning point but he's still pretty damn far away with only 4 more years.
Not on the list but Thome? He def juiced but he is a nice guy. Probably final ballot.